Red Sox show yen for 'Zaka

With the official announcement last night that Boston had won the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka, the clock started on the Red Sox's 30-day window to sign the Japanese pitcher to a contract and perhaps turn him into an icon in the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry, such as Johnny Damon or Jose Contreras, two other stars the teams have clashed over.

The Red Sox's winning bid, announced in Japan as $51.11million by Matsuzaka's club, the Seibu Lions, towered over the Yankees' $32 million offer. The Mets, who a baseball official said bid $38 million, apparently finished second in the Matsuzaka Sweepstakes. Neither New York GM expressed any anguish after the announcement, which came last night in simultaneous press conferences, one at the GM meetings here and one in Japan. "Congratulations to them," Yankee GM Brian Cashman said of the Sox. "You want something, you go after it." Continue