No progress on Matsuzaka

As day turned into evening in Southern California yesterday, a source with a direct pipeline to the Daisuke Matsuzaka negotiations reported "no progress" in the Red Sox' attempts to sign the Japanese pitcher, who faces a midnight deadline tomorrow to strike a deal or return to Japan.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and CEO Larry Lucchino returned last night to the offices of agent Scott Boras for another negotiating session, but that broke up after just 40 minutes. Epstein told a crowd of reporters as he left that the Sox officials were headed for dinner and might not return.

"Everything is up to Matsuzaka," Epstein told the reporters there.

About 35 minutes later, Boras, who was accompanied by a Japanese interpreter, left his offices.

"Maybe I'll have something to tell you later today," he said before leaving in a Cadillac Escalade, but two hours later, another source with direct knowledge of the talks said there was no chance a deal would be struck last night.

The Red Sox delegation essentially created a deadline of their own when they said that their intention was to return home to Boston this morning on owner John W. Henry's private plane -- with Matsuzaka in tow so that he would have sufficient time to undergo a physical, which Epstein described as a nonnegotiable prerequisite to any deal. Boras had not expressed a similar concern that time be left for the physical, but the Sox were insistent.

Epstein and Lucchino flew to California Monday without informing Boras beforehand of their plans. But their desire to meet directly with Matsuzaka yesterday was not satisfied.

The Sox, the source said, did present an improved offer, one Epstein described in his post-midnight conference call of the night before as having "considerable magnitude." He did not reveal details, other than to say it eclipsed any offer made to a Japanese player previously in an initial big league contract, which means it was for more than the three-year, $21 million deal the Yankees gave Hideki Matsui when he signed as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2004 season.

According to the Sox, Boras had not made a counter-offer to their original proposal as of yesterday.

The Sox made a posting bid of $51.1 million to Matsuzaka's Japanese team, the Seibu Lions. If a deal is not struck, the money would be returned to the Red Sox.

"Not to get all that money would be devastating to the Lions," said Mel Watabayashi, a special assistant to the president of the Lions, whose entire payroll in 2006 was around $17 million, or one-third of the posting fee.

But it is the posting fee itself that Boras identifies as the cause of the divide.

"The posting system as you examine it may work for a lot of players," Boras said Monday night. "The posting fee represents the problem. The posting fee represents payment for a superstar player. It's historic, it's new, and something that's never been done.

"That posting fee, not only by the Boston Red Sox, but any other team, reflects value. The question is, how do you reflect value on a posting fee and also reflect an appropriate value on a player's contract? And that is the burden of this negotiation."

Boras argues that Matsuzaka's value as one of the best pitchers in the world should be calculated with no regard as to how much the Sox posted. The Sox take a position 180 degrees removed -- that they were willing to post such a high bid not only to gain exclusive negotiating rights, but to maintain contractual control of the player for the next six seasons, until he would be eligible under major league rules to become an unrestricted free agent.

If there is no deal, Matsuzaka's rights revert back to Seibu. He could request to be posted again next year, when bids could be even higher, or wait two years and become an unrestricted free agent.

The Sox' frustration with negotiations spilled over Monday.

"We're on Scott Boras's doorstep because he hasn't negotiated with us so far," said Henry, the anger evident during a post-midnight conference call. "We're taking the fight directly to him to try to have a negotiation here."

Is it possible that Matsuzaka -- who spent the last couple of days, according to Boras, taking a crash course in American Baseball Economics 101, poring over major league contracts, especially those of pitchers -- decides to walk? In their more despairing moments, the Sox fear as much.

The lack of a counter-offer from Boras, according to another agent and longtime Boras watcher, is classic Boras M.O.

"Scott doesn't like to get engaged until there is high anxiety," the agent said. "But Scott's a little uncomfortable, because he doesn't have the leverage he normally has. And you also have to remember, there's a different culture involved here. In Japan, they might not appreciate that beating-the-hell-out-of-management, kill-the-hostages approach."

Sometimes, all a team can do is wait out Boras, who by consensus is the most powerful agent in baseball. Who negotiated baseball's first $100 million deal (Kevin Brown)? Boras. First $200 million deal (Alex Rodriguez), still the richest contract in sports? Boras.

But in 2004, after drafting Jered Weaver No. 1, the Angels made a take-it-or-leave-it offer to Boras, who was advising Weaver: a $4 million signing bonus, or a $5.75 million major league deal. Boras started out asking for $10 million, then $8 million, then $6 million. The Angels did nothing. Eleven months later, and within days of going back into the draft, Weaver elected to sign. The deal? A $4 million signing bonus.