BOSTON, Nov 15 - Boston fans rejoiced on Wednesday after the Red Sox won exclusive rights to negotiate with top Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, if only because it meant their nemesis, the New York Yankees, were out of the running.

The Red Sox agreed to bid a record $51.1 million for the right to negotiate with the 26-year-old right-hander, who plays for Japan's Seibu Lions.

"I like to see them getting him instead of the Yankees," said Michael Lydon, 43, of Medford, Massachusetts.

"I don't agree with the Yankees buying up everyone," Lydon added. "There should be more parity in the league."

The Red Sox have won six World Series to the Yankees' 26.

Boston's bid dwarfed the $13 million the Seattle Mariners offered to negotiate with Ichiro Suzuki, another Japanese talent who made the jump to U.S. Major League baseball.

The Yankees were among the other teams said to be interested in Matsuzaka. They already have Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui in their lineup.

In Boston, Matsuzaka would join a pitching roster including ageing mainstays Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield.

INTENSE PRESSURE

Local papers said the pressure on Matsuzaka would be intense, given the large sum of money involved.

"These are altitudinous stakes," wrote veteran Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan. "The money paid Mr. Matsuzaka will bring notoriety and, perhaps, unfair expectations."

Other fans said they expected Matsuzaka would be up to the challenge, given the intense attention he already faces in Japan.

"He's their best pitcher, so he's probably used to pressure," said Lee Harley, 36, of Winchester, Massachusetts.

"I'm glad to see anyone that might make the Sox better. Hopefully this makes them better," Harley said. "Good pitching is hard to find."

The deal could help to raise the Red Sox profile on the world stage, said David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

"They want to be thought of as one of the top global brands in sports and one way to do that is to make a statement by bringing in one of the top ball players in the world," Carter said.

Still, he added, whatever notoriety Matsuzaka has coming in, his reputation as a Red Sox player would depend on "the extent that he can be thought of as a player who has helped stick his finger in the Yankees' eye".