Sunday afternoon, I watched my son playing tag football in the neighbors’ yard. One team had an extra player, an advantage they leveraged by having the bonus guy randomly jump into the action, generally in the middle of a play without warning to the other side. This seemed to work for everybody. Somehow the rules were understood by one and all, the kids were happy and the game went on.

Which brings me to the Daisuke Matsuzaka posting process. I’ve now read enough explanations of the process to believe I actually understand it, and my conclusion is that it makes absolutely no sense and that’s fine with everyone involved.

In case you’ve missed it, the Red Sox’ are apparently going to win negotiating rights later today at the cost of more than three times what it took for the Mariners to purchase those same rights to Ichiro. The Red Sox will then have 30 days in which to strike a deal with Matsuzaka and his agent, Satan.

If they don’t reach an agreement, Matsuzaka will return to the Seibu Lions, his Japanese League team, for the coming season. And that will be that.

This story at mlb.com suggests the Red Sox' interest in the Japanese ace is sincere and that they’re not merely trying to keep him out of pinstripes. I guess we’ll find out.

Either way, the fact that such a gambit is even possible is ridiculous. Is there a reason—make that a good reason—why the negotiating rights couldn’t revert to the team making the second highest bid if the Red Sox don’t sign Matsuzaka?

Maybe you know. Someone among the hundreds of thousands of readers of this Web site must have a thought. Just pass it along.