Daisuke Matsuzaka, who led Japan's Pacific League in strikeouts four times, may help the Boston Red Sox' marketing department even more than its pitching staff.

Signing the pitcher might pay even greater dividends to the team in additional sponsorship and advertising opportunities in Asia and the U.S, said David Carter, founder of the Sports Business Group, a sports marketing consulting company in Los Angeles.

"It's tremendous for them," Carter said. "If you can turn the Red Sox into a global baseball brand, the value of doing so resonates in a number of ways."

The New York Yankees boosted their popularity in Asia with Japanese outfielder Hideki Matsui and Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. The Seattle Mariners did the same with Japan's Ichiro Suzuki.

Yankees and Mariners games are broadcast in Japan, and both teams have sold Japanese advertisements in their ballparks. Matsui and Ichiro are trailed by a dedicated group of Japanese reporters.

"It's fair to say that the Asian community has a love affair with Hideki and they show up to his games, and there are a number of sponsors in Japan whom we have here," said Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost.

Canon Inc., Sony Corp., FujiFilm Holdings Corp., all based in Tokyo, became Yankees sponsors after the team added Matsui, Trost said. He declined to say how much revenue can be traced to Matsui, adding that the Japanese All-Star helped lift the franchise's profile.

"Our brand is worldwide and that only helps us with the branding," he said.

Matsuzaka in a Boston uniform will help bring one of baseball's biggest rivalries -- between the Red Sox and the Yankees -- across the Pacific Ocean. Matsui was a star with the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most popular club, before going to New York in 2003.

"The Red Sox will now rival the Yankees in terms of popularity here," said Robert Whiting, Tokyo-based author of four books on Japanese baseball including "The Samurai Way to Play Baseball: The Impact of Ichiro and the New Wave from Japan." "Everyone will love the idea of a Japanese star on each side of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. The Red Sox will sell a lot of Matsuzaka uniforms here."