On Baseball: Where's the Outrage?

It's been a couple of days since the Red Sox agreed to plunk down $51 million for the right to pay Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka a several dozen million dollars more, and I have been eagerly awaiting the outrage.

I'm still waiting.

I'm a Yankees fan. I was bummed that the Yankees failed to land the D-Mak rights. (Came in third!) But the hated Sox knew what they wanted and took no chances about missing out. They had the resources and used them. Good move for the Sox.

But there's still the question of the missing outrage. To wit: As I point out in my sports blog, the $51 million is more than the entire payroll of five teams. That bears repeating: The Red Sox have agreed to pay more money just to negotiate with a player than five teams pay for player services.

As an affirmed salary cap opponent, I think that's just fine. Like I said: The Red Sox had the resources and used them.

But where are the salary cap-niks? Where are the voices thundering about how the Red Sox use of their financial advantage is ruining the sport? Maybe it has to do with the fact that, as I noted at the start of the playoffs, baseball is enjoying an almost unprecedented run of competitive balance, with seven different champions in a row.

But I think the answer has less to do with competitive balance and more to do with this: We're talking about the Red Sox, not the Yankees. Imagine, for a moment, that the Yankees had bid $53 million ... or that their $32 million was the winning bid ... or that they had won at any level.

Does anyone doubt that if the Bronx Bombers had won the D-Mak rights, the sports media would have spent the last few days decrying how Steinbrenner's spending is destroying the sport?

UPDATE: Numerous readers have pointed out -- correctly -- that the Sox pay nothing if the fail to sign D-Mak to a contract. However, when they do, they will have paid $51 million for the right to talk to him.