Red Sox Pay $51 Million to Talk to Japanese Pitcher  For a
payment of over $51 million, the Boston Red Sox baseball team
has won the right to negotiate a contract with Japanese pitcher
Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox now have 30 days to sign the
young pitcher. Boston gets its money back from Matsuzaka's
Japanese team if the pitcher fails to sign with the American
club.    Most often it's the New York Yankees who pay
breathtaking amounts of money for headline players. Last night,
though, the big money came from their hated rivals: the Boston
Red Sox.  The Sox bid a record $51.1 million for the exclusive
right to negotiate a contract with Daisuke Matsuzaka, the best
pitcher in Japan.  NPR's Tom Goldman reports.  TOM GOLDMAN: The
$51.1 million shatters the previous high bid for negotiating
rights with a Japanese player. That was in 2001, when Seattle
paid about $13 million for the rights to talk to Ichiro Suzuki,
who the Mariners ultimately signed.  Boston's payment of $51.1
million goes to Matsuzaka's Japanese t