The GM's Almanac...Nov. 2

A near-daily look check of the Hot Stove League

The Rangers are "looking" at Daisuke Matsuzaka, which may or may not mean that they will actually bid on him. Word is that Matsuzaka will be "posted" on Thursday, which means let the auction begin.

To review, the Seibu Lions are posting Matsuzaka so he can play in the United States. To sign him, a team must buy his rights from the Lions. Once he has been posted, teams have four days to submit their bid to the Lions through the Commissioner's office. The highest bid gets the rights and then they have 30 days to work out a contract with Matsuzaka and his agent Scott Boras. If they can't, Matsuzaka goes back to Japan for one more year and then do it all over again after next season.

One report said he can't be an unrestricted free agent until 20 days into the 2008 season so technically he would have to go through the posting process again.

Ichiro Suzuki's rights went for $13.1 million. The rights for Matsuzaka could soar over $20 million although two things happened on Wednesday.

One, the Seattle Mariners announced they will not bid for Matsuzaka. Apparently they want to save their money for Adam Eaton. Secondly, word is the Yankees won't go higher than $20 million on their posting bid.

That may be a bluff but there are still at least the Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets to contend with if the Rangers are truly serious in their pursuit of this guy. Matsuzaka is supposed to be the best thing out there and Boras has made it clear that teams interested will have to treat Matsuzaka as a No. 1 starter, which could mean an annual salary of $10 million or more.

One concern is Matsuzaka, 26, has thrown a lot of pitches at a young age and he may be headed for a breakdown, especially if he can't handle the grueling Major League schedule as well as lineups that are much more powerful than those in Japan. But he was 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA this season after pitching for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

Plus, the posting fee doesn't count against the luxury tax threshold and you don't lose draft picks for signing him. Both Bruce Bochy and Bobby Valentine are on record as saying this guy is too good not to be successful in the United States.

So let's say it costs $25 million for his rights and then $10 million per season over five years. That's $75 million. Would you rather do that or pay Barry Zito, say, $72 million over six years? Remember, you know what you're getting with Zito. Perhaps.

This could be crazy. The free agent process often is not matter what side of the Pacific Ocean you're on.