Two Links

A Seattle Times article that says the Mariners may be out of the serious bidding for Daisuke Matsuzaka. Two humorous quotes, from Bobby Valentine, and Scott Boras: Valentine 'raved' about Matsuzaka, but frankly, Bobby V's player evaluation is not great (to say the least). He said that since Hideki Matsui hit 50 HR in Japan, he would hit 50 HR in MLB. (Matsui's high is 31, and he will never break 40.) Scott Boras, Matsuzaka's agent, said that this free agent crop is 'rare' because two aces are available - he's obviously referring to his two clients, Matsuzaka and Zito. Ok, so Matsuzaka is an ace? A guy who's never thrown a pitch stateside? And Zito is an ace? Yes, he WAS, but not less than 3 years ago. Anyway, there's also a couple discrepancies with the article: A. 'the posting process takes four days' - everything else I've read says three. B. 'Matsuzaka would become an international free agent (if he doesn't join MLB) after the 2008 season' - everything else I've read says 2007.

Phil Hughes has his own website. I bet it was his agent's idea. Anyway, the forum will not help. It gives the average fan/viewer a chance to rip Hughes, whether it be a Yankee fan upset over a poor outing, or an opponent's fan who just wants to rip Hughes for whatever reason. However, he does offer his address for autographs - as long as you include $5 (that he gives to a NYC charity).