Super-agent Scott Boras is no stranger to the spotlight, but his unique role in the sport is in some respects more visible now than ever before. With free agency continuing to move at a remarkably slow pace, Boras provided some interesting comments on the matter to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag.
As the most recognizable agent to MLB fans, and the advisor to many of this winter’s best free agents, Boras is one of the most notable characters in the hot stove world. He has also long drawn ire for his non-apologetic efforts at maximizing the earnings of his clients. Most recently, in a rather surprising turn, a league statement even took a passive-aggressive swap at Boras (via Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports).
So, is Boras to blame for the slow pace of free-agent signings? Not in his own view. In addition to repeating his clever line to Passan — “I wouldn’t blame the baker if the flour doesn’t show up” — Boras says the pace of signings “has little to do” with him. Neither does Boras seem to believe the players are simply asking for too much in negotiations. MLB revenue has skyrocketed, he notes, and free agents are “just seeking what owners have done before.”
Rather, Boras suggests, this is about whether — or, really, when — MLB teams recognize they need to add pieces to win. Despite the worry in many quarters that a rush of contracts could come with reduced paydays for free agents, Boras says he is not concerned. Once the rest of the league realizes it has work to do to in keeping pace with the Astros — the most complete team in baseball, in his view — they’ll come calling.
This, perhaps, is the key quote to understand his view of things:
“Time is not a function of the market; ability to pay and demand are. The timing is not disturbing because the demand and the ability to pay are still evident.”
Of course, Boras is mindful of the need for a contingency plan. If teams “do not compete” — for free agents and, inextricably in Boras’s presentation, the World Series — “and instead choose to profit,” he says, then the player’s side “will have to address the system.” That comment is open to interpretation, but it surely does suggest that Boras feels he has potential avenues of redress if his clients are not able to find contracts at what he deems a market rate.
Perhaps what’s most notable about the viewpoint here is the fact that Boras continues to counsel patience while maintaining focus on the market fundamentals. Anxiety isn’t a problem for his clients, says Boras, who perhaps in some sense is advising other players and their representatives not to panic. Drawing attention to the leaguewide cash position is no doubt also an important element of a nascent PR strategy, should it be needed.
As Passan argues, there may well be some broader forces shifting the ground under foot. But as Boras suggests, we don’t yet know whether the market results will suggest a cause for broader concern. For the time being, timing aside, “demand and the ability to pay are still evident.” And regardless, surely, the players will be served best by holding the line as best they can.
In any event, the stage is set for a fascinating few weeks as we wait to see when and how the standoff is resolved. Boras, no doubt, will be at the center of the proceedings. There’s plenty more to absorb in Heyman’s post, including Boras’s thoughts on player aging and the oft-noted fact that some of his clients have signed late. You’ll want to read it in its entirety for the full effect.
He needs to adapt. Today’s game has more early extensions than ever.
He’s a greedy old talentless manipulator. He gets what he wants because he’s a shark. He words things the right way. If he was a lawyer he would have gotten oj Simpson off with a mistrial
He is a lawyer
oh snap
No he’s not he’s a talentless greedy old man agent. Nothing more. And even though I was trolled with downvotes every thing I said was true. Keep on hating.
ThatBallwasBryzzoed…….OJ’s team got him off with a not guilty verdict. Under your scenario a mistrial would have been a failure, for OJ, compared to the actual verdict. Maybe, just maybe, the down votes were because your rant had glaring flaws.
No maybe. It got down votes because it was a foolish, nonsensical rant.
McGeorge School of Law, JD 1982
I am not too big on the guy either. To call him talentless is just wrong though. His job is to get the most/best deal he can for his client and he’s the best in baseball at doing so.
He’s not only a lawyer but has a PHD
Love him or hate him he’s the best at it
Or maybe it had something to do with calling one of the top agents talentless while you type away in a website comments section on a Saturday?
Who wants to bet if this guy met Boras in real life he’d be grinning ear to ear and begging the guy for an autograph?
This isn’t jerry springer
No hate here bro – keep it coming
Sharks have talent though. As much as fans hate his tactics, he gets results for his clients. Even Stephen Drew got a large one year contract when there was only one team that wanted him.
He’s kinda like the most successful agent of his time…
He is a lawyer as are most agents.
so basically……he’s a good agent then
Basically
Exactly. You have to respect the guy for being the premier agent in MLB. That said, I wish he wouldn’t represent any player the Sox are trying to sign. Lol
Nobody comes to games to watch owners own.
I totally agree. People always say that professional athletes are paid too much, and maybe they are. But considering tickets, concession and tv deals (not to mention ads, etc), the money is there, so why shouldn’t the players get their share of the money?
Its not true that the money is there. Just look at the Tigers. The owner spent even though he was losing money. Even when they won, they were not profitable. They had to make cuts in other lower parts of the organization.
They do.
Who decides fair share
Who decides fair share.
It certainly can’t be the employees as they don’t take the risk the owners take the risk so they decide what the employees get paid.
Nobody goes to watch players cash their checks, either. We go to watch the Owners team play.
@bluejayfan
Maybe we wouldnt have to read about pace of play arguments if ticket prices were low enough for the average family of 4 to attend on a regular basis. Boris’ argument falls apart when he says his players should get what they are worth, but then demands more. JDM is a great hitter, but offers neither speed or defense. When has that EVER been worth $30 MM? David Ortiz was the face of the franchise and didnt get that.
what risk are MLB owners taking?? no team has ever sold for less then it was bought for there’s no real risk involved
except that that’s just negotiating he never expected to get JD 7 / 210. put by starting there and give some celebrities to work down to the point he wants. the Red Sox offering just five for 100 is just as ridiculous. eventually they’ll come to somewhere in the middle like 5 / 125 or 6 / 150
And you audited their books so knew they were unprofitable!
You and I and all of us pay for it. As salaries increase to stupid numbers, so do ticket prices. For my family of 5 to go to an MLB game costs about $250-$300 just to walk in. One game.
The money is there. What did he pay for the team when he bought it? What is the team worth if his family sold it today?
Except they aren’t just the means of production (employees), they are also the product.
You are correct and the owners are making bundles of cash off the stars so pay them. And if you are a player why not hire the best agent even if everyone else thinks he jerk.
Look what movie stars get for movie.
Years ago, I used to have a share of season tickets and went to 10-15 games a year. My family hasn’t been able to attend a game in two years because of ticket prices. Any time we do go, we bring in all of our food and beverages.
When I was a kid I could buy a ticket in the bleachers with my paper route money and get a hot dog and soda. Granted, that was a long time ago, but it prices should adjust with the cost of living if you want to keep the game culturally relevant in the way it has always been.
What risk? Owning a Major League Baseball team doesn’t seem to be particularly risky these days. If you’re bad at it just sell the team. As for owners deciding what employees get paid, that’s a function of a combination of the market, labor agreements and law.
Agreed, though I’m sure guys like Boras will always think the big market teams will always pay more and more regardless of whether the market starts to change or not
Good point, the smarter teams realize more and more that paying more for big stars just past their prime do not necessarily help them win more games even in the short term. Even Yankees almost made the WS last year on the back of young, cheap talent and not expensive guys like Ellsbury
Why would I pay a guy a huge amount of money for many years for what he did in the past when he may be about to go in to decline? Just because I have money to spend does not mean I should spend it like an idiot. Even the Yankees did not need highly paid stars last year to nearly make the WS. In fact their highest paid star before they traded for Stanton now has a contract that is an albatross and has been for awhile.
As a former season ticket holder for the Jays, high ticket prices are one of the reasons, I don’t go anymore. I used to sit 3 rows back on the aisle behind the blue jay dugout for $25 seat. lol, try that now.
Then I changed to the bleachers for $4 a seat and went to 40 games. That same seat in the bleachers at Rogers Cente is now $45.
Where? Which seats? (Just curious)
And the players decide whether they want to work for that company or not I’m sorry but communism doesn’t work and never has. China’s communist but has modify their economic system to where people do have a choice on where they work to an extent.
Mistrial.. Which trial? Not sure that’s a ringing endorsement after J.coch got him off of that two-bagger in ’94
The double murder and the Vegas one with all his memorabilia. I was gonna say the trial of the psycho that killed 12 people in the theater in aurora co. That dude got 22 life sentences. Boras would have gotten him off scott free. He should have gotten the death penalty. My point is if boras was a lawyer for that kid. He’s a shark and would have convinced the jury he didn’t do it.
He’s not a lawyer he’s a greedy old man. With no talents.
I guess he never played MiLB ball or has a degree as a Doctor of Pharmacy either.
BTW…his degree is I contract and tort law…rather useless in a murder trial.
Say what you want about him having no talents but obviously he has some talents as he has made a GREAT LIVING being an agent!!
Do you even know what arbitration is? It’s when two LAYWERS (like Boras for example, and one from the team) present their cases to a third party. Anyone who can get the type of money he has for some of his clients is TALENTED.
At worst, he’s a GREEDY TALENTED OLD MAN LAYWER.
I love a fast free agent market with lots of signings and dealing as a fan …. but I despise Boras more and love seeing this play out SLOW and want to see the prices plummet so a smaller market team can grab some needed players to contend at the expense of the GREEDY Boras propaganda machine !
I’m not “for” the Owners or against the Players, I just want to see Scott get it stuck up his.keester !!!! It’s long over due !
OJ Simpson got off without a mistrial.
No he was found not quilty
O.J was found not guilty because of the lack of evidence presented at the trail, not a mistrial.
OJ got away with it because of the stupidity of those who had him try a leather glove with a plastic glove on the hand before he put on the leather glove.That is why it did not fit. I suggest you try it. It will not fit properly
OJ did get off. With better then a mistrial. He got a verdict! A mistrial would have led to a conviction as it does not get you off.
The case can be retried. The prosecution would not have made the same mistakes like having him try on the glove or calling the racist detective.
To be fair, if profits for owners are increasing (record profits the last few years) then the players should see a share (maybe in the minors too but not likely). His job is to get the players their cut. I’d rather some of those profits going to on field talent then the back pockets of billionaire owners.
Not sure about all the teams but the Rangers payroll is up almost $100M since 2010. Seems like a pretty massive jump in a fairly short amount of time.
And that kind of increase is unsustainable. A lot of teams are flush with cash because of lucrative cable tv deals. Those kinds of deals could become a thing of the past sooner than we think. The swooning fortune of ESPN will tell us more in the near future
owners are greedy, too. it’s a business and both sides have to make the best deals they can. nothing wrong with that. as for OJ….an attorney has a duty to get the best deal for their clients.
If his clients don’t get paid, “will have to address the system” just means that Boras going to start making threats by yelling “collusion” and calling for an investigation
No. He’s referring to the system that rewards teams for tanking. Roughly half the league is sitting out free agency because they’re “rebuilding.” Teams are willing to rebuild because there’s no financial risk. Revenue sharing allows them to be profitable despite putting out a subpar product.
Look, I get the need for teams to rebuild. But why should teams make huge profits during that time? It’s really backward …
Teams are tanking because they aren’t realistically good enough to contend. It’s pointless to throw money away on a losing team, epecially if there isn’t enough talent to improve a roster in a away that makes sense financially. It’s akin to fiduciary responsibility in a corporation.
Yes, but teams aren’t good enough to contend in the first place because ownership isn’t willing to spend. See: Pittsburgh.
Yes but teams aren’t willing to spend because no amount of expenditures will make those teams a legitimate competitor. See: Pittsburgh
There’s two big reasons this offseason has been painfully slow: the luxury tax, and the fact that most of the free agents just aren’t that good. If a team like the Rangers were to spend 200 mil on Hosmer and JD, then go sign Darvish, they would STILL not be good enough to compete. In that case why would they bother? Especially with crazy strict penalties for spending?
I never understood how the MLBPA let the agreement punish teams for signing free agents. I get compensation picks for the team that loses a free agent, but to lose your first rounder because you’re trying to sign a good player?
Get caught hacking into another teams database- lose draft picks
Sign a good player to make the MLB team more competitive- lose draft picks
Bingo! Exactly right although I still don’t like the term tanking. Losing as a by product of your talent pool is different than losing on purpose to gain a higher draft pick.
I heard an interview with Theo Epstein this week where he said it wasn’t the Cubs goal, in his first years to go from 72 wins to 78 wins. They goal was to build a talent pool that could possibly have sustained success over a long period of time. Once that pool was created and became viable, then it was time to cement things with free agents that fit. Edwin Jackson, withstanding, that has seemed to work very well.
The White Sox are following a very similar path. They have built the best number of highly viable resources at the minor league level and until they are truly ready there is no difference between 72 and 78 wins. (Or 65 or 80)
The market is slow now because there is a pretty wide gap between the good and not good and there is just too big a number of teams that don’t make sense for the Darvishs and Arrietas of the group.
IACub I get that argument, but the reason teams lose a draft pick is to make sure the rich teams don’t swoop in and sign every free agent
I do not get your point on Pittsburgh. So they should just call Boras and sign his guys for whatever Boras wants and then that makes them an instant contender with a bunch of high priced older free agents on the downside causing payroll issues for years?
Actually I do not get why teams get compensation for losing a free agent.
He is a free agent. Pay him or lose him.
Tanking is nothing but a media term of art that is now all the rage. No one is tanking. Rebuilding is not the same. When you rebuild you do not need overpriced free agents and you need to find your young talent which is painful and losing will happen but its the price you pay.
This is not the NFL where top draft picks always make it and if everyone is “tanking” you do not get the top pick anyway
Pittsburgh is not New York. Pittsburgh is a small relatively poor market
Paying too much for free agents can easily make you a loser. Look at the Orioles, Angels and Mariners. If you want to tank then just overpay guys with a limited future for what they did in the past or for only being able to hit the bombs while striking out 200 times. Smart teams build on younger talent not just because it’s cheaper but because it’s improving rather than declining
And Boras huffed … and he puffed …. and he screwed his own clients with his greed
The big question I have to ask you, Mr. Boras,
Player Opt-out or no Player Opt-out, after year 2-3?
That is the question.
Also, do you think you’ll regret rejecting that five-year $125M contract, from the Boston Red Sox? ($25M AAV)
Boras is worse thing that happened to a long time season ticket holder. Ever since my team began signing top boras player prices have gone up dramatically
I’m all for players getting a fair cut it seems that it comes out my pocket more often then not.
As I fan I’m urging my GM not over pay rather they bring up kids then these over 30 expensive players.
Astros, the most complete maybe? I think compete was misspelled. Sorry to point it out but it was confusing
they did compete better than anyone
Complete is indeed what I meant. Thanks for the heads up.
If we are ok to nitpick…
Passan took a swipe.
Not a swap.
No no I think it’s swamp. MLB league office took a swamp at Boras. Boras doesn’t like swamps.
Boras was born in a swamp, that reptilian devil-tongued carpetbagger own greed drives the deception hat he is just trying to get his clients a fair cut but what he does this all without the concern for the game of baseball. He wouldn’t stop an owner from paying a player even if it meant driving the team to a point of insolvency, as long as he and his clients get paid. That’s my only issue, all that suffers is the game. Kudos to the owners/GMs for actually raisin heir collective intelligence to operate above one man’s delusions.
You only wish you could be half as good at your job as Boras is at his.
He’s going to hurt his players if he doesn’t start to change his direction. Front offices have caught on, and just aren’t having it. Many were prepared to say JDM was worth $150m coming into the offseason but since he played a $200M charade, thats down between $100-125. Great job, Scott.
I don’t see how that changed anything for Martinez.
Boras can say what he thinks his player is worth all day long. What matters are the offers and then driving the price.
He could have said $300M or $125M, Martinez would still have the same offers/communication in hand
I disagree because if your going to high ball by that much you’re going to get low balls in return. You kill the idea of teams bidding against each other.
You also check clubs out.
I’m a Braves fan. I specifically look to the 2012 offseason, when we needed a CF. We liked what we had in Michael Bourn, but a Boras client demanding 5 yr/$100m as a starting point for an aging speed guy didn’t look good. We jumped the gun and signed BJ Upton, thinking power would age better.
Both contracts were bad….but bourn lost the Braves (and their $75m) A’s a bidder.
Bourn got 4y/$48m. I could almost promise you the Braves would have beat that. They offered 12m for 1 yr AFTER signing BJ.
I wonder if he gets left standing with egg on his face and has to take considerably less very late because they have no other choice. I.e. One of the starters or one of the guys where there’s a deep line in that position
It does sound like he’s planning to potentially make some moves, maybe even litigious ones, if he feels like the market for his clients isn’t what he thinks it should be.
Its crazy hard to show collusion without a smoking gun and owners are smart enough to not put things on paper or digital media. Barry Bond I think is still trying to prove it when he went unsigned, in the end,
Boras doesnt have any mystery team to pull out of nowhere since everything with contract seem to be “leeked” out when it concerns him. Also these young guys are coming up a lot quicker pushing out the vets a lot sooner. so no need to spend big on that one guy anymore especially when you look at the last few world series teams. All built from within with a couple of roleplaying free agents for the most part.
Not saying he’ll be successful, but the owners got slapped down once before for collusion.
And you hit on one of the possible points yourself – the contracts get leaked every time. If it can be proved that those leaks are coming from teams there is a case to be made that it constitutes a form of collusion.
That would be about the only thing they could use. The owners got slapped down in the 80s over collusion because they had a commissioner telling them they’d be stupid to pay the millions players demanded just to win a World Series. That was pretty damning evidence and a clear smoking gun. Unless they turn something like that up, collusion is pure speculation. Or, as you mention, evidence that teams leak contract terms as some form of “gentleman’s agreement.”
I think a lot of you guys think that agents walk into free agency, create a pamphlet on their players with the price.
Nobody says prices until they have met several times. Agents want clubs to tell them what they think their player is worth. And teams want agents to tell them what it’s going to take.
Neither side says numbers until they have a good idea of what the parameters of a deal are going to look like.
Boras May enter a negotiation talking about how Martinez compares to Cespedes, and how he is younger.
That’s how he would start the dialogue of the price he expects for J.D. . Which a team would then understand, somewhere around $27.5, and likely a 5th year since he’s younger.
Teams would then stop discussion or ramp it up if they feel comfortable with that.
Boras is going to tell teams to wait because he may want certain players to set the market first, potentially positively affecting a players price, or more teams may match up as a players stock and interest varies throughout the off-season.
Numbers don’t get thrown around until it’s time to sign and some last minute bidding.
I still think he signs with the Yankees
B. S. Players have asking prices as well. You think teams just say hello and start bidding. When they talk and Boras says parameters are 7 years $210m that is not the ask?
There isn’t an ask.
Boras doesn’t walk in anywhere and say ‘this is the price’
That isn’t how any of this works
Actually he has for about 2 decades been the market setter. So that basically what he does
“I wonder if he gets left standing with egg on his face and has to take considerably less very late because they have no other choice.”
That’s what they said about Prince Fielder who didn’t sign until late January 2012. How did that end up working out financially for him and Boras?
I wonder how he is hurting the players. He is advising them to hold out until they get a bigger and better payday. Seems like he is helping them in the long run.
How is he helping them in the long run. Time will tell but saying hold out and you get a better payday does not mean he is helping. Suppose that payday does not happen? Ever hear of JD Drew. A Boras client? Ask him how that worked out
Ever hear of Prince Fielder?
It’s not like they don’t need the money. These players are set for life, and have already made millions. It’s the principle of the matter. They want to get paid for thir value.
He isn’t worth 70 for 4 he had one year
What’s surprising to me is how Scott Boras has so many clients. He’s not doing anything magical. Surely some hungry young hot shot agent can make nonsensical remarks and wait out the market too. Probably for half the rate. I have to imagine Boras charges a pretty hefty fee for his services.
Beard just research Scott Boras on wiki before you make another ignorant commment please.
Are you in fact Scott Boras?
A bad comment and a worse come back beard
Are you in fact clueless?
Same fee. He just gets the most for his players among all agents.
He’s the best at his job at representing the players. The players still make the decisions.
Same fee? I thought MLB had no commission restrictions?
They (agents) are limited by how much they can take. It was mentioned in an article i saw years back and don’t remember for sure the amount. someone may know for certain, tho think it was like 4-5% of total amount.
Think where read it was one of Curt Schilling’s articles when he was with Boston and he mentioned how much he saved representing himself.
That’s not strictly true. There’s a lot more going on with Boras.
First of all he has a direct connection with a lot of owners, they run in the same circles as he is also enormously wealthy, and have relationships going back years. That access has allowed him to do end-runs around front offices in the past and get deals that the GM didn’t want to make.
Secondly, while some front offices might actively hate him, he represents so many elite players that they can’t risk alienating him. If Boras calls every FO in baseball will pick up the phone and listen.
Thirdly, he gets to talk to the media, and therefore the ticket buying public (and ownership) whenever he wants. He can call out teams for not spending and cause anger in a team’s fan base. He can apply pressure that no other agent can.
.
To sum up, love him or hate him, the man is EXTREMELY good at his job. Period.
Fans should just take everything he says with a grain of salt, assume it is posturing with a purpose, and wait to see how it all plays out. At the end of the day, he isn’t controlling $100MM or so of my future earnings. (I only wish that I had such concerns.)
Oh if Boras calls they pick up the phone. Lol oh wow. I am sorry you think if other agents call the GM they do not take the call? Haha
And the only owners he has connections with and cons on a regular basis are the Lerners of the Nationals and Iltch of the Tigers but he passed away.
I was being facetious, yall are far too serious for a Friday night.
But seriously though I’m surprised some younger agents haven’t stepped up and tried to take some of his market. Or at least if they have, they don’t make a lot of noise.
Oh so now you are serious but when you say something stupid and get reamed then its how dare anyone take you serious and its everyone elses fault?
You were not being facetious. You were uninformed. Its ok. So others helped educate you. Now you know. Rather than thank them you attack them?
He’s upset that the so called big market teams are not bidding against each other the old supply and demand are NOT in his favor. One of his go to owners in Detroit has passed away and his other in Washington has to worry about Bryce next year.
“free agents are “just seeking what owners have done before.””
If people realize that something they were doing was not working and was a bad idea, are they obligated to continue doing it because it is “what (they) have done before”?
The failures of his past clients is one of, if not, the main reason for the paradigm shift in the market.
I keep wondering when/if someone is going to jump ship from Boras. Yes his clients in the past have gotten paid, but he also usually has had many of the elite players as clients. This off season it appears that many of the better (out of the bunch anyway) free agents are Boras clients. Surely the percentage of his clients being in the top ranks could be impacting the slowness of the current free agent market. I’d imagine that not every client is perfectly comfortable playing the waiting game. Surely someone (or their families) are starting to feel a bit antsy.
He has lost clients plenty of times of the years. First one i can think of was A-Rod
Thanks, I knew that Boras lost A-Rod as a marketing client, but kept him as a baseball only client. However I was referring to this year’s crop of free agents. I’m wondering when/if one of them is at least contemplating jumping ship.
I apologize that I was not specific enough.
He lost Mark Teixeira to Casey Close, but that was towards end of his career, after Boras already negotiated Teixeira’s last contract (8 years $180M)
There was 5 years $112.5M left on Teixeira’s contract, when he dropped Boras and hired Casey Close.
riveraveblues.com/2011/03/teixeira-leaves-boras-44…
One agent in his prime I remember was Edwin Jackson lol
He was coming off a one year $12M contract, negotiated by Boras and in his prime.
His new agent did well. four-year $52M contract from Cubs, with $8M signing bonus—paid upfront.
He was coming off a one year $11M* contract,
negotiated by Boras, before signing that 4 year $52M, negotiated by his new agent.
legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/na…
People are commenting on here as if Boras is the reason the market is slow.
8 of mlbtr’s top 10 free agents are still unsigned, and off the top of my head, only 3 of them are Boras clients. It’s not him. Teams are aware of next years class, nobody that is a free agent is a necessary fit, and teams are avoiding long term commitments to aging players.
I know that Boras represents Hosmer, Arrieta, Moustakas, and JD Martinez. That is 50% of the eight top ten free agents unsigned. I’d venture that is at least part (and I in no way am saying all) of the slowness of the market.
There are several reasons why this off season is slower than others, but Boras is at least a contributing factor.
I see JDM going the Cespedes route and taking a 3 year big dollar with double opt out and hoping to catch some of the dollars next year assuming his numbers stand up and proves he can play d to be a factor.
the rest i see struggling to get what they want or maybe even market value at this point of the offseason. Most teams are going with what they have for the most part with reports starting soon. The rest may have to take fluff contracts for a season or two. I see hosmer making the most out of the bunch total dollars just because of age but not aav.
The one player im shocked has not signed is Todd Frazier. He is pretty versatile which every team is looking for that type of player and i dont think he is asking crazy money as i have not heard anything about his camp. Im hoping the mets get him as he was ideal player before Gonzalez signed. He covers first and third, good clubhouse guy, and solid in the field and at the plate.
Its free agency. They all sign for “market value.” For some, it will be less than they want, but it will be what the current market says they are worth.
I’ll say this, as a fan I wouldn’t want my team to sign *any* of those guys unless it was at a crazily discounted rate. All of them are too old, to flawed, and too risky to be betting big money and a long term commitment on.
Most of them are just barely 30 lol
I really feel like teams are tired of players and agents wanting more and more, teams can’t afford these crazy contracts and if they want a certain player they have to over pay and give too many years then are stuck with these crazy contracts when players aren’t worth them at the end end of the contract, you’re seeing teams having to eat way too much money to get rid of a player more and more. I think teams have put their foot down a little this offseason and would rather fill holes through trades and that’s what we are seeing this offseason. There are still some good players out there and in last yeRs they would’ve already been signed to some crazy contract, that’s a fact but instead we are creeping up to pitchers and catcher reporting and they still aren’t signed which is crazy to me but it makes sense if the teams are trying to take back some of the control from the agents and players.
The company you work for is probably also tired of paying its employees more and more every year.
I’ve been through a layoff where the company surgically cut exactly the salaries necessary to be able to show a profitable enough quarter on the books to keep its share price from dropping because it was concerned about the possibility of a hostile takeover. The company was profitable, but a bunch of people lost their jobs because it needed/wanted to be more profitable.
That’s how corporations work. Don’t kid yourself.
The leak a few years back showed that even teams that constantly cry poverty, like the Marlins, were actually making millions in profits while telling everyone they were losing money. They fleeced the Miami taxpayers while claiming poverty, refused to let anyone look at their accounting, were found out to be lying, then turned around and dumped all their recently signed expensive players and went right back to raking in profits on a shoestring payroll.
Baseball is making record profits, and if they could get away with not paying the players anything at all they would do it. Like, tomorrow.
So maybe don’t worry so much about how billionaires and their billion dollar assets are doing. I’ll believe something a baseball team says about its finances the day they open their books.
@momus
Boo hoo. Go cry me a river. No one cares about your company politics or share price and comparing a company giving employee raises has zero to do with free agency and absurd demand.
Hey if the employee said I do not want that $20 k raise I demand $200k raise. Then what?
So owners now have to put their foot down after getting prime years for nothing? First off there is something inherently wrong. There’s something wrong when fans/supporters start to side with the owner. As a Dodger fan, I can appreciate what they’ve done and understand what they’ve spent to remake the organization. But man as a general baseball fan if you want to complain about rising salaries shouldn’t you also complain about an owner having 10-12 years of control that averages out to absolute pennies? Sure the system is outdated and FO’s are now keen on that, but blaming the player is laughable.
They players portion of the revenue has basically stayed the same for over a decade. So no they aren’t getting less at all
I blame whoever negotiated the last CBA. I found it to ve bad for the players. I mean, signing a ok tee that rejected a QO costs more now than before. The luxury tax is wayyy worse. And I agree with Boras, players get a smaller piece today of the total revenue than years past.
agree, the players are hurt by the arbitration process in my opinion.
Sure pal. Donaldson for example really got screwed in arbitration. He got only $23 million!
QO is no where near as bad as last time! You lost a first round pick and the slot money! You are going to get what $17 million for one year or roll the dice your going to get $20 million over multiple seasons it’s all a gamble!
But now teams can lose multiple picks and international money. Take a team like the Yankees, if they sign Machado and go over the luxury tax, the will lose its second- and fifth-highest selections in the following year’s Draft, as well as $1 million from its international bonus pool for the upcoming signing period. 8 see this has worst than just losing a 1st rounder
Yep. The owners effectively neutered the union. They need to come back strong or they’re going to end up like the football players.
That would be Tony Clark, and Jeff Passan’s article roasted him for it
Smaller piece of the pie? Maybe. So what. They are getting MORE millions then they ever did. That is what counts. They are making more then ever as well.
People are talking $400 million deals for Harper and Machado for example next year.
Excuse me if I do not cry for the poor players
All frustrated with the pathetic offseason can blame Boras.
Teams are not caving to his demands which is great, let this be a lesson learned to players who switch to him.
As much as I despise Boras, I think the slow offseason can be blamed on the likes of Pujols, Fielder, Josh Hamilton, Choo, Big Panda, etc… In other words, players that have signed huge contracts become albatrosses for their team. Teams have seen countless cases of big time free agent signings turning into major flops. Throwing $100M at a player who will stink after a few years isn’t prudent.
If Boras wasn’t Boras and wasn’t going to hold out until someone pays him and his guy more than they are worth, hamstringing their respective teams financially….
I would say he could take 1 of his clients and sign for a touch less than he normally would, and get this thing rolling himself. I’m not saying a discount. I’m only saying maybe not be quite so bullish on one he thinks he can get a good contract for.
Oh so which client shall be the sacrificial lamb so to speak? I guess its ok to screw one client? No sir
Its plain and simple .. this season big money teams yankees dodgers giants angels etc are being mindul of the cap so cant put big money teams against each other.
Also the biggest dollar free agent JDM closest comp is probably Chris Davis who got less than JDM is asking for and probably was better at the time than him. He is what now replacement level player 2 years into that deal. Now it seems like you can get an older veteran with a little less production for what half if not less than what the top free agents are getting. Personally, I would rather go that route, Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson signed for.in total is less than what the red sox offered JDM AAV. There is still money in the til to go out and get a mid range reliever and still have money leftover. I may get a couple of extra homers a year but is it really worth it? Especially if it ruins flexibility for a few years?
Just my thoughts on why its so slow this year. Will be interesting to see next year though when so many big guys reset their luxury taxes and really top quality FA are on the market (Machado, Harper, Kershaw etc assuming they dont get extended)
actually, the big market teams have added salary, just via trade. Most teams are finding better value on the trade market.
I dont think really adding all that much in the end as they have been shipping out a good salary with it or adding years for aav. It is almost restacking their money by moving cheaper potential For example,. Castro went with Stanton, Was it Span that went with McCutchen. the dodgers atlanta trade, There really wasnt a team taking on huge dollars just for prospects like the cards were willing to do for stanton trade. I could be wrong on this but that is just from trades i can recall.
Ability and willingness to pay are two different things. More teams are trying to stay under the cap.
It’s terrible that so many people are jumping all over Boras for doing his job and making sure his clients get the deal they see as best. It’s crazy that everyone is on the ownership’s side despite the fact that they continue to make bank when the players are the ones actually doing the work. No one goes to a ballgame to see the owners. You go to see the players! Stop buying in the The subversive narrative that Boras or any other agent is damaging the game. As advertising revenues soar, the players should get their fair cut.
Very true.
I agree with the sentiment players should get their fair share but i like the way football is structured better. Where dollars are in a pool and everyone has equal share of the dollars instead of the Luxury Cap. This way all teams can compete. I am not a fan of the non guaranteed contracts they use there though. If they can do both in baseball with salary floor and shared revenue with guaranteed contracts i think would be ideal for any sport. The players are guaranteed a certain percentage of revenue if im not mistaken as well. Somewhere near 50 to 60 percent if i remember right.
Boras i cant fault him for what he does but its almost shadey in the way he works. Almost like a con man where he stretches everything to the limit and not always on the up and up. Hence why a couple of teams will pass on his clients rather than work with him.
Football has the best system for salaries and payrolls. Players are highly motivated to keep improving their game after signing contracts. If they stink they get cut. Sure the team gets penalized, but not nearly as much as having an overpaid baseball player who can no longer produce.
I hate the ‘no one goes to a ballgame to see the owners, they want to see the players’ argument. I actually go to see my team win a ballgame. I can’t think of a single player today I’d force myself to a game to watch more than another.
I believe as a fan you actually invest in your team, both monetarily and mentally. So seeing a player do something for $30 million that I would do for minimum wage can bring resentment when that player isn’t producing. In other leagues you can cut the player but in baseball you are stuck with your Pujols contract when he’s a negative player and it hinders your ability to win. It causes resentment to stomach a player saying a 5 year, $125 million contract isn’t enough to play DH at Fenway Park. On the flip side, sometimes owners are the bad guys. if I was a Pirates fan I’d be irate at Nutting for not investing in his team because I’m invested in the Pirates with my wallet, time and passion for the club.
First – something you *can’t* do, no matter how much someone pays you. So the fact that you’re willing to accept minimum wage for something you are incapable of doing is irrelevant.
Second – what kind of insane world do you want to live in where people can just tear up a contract whenever they feel it’s not in their favor? Oh yeah sure, I sold you that house, but that was years ago and now the housing prices in the area have skyrocketed so I’m tearing up the contract and taking back my house.
The worst owner in the league, who cried poverty constantly just sold his team for $1.2 BILLION. Nearly ten times the money he actually put into the team. Do you think that all these billionaires line up to buy sports franchises because they lose them money?
.
The worst owner in the league actually got his team two World Series trophies while the Pirates didn’t play one season of .500 baseball for over two decades. Also, I sign a contract to work for a company but they do have the right to fire me or lay me off at any time. Are you comparing players to a house?
Regarding these billionaires, owning a team in the long run is to make a profit but it’s also to put out a quality product that people will buy. At some point in a company you spend a lot more money than you make to build a following or to invest in the long-term asset of said company. Look at Amazon – despite posting just a handful of profitable quarters in the last twenty or so years, it’s the fourth-largest public company at almost $470 billion in market capitalization. It’s called investing for a reason.
I currently see his clients unemployed. At this moment, he doesnt appear to be doing his job. When the rest of the league adjusted to Moneyball strategies, the A’s began struggling. The league has now aware of Boris’ strategies, and I dont see him adjusting.
Boras is on track with his comments but is not entirely accurate. Ability to pay is one of the two elements of demand. The other is willingness to pay. Together, they make up the definition of “demand”. What is lacking in the FA market right now is a willingness to pay.
Very good point. I have the ability to go and buy a nice new high end sports car. However my willingness to get rid of my 9-year old car, that is paid off, and still runs great is minimal.
You can’t blame the baker if the flour isn’t delivered. Understood. But the baker needs to account for the steaming pile of horse s*** he dumped on WAS last year in Matt Wieters. Important to understand that Boras’ statement doesn’t imply accountability.
Accountability for having bad players as clients?
Accountability for having a bad player as a client?
“Most recently, in a rather surprising turn, a league statement even took a passive-aggressive swap at Boras . . . “
Swap or swipe?
I had originally written this off as a one-year blip about luxury tax resets in preparation for the massive class next year, and I do think that plays some role, but I actually find the argument that Passan’s source made about Cashman and its effect on other executives really compelling. It’s not enough to present an analytical viewpoint of the game as a means of achieving long-term success, because everyone (except for Miami, I guess) is analytical; front offices’ selling points to ownership now may very well be about keeping spending down in order to ensure their own job security. Middleton talked about how MacPhail and Klentak essentially urged him not to spend money for a couple of years, which seems to support this theory
I just see him doing his job to get the most for his clients than he can, revenues are up, many teams have tv deals skyrocketing and instead of spending money to win they are pocketing their cash. In the end it’s not boras making the final decisions, it’s the players. If they wanted to sign they would. I tend to side that the owners are just trying to save every cent while the players are looking to get market value. Which together is slowing down the market
Hit the nail on the head. I
The real issue is how MLB has been structured. How young players and minor leaguers are compensated is a joke. The players’ union has sold them out for their A-Rod type constituency as opposed to pushing for something fair for all. The owners are naturally going to swindle fans and players alike since that is what serves their interests. The union hasn’t served the players, broadly speaking, well. Now the gravy train of those massive contracts could be ending, so negotiations should focus on getting players set up well young IMHO.
Ducksnort well said!
Haters gonna hate. But at the end of the day if you were an agent, you would try and get the most money, and if you were a player you would want the most money. just been an awkward off-season.
What you’re seeing is a market correction (just like the stock market), when overvalued and inflated contracts (stocks) come back down to Earth.
I mean, let’s be honest, all of these contracts are extremely inflated. How long was this going to go on? The luxury tax is also a huge factor.
For so many years, the Yankees set the trend of buying players to win. This allowed players to have much more power, since this was the trend of pretty much every team.
Now, the trend is “The Epstein Method,” and advanced analytics and sabremetrics. You focus on young, controllable, team friendly contracts.
You lock these guys up for 7 or 8 years, immediately, and pay them much cheaper. The guys, being young, are happy with the money.
It’s just smart business. Signing a guy like Arrietta for 5 or 6 years at $180 million dollars is just idiocy, in my opinion. Especially considering his metrics have all dropped, and he’s on the wrong side of 30. You’re basically just rewarding him for his past success with other teams.
Boras will have to adjust to a new era. This isn’t going to change.
Teams trended with trading for prospects now they can maybe contend in short term plan$ ? Take WSox they have a boatload of money to spend if they wanted to but their prospects they’ve acquired in last year sets them up to contend maybe in 2020 so they won’t spend on FA now. The team friendly contracts controllable with multiple years left on them allowed to better the return on Sale Quintana and Eaton which takes a year or two off a basic 5 year plan to contend and makes them a potential player in FA in next year or so. Who knows maybe just wishful thinking
Ok I’ll be that guy… I don’t really understand the collision deal. I understand collusion if it’s keeping a guy out of baseball. Barry Bonds is a possibility. But I don’t really get it for guys teams really want that can benefit multiple teams. Let’s just throw out JDM. Say a team is willing to pay 5/160, but owners have privately capped him at 120. Are 29 other teams (or as many that are willing to pay more than 120) really going to stand by as their competition signs them for a below market deal? I’d think in the end, one way or another, a bidding war would still ensue once player gets close to putting pen to paper. The only thing I can see collusion being in this offseason is teams just agreeing to hold out late unless it’s a below market deal in hopes that in the end all players sign below market and all teams benefit. Is that what everyone is alluding to?
Uh… that scenario you describe would be pretty clear-cut collusion.
What I was getting at is I’m not sure what people are insinuating. I get everything I mentioned would be collusion, but what I was trying to ask is in what manner are they colluding? I worded it poorly but I’m trying to get a pulse on what way exactly are owners supposedly colluding and playing the different scenarios through.
I’m not trying to argue what is or isn’t collusion. I just want to get an idea of what players/agents/fans are directly suggesting as a “they are doing x and y to bring down the market. There are different ways to collude.
The problem Boras faces is the quality of the free agents.
Of the same thing happens next year when a potentially historic free agent class comes up then he can complain.
He wants 200 million for a DH. He wants 200 million for a First baseman that may have had a career year and isn’t worth that kind of money and. He wants a monster contract for pitcher that has falling peripherals and aging.
He can complain all he wants to but the fact is he is wrong in this one these guys just aren’t marquee and the market is telling him this. Teams are getting smart and don’t won’t to overpay for made up superstars.
If Boras tries to take this to court any competent attorney for MLB will just point that out. He is trying to make something g out of nothing. The only thing Boras is guilty of is overplaying his hand.
Boom
Free agency turned into a rigged auction where the big market teams used their financial power to out-leverage the rest of the league – other than the occasional oddball team making a splash, and hometown extensions, we all know where the talent generally ends up.
So, to win, teams lacking money started getting smart with their drafting and development, and started building rosters differently, and found success. The end result? Well… the big market big money got smart too. They spend, but they spend strategically… all while growing quality home grown players and going bargain bin hunting too.
The end result? Big market teams do not draw on free agency as blindly and wildly as they used to. We know it wasn’t the Rays and A’s of the world contributing greatly to top slice FA demand and the resulting prices. The big market teams were driving those numbers. They simply don’t build with their raw $$$ power as much as they had been doing for quite some time.
A mini-storage manager once told me his biggest competitor wasn’t other storage facilities… it was a dumpster. The FA market isn’t quite what it was… because FAs aren’t competing against eachother. They aren’t competing for a finite pool of money that will absolutely be spent in its entirety on FA this winter. They’re competing against the 2018 FA class, the 2018 trade deadline, the star who is going to be an FA in 2019 whose team pulls the plug and rebuilds. To some extent that was always true, but clearly the annual big market winter auction era we knew so well is gone.
If boras had some real players maybe he would get what he is asking but being most players he has are average or to old or can’t play at least 150 games a year ( J.D.M.) etc.these are not 5 tool players . So a career year for a few of them lux.tax. There just isn’t a huge market.PLUS as a fan I wound like to go to a game once in a while w/o completely draining my wallet out. BRING THE PRICES DOWN FOR THE AVERAGE JOE. This S#*T is out of hand ENOUGH SAID !!!
I have nothing against Boras but this was such a stupid comment: “I wouldn’t blame the baker if the flour doesn’t show up”.
Exactly. Maybe the Baker should make sure their is flour
Also famous for his turn as “Scott Boras” in the 2011 film “Money Ball.”
If Boras didn’t have a law degree he be tripping off little old lady’s at some used car lot someware in the USA under his 3rd alias name.LOL Boras I hope the owners call your bluff this time you scam artist.
Boras waxes poetically about the market but then makes an underhanded threat at taking the league to court if his client’s don’t get what they want.
The truth of the matter is a flood of money came into MLB. All the teams started spending more. The majority of that money is gone based on each team’s budget. The Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox have become fiscally responsible to the luxury tax. The Phillies are rebuilding and are not going to over pay. What free agent remaining out there is worth over $20 plus million a year when Machado and Trout are coming onto the market next year.
Teams need pitching more than bats and Darvish, Cobb and Arrieta all want big contracts at 5+ years or more. They have priced themselves out of the market.
Goose….”Machado and Trout are coming onto the market next year.” Trout is signed through 2020. You may be thinking Harper.
i think Boras had a couple clients 4 years ago who rejected qualifying offers and signed paltry contracts after the season started?
Listen goose trout is a angel for life !!!!
Doubtful
“Can’t blame the baker if the flour doesn’t show up”
Interesting that Boras sees himself as the Baker in this analogy. Surely the bakers are the GMs, the flour is the player and Boras would be the flour salesman. In which case, you would blame the flour salesman if the flour didn’t show up.
There just aren’t that many must haves in this Free Agent market, and I’ll bet you Boras knows that as well as anyone. And he is dealing with a semi-hard cap-look at the MLBTR article above on the Giants trying to find a CF without going over it. Boras is a very good agent who occasionally misfires. His strength is with the top tier of talent. His weakness stems from having too much inventory (where they compete with each other) and not properly pricing and moving players who are no longer elite.
Its the long term contracts that have ruined the market. But players don’t want 10 million a year, they want 30.
Baseball and salaries are so out of perspective with real life. Most people could care less what happens to the local Baseball team. Its 55 sec on the news then on to the weather.
55 seconds on the news and on to the weather?
Oh my. I get it now. You still watch local news for your sports info? Hilarious!
No offense one fan, but I don’t think that he was referring to himself, more to the general population of the masses to whom baseball isn’t part of their everyday thought. While there are tons of people who check baseball news every single day, the truth is that most don’t (and many people still are stuck watching the news).
He’s one of the best agents. The biggest problem this offseason is the Yankees and dodgers are trying to get under the tax threshold so you can’t use them against anyone for potential bidding wars. Not as many teams are in a position to compete. And a lot of teams want money free for a potential Harper or Machado next offseason.
The market really has changed, in a big way. And I am pretty sure Boras knows that. Just don’t expect him to admit that.
One thing that Boras left out is how the steroid era prolonged careers and made players (Bonds???) way more productive later in their careers than they should have been. Back then, a long-term contract made some sense because you stood a chance of getting a decent return on the investment. But when MLB started cracking down on steroids, some players (A-Rod???) experienced a pretty precipitous decline that made the back ends of their contracts look not so great. Does Boras imagine for a moment that Albert Pujols would have gotten the same contract he got with the Angels had he not benefited, even if not from PED use himself, from the era of PEDs?
Another thing being discounted on Boras’ part, and the players’ parts, is that baseball is becoming an increasingly younger man’s sport. Players have access to great training and sports science like never before, and they’re playing at a higher level than they used to. Big money has made baseball a year-round game, meaning players aren’t taking off-season jobs or waiting until spring training to get into shape. Instead, they’re working continually from November to March to refine their skills. The big money has, in some ways, worked to the detriment of veterans looking to cash in. Even a rookie in the majors does well enough, and a journeyman utility infielder or mop up reliever is paid over $1 million annually.
Given the choice between team control with younger players making less money or high priced veterans who want contracts that will exceed in terms of years their actual usefulness to the team, teams are showing some indication of a youth movement. The Astros, Cubs, and Yankees are young teams right now, and they have strong farm systems that will continue to feed the parent club in years to come. I would not be surprised to see teams continue to jettison payroll in favor of younger talent and the mega contracts become rarities reserved for generational talents like Machado, Harper, and Trout (who interestingly may have victimized himself by extending and potentially missing out on a mega deal in free agency if this trend plays out.)
Finally, Boras ignores the fact that mid and small-market teams can’t absorb a bad contract the way the Yankees, Dodger, Cubs, Red Sox, etc., can, without a much longer recovery time. Since MLB contracts are guaranteed money, a 7-year deal that falls apart after 3 years because of injury or regression leaves 4 years of dead money on the payroll. If that’s $25-35 million annually, that will hurt a team that sees a financial need to limit payroll to $125 million a lot more than a team that can push the payroll to the luxury tax line.
Hey mr borass. Astros are the most complete? Let me see, outstanding leadoff hitter check power hitting outfield that will combine for 135 Home runs check, starting rotation that will compete with anyone’s check, bullpen that shuts games down with a lockdown closer. Yep that too and it’s not the Astros.
Borass is strategic in everything he says. I believe he mentioned the Astros to motivate the likes of Boston and NY into thinking they need better players to hang with Houston.
The Astros are not a good example…tank for a 2 decades then rebuild for another decade using the draft to build and then trade for key spots. I’d say look at the Cardinals on how you want a baseball team ran.
He didn’t say they are how a baseball team should be ran he said the most complete. And he’s wrong anyway.
“Tanked” for 20 years huh? That is a long time
They did tank in the 05 World Series
I’m hearing fair thrown out quite a bit. Let’s see to make things more “fair” we could:
1) add another team to New York City. There is far and away enough money and population to support it (don’t forget that the city used to have 3 teams in the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants). Time to split up the income pool a bit. (In case no one understands my logic I’m looking at team ratios to available money/population and the two teams there have far too big of an advantage– although because of terrible ownership decisions the Mets are currently in a bind)
2) pay minor leaguers a higher wage
3) LOWER average ticket costs and concession prices (yes in some venues attendance isn’t an issue, but not every team is in the same situation as the Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers or Red Sox). You want to grow attendance even more, make it more affordable to take families to the ball park. I know that I’m not part of a standard size family (5 kids) but it is terribly expensive by the time you drive more than three hours one way, buy tickets, souvenirs, concessions and maybe rooms to sleep. Right now prices make it EXTREMELY difficult to enjoy the game in person for families.
Those things would be “fair” in my mind. The truth is I don’t care exactly how much either the owners or the players make. I could care less. Let them make as much as they want to. But realize this, that every change someone makes has repercussions. The MLBPA thought the old qualifying offer system was bad so they wanted changes, but they didn’t think that the repercussions of how that decision would affect them. BUT it is what THEY agreed to do. In truth it has only effected a select few since most of the non top tier free agents (or non-Boras clients if you prefer) signed contracts for MORE than predicted by many experts.
While many say that younger players aren’t getting enough, the truth is MANY (and you’ll never have all simply because some aren’t good enough to last several years anyway) are offered extensions. They have choices to accept or decline. The guys coming up at young ages will get shots at free agency at young ages (if they didn’t sign extensions). Those who came up late, because of whatever reason, won’t hit free agency until 30+. That is just the nature of it. How is that unfair? The top players will always get paid the higher rates. The market will correct itself based on the factors of the moment, but it all just takes TIME to adjust.
The way players are paid isn’t “broke” or ” “unfair”, it is what they agreed to do.
He wants elite money for non elite talent. That’s the problem
And he gets it 9 times out of 10 and will again
IMHO, it’s all about the luxury tax. More teams than ever are feeling the pinch, and trying to get under it. Those teams that AREN’T feeling pinched by it already have traditions of frugality, where signing over=priced free agents doesn’t fit into their business model.
Whether this year or some other year, Boras will take his clients all the way into the next season without a contract, and they will dump him en masse. On that day, free agent contracts will become a bit more reasonably priced (at least, temporarily), and Boras will be humiliated. It will be a glorious day.
Also teams are saving money for next off season
All but 5 teams last year profited significantly and the ones that lost besides the Giants were the bottom in attendance no one fears the luxury tax especially not he big time spenders
“no one fears the luxury tax especially not he big time spenders” So why haven’t the Yankees signed Yu? Dodgers I’d another team that fear the Luxury tax
Easy they don’t wont him lol they are resetting to spend 100 or so per year next offseason lol
Soo, they do fear the Luxury tax, that Is the reason why they have sign Yu, because they don’t want to go over. The penalties for a team like the Yanks and Dodgers are brutal.
Scott Boras is what is and will always be a used car salesman. Do not fault his lies and over exaggerations the fault lies in the clubs that collapse to the business pressure to placate the fans and thus cut their own financial throats.. A smart GM/owner would offer a bid with a deadline. Once that deadline goes by the offer is off the table and the club moves on to plan B. Boras will adjust his scam to benefit his clients although it will fall way short of his predicted evaluations.
No he is a liscensed lawyer in contract law and has a PHD
No he is a liscensed lawyer in contract law and has a PHD that a long way from a used car salesman lol and has phenomenal relationships with over half the owners in the league and calls them directly in most cases
It’s partially Boras’ own fault. He burned the owners out with deals that didn’t pan out until they figured out long term free agent deals are a huge waste of money. There’s no reason to give someone like JDM even more money when he’s probably already getting a free $25,000,0000 from the existing offer since he likely won’t play up to that figure a few years from now.
Id say its a multidude of reasons not the least of which is teams tanking. There are probably 10 teams who are actively trying to lose games on purpose which eliminates a large part of the market. It used to be every team tried too win in some way or another every year which created demand in the market. Now that demand is gone and players are left holding the bag. The funny part is fans actually are pushing for their teams to lose which is a dream come true for owners. Take my royals. For 20 years fans called the glass family cheap and hated their stingy ways going for profit over winning. Now if you peruse the sabermetric sites like royals review there is active lobbying for the royals to tear it down and spend less in order to win in 5 years from now. Its the craziest thing ive ever seen. But its what i expected. We have allowed the same people responsible for the 08 financial crises to take over baseball. And they are trying their best to ruin it just like they did with the financial system
I remember a few years back Boras saved a young kid from drowning by giving rescue breathing,Everyone lit him up for trying to suck Gold fillings out of the kids mouth. He can’t catch a break!
In one sense, I can see what Boras is saying. There’s a lot of money in the game. Why not add a piece who could give you an advantage – not a World Championship guarantee but an opportunity to be one of the ten postseason teams. Even if you’re are a rebuilding team, why not sign a player who could be the leader into the next set of good years, such as what the Padres are considering with Eric Hosmer?
On the other hand, I find his comments hypocritical. He preaches getting players to market and letting the market decide what the price is worth. Well, the market is deciding. When the supplier has the advantage, and teams are bidding wildly against each other and against Boras’ so-called mystery team, he likes it. When the demand has the advantage, he says that the system needs to change.
Hopefully though this isn’t another collusion effort by the owners. It wasn’t entirely apparent in 1985, 1986 and 1987 until years later so who knows what is going on now? It’s one thing if they’re being smarter about free agency now, but it’s quite another if it’s a concerted effort to keep salaries down.