Do or Dai Time

Now that we have had time to digest Boston's $51.1 million gamble, word comes out of Naples this morning that the team with the winning bid for the rights to negotiate with the other Japanese import expected to make an impact in the major leagues next year, Akinori Iwamura, a third baseman with a lot of pop, is no other than... the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!

What the hell????

Now that is a shocker. I guess the perennial cellar dwellers have finally woken up to the freakshow that is the AL East and decided to join in on the spending bonanza. Hmmm, I wonder how much they coughed up for those coveted negotiating rights. $51.1 million? Come now, this is Tampa Bay. How about half that? Maybe $10 million? Ok, I'll cut to the chase: just two days after the Red Sox embarrassed themselves with one of the most extravagant, excessive, outrageous (any other adjectives I am missing here?) wastes of money ever, Tampa Bay outbid everyone with a whopping $4.5 million offer, or roughly the salary of Sox reserve outfielder Eric Hinske.

Wow. I guess Tampa doesn't properly respect the Asian community, or the tradition of Japanese baseball. You think you are really going to give yourself a name in the Pacific rim with that paltry amount?

That gets me thinking. You think Fidel Castro is kicking himself reading this news? I mean, what would a combined $55 million for two players do for Cuba right about now? Surely, he could let some of his best players go to America in exchangge for some serious green to spend on improving his beloved country. Or a hell of a lot of cigars. Or maybe the problem is on our side. Trade embargos or some shit like that. Oh well, just a thought.

But I digress. Looking at it statistically, I guess we can only assume that Iwamura is only 1/10 the player Daisuke is. But seriously folks, we may have the makings of another dimension to the already HOT rivalry that is Boston-Tampa Bay. First we had the infamous Gerald Williams-Pedro Martinez tete-a-tete in August of 2000 (was it really six years ago???) and culminated this spring with the Julian Tavarez-Joey Gathright punch/bitch slap brouhaha. Can we look forward to a Daisuke-Akinori samurai smackdown? As always, stay tuned...(OK, Durkee, what have you to say now?)