Odds and Ends: A-Rod, Boras, Pettitte

Early Monday morning reading material…

• Interesting article in the New York Daily News regarding Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez.  Boras insists that many of his clients have not taken the largest deal offered to them, giving examples.  The article also touches upon recent Boras clients connected to performance-enhancing drugs (Rick Ankiel and Scott Schoeneweis).  Boras’ agency is known for its obsessive attention to detail for all of its clients, and seeing a few of them busted raises some questions.
• Last winter, we discussed the possibility of Hiroki Kuroda coming over from Japan.  Well, he’s a free agent again, and Nick Cafardo is wondering if 2008 will be the year.  Cafardo also noted that Daisuke Matsuzaka did not earn the Red Sox nearly as much marketing revenue as Scott Boras suggested.
• Newsday’s Ken Davidoff says Andy Pettitte intends to exercise his $16MM player option for 2008.  Davidoff points out that Pettitte has the same deadline for this decision as A-Rod has for his opt-out.  Davidoff also mentions that Roger Clemens’ most likely destination for 2008 appears to be back in Houston, if he plays.
• You’ve probably heard by now that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner will have final say on baseball decisions (especially Hank).  Hank will insist Joba Chamberlain be used as a starter in ’08, heightening the need to re-sign Mariano Rivera.
• The Hardball Times tries to place dollar values on some top free agents, plus Adam Dunn.