Red Sox Wonder Where All That Free Yen Went

When the Red Sox bid that ridiculous amount just for the right to offer Daisuke Matsuzaka a contract, one of the ancillary benefits was supposed to be all the Japanese endorsements he would bring in. (And take away from the Yankees.) But it looks like that hasn't happened at all.

In fact, The Boston Herald says, he has only brought in about $900,000 worth of Japanese endorsements. Heck, that's not even enough to take care of Michael Vick's dogs!

While most estimates have Seattle and the Yankees garnering between $3-6 million annually because of the presence of Japanese outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui, respectively, the Red Sox' final tally came up well short. Funai Electronics proved to be the sole sponsorship gained because of Dice-K, netting the Red Sox an annual contract of approximately $900,000. "There was absolutely not this windfall of corporate advertising dollars we thought there may be, or that (Matsuzaka's) representative might have led you to believe during the negotiations," Kennedy said.

Obviously, Scott Boras is Dice-K's agent. Our favorite part of this story is that Red Sox brass seem amazed by this, that someone whom you feature every five days might be less marketable than someone whom you feature every day, like Ichiro. The good news? Maybe they can sell the patent on the supposed gyroball.

Is Matsuzaka Still Worth It? [UmpBump]