Hot stove economics

Anyone who ever wondered why they would pay $45 for an obstructed view seat in Fenway Park or turn over $50 a month for cable TV just to watch NESN got their answer yesterday, after anxiously tracking the cross-country flight of John Henry's private jet. When the Red Sox signed Daisuke Matsuzaka, the team was not just adding a promising young pitcher; it was bringing hope and the promise of summer to millions of New Englanders during the bleakest time of the year.

It was not too long ago that summer seemed to end prematurely, when the Sox collapsed in August, but a strength of the team since the advent of free agency in 1976 has been that it almost always uses the off-season to regenerate itself. Not all Sox signings have been successful; remember pitcher Matt Young and designated hitter Jack Clark in December 1990? And there can be no guarantee Matsuzaka will deliver for the Sox. But the team keeps trying, and the fans keep coming back to Fenway.

The Matsuzaka story was doubly entrancing because it was two-phased: winning the auction conducted by the Seibu Lions for the privilege of talking to him; and then persuading him and his agent that they should accept less money annually than top-tier pitchers are getting this year. Fans could both gasp at the Sox profligacy and marvel at management frugality. Plus, the interest he generates in the Japanese media enhances the excitement of his transition to the American game -- and may attract planeloads of Japanese tourists as well.

Of course, not all change is progress. Where once the interlude between one baseball season and the next was a time for the Little Leaguer to swab saddle soap on his glove, wrap it around a hardball, and store the bundle under a mattress 'til April, the off-season nowadays is given over to a spectator sport that could be called fantasy finance. The true protagonists of each new signing drama are not the players but general managers and owners who are judged for how well they anticipate the direction of the market.

We at the Globe have a special stake here because our parent company owns part of the team, but as New Englanders our interest is more compelling. Watching Matsuzaka in Fort Myers will get us through the last gasps of winter. His first appearance on the mound at Fenway will take the chill out of the first tentative weeks of spring.

And if the Dice Man helps the Sox beat out George Steinbrenner's Bronx mercenaries next season, local fans will no doubt look on the $100 million needed to sign Matsuzaka as money well spent.