Prior to the 2007 season the Red Sox payed Matsuzaka's japanese team $50 million just to negotiate a contract with him. Then they paid him $51 million over a six year span. He is in the last year of his contract and has been barely above average with an exception for 2008. In '08 he went 18-3. In his 5 years in the league he has gone 49-30 which is average for pitchers in the MLB.
Daisuke had Tommy John Surgury in June to repair his UCL in his right arm. He is projected to come back sometime in june or july. hopefully he does a lot better after this. Most pitchers that have had it have done much better once they return. It may take him some time to get back up to speed but i have some confidence in him. Tommy John Surgery takes about a year for full recovery for pitchers because the coaches and medical staffs of the teams need to be really careful to not rush the players arm. I have had arm troubles in my UCL last year because i wasnt throwing the ball correctly. Every time i even threw the ball my elbow killed!! it was truly awful. I had to not throw for about a month before i could throw full speed repeatly. Then about 5-6 months ago i learned i need to pronate my arm to reduce stress on my elbow. This is probably what happened to Daisuke.
He has a career 4.25 ERA in his 5 seasons in the MLB. which isnt awful but judging by how well he did in Japan it could be a lot better. I honestly think it was a bad signing for the Red Sox. They lost over $100 million just in him when they really could have improved their team a lot more. He has amazing potential but he needs to use that potential and transfer it to skill. He also might have lost a lot of his confidence. I think once he is ready to pitch the Red Sox should have him in AAA to get used to pitching to live players and getting his confidence back against minor leaguers instead of coming right back to the MLB and facing some of the best hitters in the league like: Derek Jeter, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder and so on.
