Wow!

That's all I can say after the intensity of yesterday. So much news in Red Sox Nation - but the apparent signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka is on everyone's front page this morning, or at least the front of the sports page everywhere. Well. Almost everywhere, except here. It's on the back page...

I could barely break myself away from the computer all day. When it became known that the gang was on its way from LA to Boston - and that a deal was nearly made - I was ssoo psyched. I became mesmerized by the flight tracker link posted on SoSH - you could actually follow the progress of John Henry's private plane as it crossed the country. Then they landed - and headed to Mass General for Dice-K's physical. Once he passed that, the deal was inked right there in the hospital room!

Of course, I love that Boras seems to have been beaten at his own game of chicken. I think he really would have sent Mats back to Japan rather than accept the Sox' best offer - but everyone seems to think Mats stepped in and said, make a deal, I'm not going back to Japan. Mike & Mike this morning were comparing the whole negotiation to a card game where the other guy's cards are face up - we all knew that Boras HAD to make the deal. There was not way Mats was going back to Japan - no way he was going to try to challenge the posting system, which is what I suspect Boras wanted him to do. And Theo and Larry (once at odds now united in this glorious cause) held their ground. I do think going to Boras was a brilliant move - it made them look earnest and serious in the negotiations and made Boras look like a stubborn ass. Which he is.

And the fact that the Sox are getting him for basically the same money they're paying Matt Clement is fantastic. Yeah, they have to pay the $51 million to Seibu, but look what we're getting for less than $9 million a year!

Check out this starting rotation: (Graphic from boston.com)


This is a pitching rotation that could see us winning for YEARS! Mats, Beckett and Papelbon are all 26 years old - just hitting their primes. And if we can Lester back and healthy, wow.

And for further comfort, the Sox yesterday re-signed old Doug Mirabelli for a year. Yes, he's not the greatest back-up catcher around - but he does seem to be the only one who can comfortably catch Wakefield. If his presence will help Wake perform to his maximum, it's worth $750,000

Finally, as if all this wasn't enough, there was a press conference yesterday to formally announce the signing of SS Julio Lugo. He's a guy I never warmed to - maybe because he always seemed to play his best AGAINST us. But watching his presser, I think I could like him. And I love that David Ortiz made a special trip to Boston to see his friend sign - Big Papi is THE BEST!!

On a personal note, I got up at 5 am this morning to go online and put my Direct TV account back up to the full package. I HAD to have my NESN for the next few days - just to see today's press conference at 5pm announcing the signing is worth the extra $! And you gotta love that DirectTV - I literally pushed "submit" for the changes and NESN popped right on. I was almost happy to see "the Haze" again!