In itself, this wasn't such a big story, even for me as a Red Sox fan. As others have already said, everything depends on how Dice-K's career unfolds. As of late May 2007 he's doing ok, but remains the No. 3 or maybe even No. 4 starter on the team.

Significant in the sense of money spent, and could be immensely significant if he delivers on the promise. The skeptic in me says this is a hell of a lot of money to spend on a guy who hasn't thrown a pitch in the Show, but I give the Sox credit for being willing to make the gamble.

Believe it or not, overall MLB interest is a lot larger than just Red Sox nation. The rest of us will wait and see what he does over the course of a season against everyday MLB lineups.

Certainly a big story in large part because the two teams negotiating for Matsuzaka were the Red Sox and Yankees, two teams who combine for 75% of total MLB merchandise sold in the past 5 years. Combine that with the fact that the Sox were willing to pay $50 million just to negotiate with the guy - unbelievable. $50 million basically to put the guy on a job interview. Defenders of this move were saying "It's ok: now the Yankees can't talk to him." But the question remains - will it matter if the Yankees talked to him or not if he turnes out to be a flop? I do feel that he can be a succesful pitcher in the majors, considering that he was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic, and that he's only 26 and a hard thrower who proved himself as dominant in Japan. It is true that Japanese baseball is probably the equivalent of Triple A ball, but he was scouted intensely and should have the stuff to be a competitor in MLB.

This is a very significant story for baseball. First off...it shows that the Red Sox aren't content with one World Series. They are committed to spending the big money just like the Yanks do. In a broader frame, this is way more money than has ever been given to a player who has not played in the Major Leagues yet. The reason Matsuzaka is getting this attention was because of his performance in the World Baseball Classic. If he is successful in the US, it will help validate that tournament for the future. It might also effect how Japanese clubs deal with the US teams. They will now be looking for larger transfer fees, which will allow them to invest more money in their own clubs.

It remains to be seen how good this Japanese star pitcher will be in the big leagues. He's really the biggest mystery of all in the free agent market this year. If Matuzaka is anything like he was overseas, he will be a bargain. Conversely, he could be a huge bust too. The Japanese league is considered by most observers to be somewhere between Triple A and the majors in terms of overall quality, though players like Hideo Nomo and Hideki Matsui have come over here and made an instant impact... My guess is it may take him some time to adjust to MLB, but I'll go out on a limb and guess that the most likely expectation should be anywhere from 12-16 wins. The jury's still out.