Robinson Cano found an agent who is perhaps more powerful than Scott Boras, dropping Boras for Jay-Z this week. While it was previously suggested CAA Baseball's Brodie Van Wagenen would handle all of the contract negotiations, Jay-Z will be "intimately involved," Van Wagenen tells Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Heyman feels that Cano, next offseason's top free agent, has "at least tipped his hand that he wants to stay in the Bronx."
Boras, who never brokered a contract for Cano during their time together, flew to New York Tuesday to try to meet with his former client, writes Heyman. Notes Heyman, "As of late Wednesday morning, he had not heard a word back from Cano, who is notoriously non-confrontational." Perhaps players just aren't keen on making the breakup call to Boras. Former Boras advisee Jay Bruce admitted to me in February that his mom made that call with his contact at the agency, though it was certainly a different situation since Bruce was a teenager and did not have a relationship with Boras himself. Cano did not want to address his avoidance of his former agent, responding to the question with, "No answer on that one, how's that?" according to David Lennon of Newsday.
Cano's teammate Mark Teixeira, also a former Boras client, explained to reporters why some players might prefer other representation. He told reporters, including Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, "Everyone knows Scott likes to control everything. He has a financial-services part of his business, he has a sports-performance training side of his business, he has a mental-performance side of his business. He has everything that you could possibly do; he takes care of for you if you choose. It doesn’t necessarily benefit every player. Some guys need that, some guys want that. But the guys that want to take control of their lives and make their own decisions, it’s not ideal for."
Does Jay-Z have a conflict of interest, given his longstanding association with the Yankees? Certainly Boras doesn't sport a Yankees cap in public. Publicist Ron Berkowitz told Heyman, "Jay-Z's a New York guy, but he's going to represent his guys, and it's going to be about where the player wants to go."
