A Waste
The Boston Red Sox have spent $50 million not to sign a player, but just to buy the rights to sign a player, that player being Japanese stud right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka. Set aside the fact that no one has a clue whether Matsuzaka can even pitch in the Major Leagues, much less America. A mere triviality when you consider the obscene amount of money the Red Sox propose to fork over if they can reach a deal with him. Let's look instead at what $50 million can buy you.
In baseball terms, $50 million is enough to buy Johnny Damon for four years. It's enough to pay Alex Rodriguez for two years. It's enough to field Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, and Mariano Rivera for one season. It's enough to fund the talented young Florida Marlins for three plus seasons. All for a player who has never thrown a pitch for a professional team in the U.S.
In real life terms, $50 million can buy a lot. In Africa, it's enough to provide food aid for 125,000 thousand families for I assume a year. Here in the U.S., it's enough to buy $5000 worth of groceries for one year ($100 a week) for 10,000 families. There are 1200 public schools in New York City serving over 1 million students. You could buy each of them a text book for $50 million. You could give each school $40,000 in aid for one year. You could give a one-time stipend of $355 to each of the 140,000 active and retired NYC school teachers.
Instead, the Boston Red Sox choose to lavish this outlandish sum of money on one player. Not to sign him, mind you, but simply for the right to sign him. Wasted money if you ask me. They should be embarrassed.