It took that much again, and a little more, to fly him the rest of the way to Boston.

Bridging the economic gap in the most expensive cultural exchange in baseball history, the Red Sox reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday with Matsuzaka on a $52 million, six-year contract. With $103.11 million on the table, the two sides flew back to Boston on Red Sox owner John Henry's private plane.

``Theo and I were still negotiating terms when we arrived,'' agent Scott Boras said after a long day of talks with general manager Theo Epstein, ``We finalized the deal when he arrived in Boston.''

The Red Sox planned a 5 p.m. news conference Thursday to announce the deal, a person familiar with the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Henry declined comment late Wednesday night.

``Tomorrow at Fenway,'' he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Matsuzaka gets a $2 million signing bonus, $6 million next year, $8 million in each of the following three seasons and $10 million in each of the final two years.

The Red Sox won the bidding for Matsuzaka's rights last month, promising to pay the Seibu Lions $51.11 million if they let him leave for the major leagues. But they had just 30 days _ until midnight ET Thursday _ to negotiate a contract with superagent Boras or the right-hander would return to Japan and Boston would keep its money.

When talks stalled, the Red Sox brass flew uninvited to Boras' turf in Southern California on Monday to meet with him in person. They said they had to leave Wednesday morning, with or without an agreement; Boras has said Matsuzaka would not go to Boston for a physical unless the sides had the makings of a deal.

Boras said the final negotiating session began at about 5:30 a.m. PST Wednesday, and within 90 minutes he was confident there would be an agreement.

``Daisuke really had three choices,'' Boras said. ``He could sign now. He could wait another year or he could wait two years and become a free agent. He had to determine how much money he was willing to give up now.''

When Henry's plane took off _ with Matsuzaka aboard _ from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., Boston radio stations and Web sites tracked its path as religiously as they had been counting down the minutes to the deadline. After a four-hour, 43-minute flight, the Dassault Mystere 900 tri-jet with a Red Sox logo on the tail landed in a light rain at Hanscom Field in suburban Bedford at 5:16 p.m.

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, president Larry Lucchino and Epstein were seen coming off the plane with Matsuzaka and Boras. Matsuzaka exchanged handshakes and bows with some among the Red Sox welcoming party before getting into an SUV.

There were several dozen fans to greet him and about the same number of reporters, many of them Japanese. A radio station distributed signs that pictured two dice and a K _ Matsuzaka's first name is pronounced ``Dice-K.''

As he left the airport for a physical at Massachusetts General Hospital, Matsuzaka rolled down his window and appeared surprised by the gathering. He waved and smiled when he stopped briefly alongside Kim Miner and Rebecca Powell, 17-year-olds from nearby Concord who were holding a sign that said, ``WELCOME HOME DAISUKE.''

``I was so psyched,'' Miner said. ``Because there was a small crowd, we got to see him close.''

Mark Fairweather, a fan from Lincoln, had his eight-year-old son, Nick, on his shoulders.

``We thought we'd just come out here to take a look at him,'' the elder Fairweather said. ``I'm glad they're getting some good pitching.''

Matsuzaka's agreement include $8 million in escalators based on awards that would bring the total to $60 million over six years, and also includes award bonuses. Boras said the deal includes travel from Japan for the player and his family, plus provisions for a trainer, a masseuse, an interpreter, an assistant and housing for spring training and the regular season.

If there had not been a deal, Matsuzaka's rights would have remained with the Lions and he could not have been offered to major league teams again until next November; he is not eligible to become a free agent in Japan until after the 2008 season.

Matsuzaka has a 108-60 record in Japan with a 2.95 ERA and 1,355 strikeouts in 204 games. He was MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic last March, won by Japan.

Negotiations had slowed because the Red Sox looked at the posting fee and the eventual contract as a $103 million payout for one pitcher. ``That magnitude is certainly the right ballpark for the commitment of the ballclub,'' Epstein had said.

Boras focused instead on only the money going to his client, saying the posting system for Japanese players was flawed.

``The greater the player, the greater the penalty, because the more a club values the player, the more they pay for the post,'' he said.