BOSTON -- Good quality pitching remains, as ever, difficult to find, which helps explain why the Red Sox -- and at least a half-dozen other major-league teams -- are ready to go halfway around the world later this week to find it.

Beginning Wednesday, Major League Baseball will accept secret bids for the right to negotiate exclusively for the rights to star Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions.

The winner of the bid will then be given a 30-day opportunity to come to an agreement with Matsuzaka's American agent, Scott Boras.

Though Matsuzaka was named the MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic last March, he remains something of an unknown quality. The price, however, is expected to be steep. A survey of major-league executives last week indicated that the posting price -- the amount of money given to the Lions to gain the exclusive negotiating window -- is expected to top $20 million and could go as high as $30 million, or, more than double the posting bid for Ichiro Suzuki seven years ago.

Bids are sealed, with the amounts known only to the commissioner's office, which would then forward the top bid to the Lions.

Beyond that, the winning team must then satisfy Boras' demands. The agent, who counts Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon among his many clients, has said that he considers Matsuzaka the equivalent of a No. 1 starter, meaning an annual average value of at least $10 million.

For a team intent on securing Matsuzaka for four years, then, the total investment could top $75 million.

(Should a team fail to reach agreement with Boras after winning the bidding process, their posting fee would be refunded.)

"I think the guy's good," said one major-league general manager who isn't expected to be among the bidders for the pitcher, "but it may end up being that the chase isn't worth it. He may be (Hideki) Irabu all over again. You never know."

Irabu, originally signed by the San Diego Padres before being dealt to the New York Yankees, was the first Japanese pitcher of note to try his hand in the major leagues. In six seasons, he was just 34-35 and was famously derided as a "fat, pussy toad," by George Steinbrenner.

Most, however, expect that Matsuzaka, 26, will shine. He was 17-5 with a 2.13 E.R.A. in 25 starts for the Lions this season. In eight seasons, he has compiled a 108-60 record

"He's got very good stuff, no question" offers a major-league talent evaluator who has only seen the pitcher via video. "His fastball is in the low 90s, he's got a good split, and a good changeup. He's definitely legit."

Though not physically imposing, Matsuzaka has command of as many as five pitches, including a slider hybrid that is known as the "gyroball."

Bobby Valentine, the former Rangers and Mets manager who has managed in Japan the last four seasons, told The New York Times earlier this month that Matsuzaka "is the real deal. He has the ability to be one of the top starters in MLB."

For the Red Sox, Matsuzaka could provide a potential top-of-the-rotation arm to a staff in desperate need of upgrade. For the second straight season, the Red Sox finished 11th in the American League in pitching and the rotation has dipped dramatically since winning the 2004 World Series.

In 2007, two of the team's starters, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield, will be 40. Thanks to concerns about his shoulder, Jonathan Papelbon will be making the transition from the bullpen back to the rotation, where he has made just three career starts. Josh Beckett, though he won 16 games in his first season with the Sox, remains a work in progress.

But the Red Sox pursuit of Matsuzaka will not be solitary. The Yankees, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers are all expected to bid, and one club executive predicted that both the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers -- both of whom have done a lot of business with Boras in recent seasons -- will also take part.

In truth, they must be considered something of a longshot, with the two New York teams and Mariners established as early favorites.

The Mets have the need -- they will be without Pedro Martinez (rotator cuff surgery) for at least half of next season -- and the resources, thanks to their home market and a fledgling yet profitable TV network.

The Mariners, who are partly owned by Japanese business interests and feature countryman Ichiro Suzuki, the most successful Japanese import, are also well positioned.

But because the process is almost entirely about money, the Yankees are viewed as the clear favorites.

"I can't see Steinbrenner letting anyone else win this," ventured a baseball source recently.

Two factors make the process particularly appealing to Steinbrenner. First, the posting bid will not count toward the team's payroll, and thus, won't impact the team's luxury tax assessment. Also, no draft picks are at risk for compensation, as will be the case for top American pitching free agents such as Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt.

For a franchise intent on restocking its farm system without sacrificing picks, that's critical.

Some view this competition similar to the contractual sweepstakes for Cuban Jose Contreras, won by the Yankees over the Red Sox, in a Nicaragua hotel in November 2002.

With explicit instructions from Steinbrenner to his front office not to return to the United States without Contreras' signature on a contract, regardless of cost, the Yankees spent $31.5 million on Contreras, only to trade him after one and a half disappointing seasons.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340