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Red Sox to meet with Matsuzaka in bottom of the ninth

The 30 day window for the Boston Red Sox to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and sign him on a contract to join the team will end this week. The Red Sox paid $51.1 million for the right to speak with him - an amount they will not have to pay if negotiations fail - and so the team president Larry Lucchino and general manager Theo Epstein traveled to California to take on the mission.

Matsuzaka`s agent, Scott Boras, has yet to negotiate with the team. The pitcher will be expected to take a physical prior to signing the contract. The team officials flew to California to take "the fight directly to him, the fight to have a negotiation here," Henry said. They have a second, improved offer to present.

In a press conference, Boras said "Free agent pitchers who are 26 and have Matsuzaka-like ability receive salaries in excess of $100 million over five or six years in free agency." This sum, the red Sox believe, already includes the bidding sum invested in acquiring the player from his Seibu Lions team. Boston`s new offer comes although Boras and his client have never made a counterproposal to the first one.