Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias has changed representation and is now a client of Magnus Sports, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Iglesias had previously been with the Boras Corporation.
The 27-year-old Iglesias logged career-highs in both games played (137) and plate appearances (513) last season and delivered characteristically strong defensive value for the Tigers in 2016. However, his offensive output took a tumble across the board, as he batted just .255/.306/.336 in that time. Iglesias’ batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage all fell well shy of the career .287/.336/.362 marks that he carried into the 2016 season.
Those struggles notwithstanding, Iglesias still landed a notable $2MM raise on last year’s $2.1MM salary in arbitration and will earn $4.1MM in the current season. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more next offseason before hitting the open market upon completion of the 2018 campaign.
Iglesias’switch has been reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation info on more than 2,500 Major League and minor league players. If you see any notable errors or omissions within the database, please let us know: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Good ballplayer, I hope he reaches his potential before his legs give out, as a Red Sox fan and I wish we still had him, Bogey at 3rd Iggy at SS
I hate Scott boras
Amen. I always enjoy hearing that he loses a client.
Why exactly? I see people express this sentiment a lot,, and I’m genuinely curious. Boras seems like a guy who is very good at his job and cares about his clients. His job is to get them (and therefore him and his company) the most money possible. Players hire him willingly, knowing that’s the case.
Because Boras never made it to the major leagues despite being a minor prospect – his minor league career ended after four seasons because of a knee injury – he also has a perspective on the game that a standard lawyer/agent doesn’t have. He knows about bus rides and cheap motels and waiting for that first callup and first big payday.
In terms of getting the most money/best deals for his clients he seems to do a great job a lot of the time and if that is how you’re judging an agent, he would appear to be elite.
He has a reputation though for discouraging clients from taking hometown discounts to stay with one team, and whether or not its true he has his clients test free agency and try to leverage clubs into paying more than they normally would through supposedly “dicey” tactics.
Whether or not its actually his fault, I think when he had Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales in 2014 test free agency and they couldn’t find deals until months into the season because they wanted too much/compensatory balance picks it sort of adds to his rep as greedy.
Its just easy to paint him as the evil agent ripping off and fighting against the small market teams. No idea if its true, but thats why I think people are not fans of him.
But the players have final agency over their careers. If they want to stay somewhere for a “home-town” discount they do and have. The Drew and Morales cases reek of collusion but obviously that can’t be proven.
As far as him “ripping off” small market teams, even those teams are owned by billionaires and can spend all the money they want. Look at what the Padres have done over the last year with IFA signing penalties. The Marlins, who for years have plead poverty, signed the biggest contract in major league history just a couple years ago.
Players don’t have to sign with him, of course. They do so knowing exactly how he operates.
Defensive shortstop who puts the ball in play consistently/weakly with little run production
With SS’s around the majors hitting the ball over the fence at an all time high lately… idk how much he’s really worth.
Good, solid ballplayer, just not top tier. The kind of player Boras habitually does not represent well in FA negotiations. Nice move by Iglesias.
Hey Jose, better read the Boras contract. He gets his 5% percent on your current and next contract as well, even if you switched agencies.
Depends on the team. Defense adds value and he’s already hit far better than he projected as a Sox minor leaguer. If the cost is not great. he’d look good on the Mets.
Iglesias is the type of player who could hang around for a long time because he does have a good glove and you can always hope he has one of his high BA seasons. The problem is that he doesn’t really add all that much offensively besides BA–he doesn’t walk much, he has no power–not even gap power–and he can’t run well. So, you run the risk of buying a slightly better version of Brendan Ryan.
Hope for one of his high BA seasons?
Reliance on BA alone fails, and OBP is a better measure of overall reached-base success.
Iglesias’s career .275 BA and .326 OBP aren’t bad at all for a shortstop, but that .352 Slugging and .678 OPS shout out “light-hitting glove-first man”.
He’s 86 percent as productive offensively as the average MLB player. Comps with Erick Aybar with the stick.
Should be of value as long as his glove is good, but is a better fit for a team with power elsewhere in the lineup — like the Tigers.
He switched professions also! Wasn’t he a singer?:)
Yeah, he was with William Morris Agency before Boras. His new agent promised him more National Anthem gigs.
He could be my hero baby, if he wins us a World Series!