It's 100% official now: Daisuke Matsuzaka will have Tommy John Surgery, quite possibly never to pitch again for the Boston Red Sox.
After two weeks of speculation and scattered reports, Terry Francona confirmed after Friday's game that the controversial Japanese starter would undergo Tommy John Surgery, ending at the very least his season. Given the long recovery time for the surgery, the often contentious relationship between the team and Daisuke, and his expiring contract, it seems entirely likely that the team will decide not to bother bringing Daisuke back for any short period of time he could be available for late in 2012.
No matter whether you fall into the anti-Daisuke or...well, the Daisuke-neutral camp, it's hard to deny that the one-time NPB ace has been a disappointment. Signed to a $50 million contract after costing a similar amount in posting fees just to negotiate with, Matsuzaka has performed like a back-end starter when healthy, which will prove, ultimately, to only have been about half of the time.
None-the-less, that's one question on the team that at least now needs definitively to be solved. Whether that's by Alfredo Aceves, Tim Wakefield, Felix Doubront, or even Kyle Weiland or a trade acquisition remains to be seen. But for now, a sizable portion of Red Sox Nation will just be happy to have his frustrating outings be a thing of the past.