The latter stages of the 2023-24 offseason were focused on the so-called “Boras Four.” Each of Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger and Jordan Montgomery lingered on the open market beyond the start of Spring Training and signed deals below the forecasts from the early winter. Agent Scott Boras, who represents all four of that group, discussed the matter with Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, noting that he and the players were likely going to be deciding between long-term deals or shorter pacts but with higher annual salaries.
“I don’t think their predictions included what we were fully aware of,” Boras said of media predictions coming into the winter, “and that is, clubs were going to come to us and say, ‘We’re not going to look at length with premium AAVs (average annual values) because of what preceded their performance prior to 2023.” He used Snell and Bellinger as examples of how clubs could look past the 2023 season and focus on prior seasons.
“Blake Snell has $30 million a year for a couple of years to go out and just show durability,” Boras said. “Blake Snell doesn’t have to go out and win the Cy Young every year. He’s an extraordinary pitcher. The market viewed him as, what happened in ‘21 and ‘22? The market viewed Cody as, what happened in ‘21 and ‘22? So we knew going into this process that choices were going to be most important. You’re either going to get the appropriate AAV, but you’re not going to get the length, or you’re going to get the length at a much lower AAV, so what do you choose?”
The comments provide an interesting look into the sorts of tough decisions a free agent has to make. Even if a player is incredibly talented and lucky enough to stay healthy beyond their arbitration years, they are likely to only sign one really significant contract in their career. While some players in that position may just take the best guarantee available when the opportunity arises, others seem willing to kick the can down the road if they can’t find the ideal deal.
Snell was surely looking to cash in after a Cy Young-winning season wherein he posted a 2.25 earned run average for the Padres. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Snell could ride the momentum of his trophy win to a deal of $200MM over seven years, with other media outlets making similar prognostications.
It appears that type of deal never materialized, with the largest reported offer he received being a six-year, $150MM deal from the Yankees. In the end, he pivoted to a two-year, $62MM deal from the Giants, which allows him the chance to opt-out midway through. As Boras alluded to, Snell hasn’t been the most consistent pitcher in his career. He fell short of 130 innings in both 2021 and 2022, with an ERA of 4.20 in the former and 3.38 in the latter.
Bellinger was in a somewhat similar position. He was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2019 but went through a real rough patch after suffering a shoulder injury. He hit just .193/.256/.355 over 2021 and 2022, getting non-tendered by the Dodgers. A one-year deal with the Cubs gave him the opportunity to bounce back, which he did, hitting 26 home runs and stealing 20 bases while providing quality defense in center field and first base.
It would appear that clubs used the inconsistency of those players to justify not maximizing their offers this winter, so Snell pivoted to the aforementioned short-term deal. Bellinger got a three-year deal worth $80MM to return to the Cubs, with opt-outs after each year. Both players can bank some money this year and hopefully return to the open market next winter, with the extra years on the deal providing a bit of a safety net in the case of renewed struggles or health problems this year.
It’s a tactic Boras has taken before, with Carlos Correa perhaps being the best example prior to this winter. Correa first hit free agency in the winter of 2021-22, which was impacted by the lockout. He didn’t find a deal to his liking prior to the stoppage and hired Boras during the transactions freeze. After the new collective bargaining agreement was agreed to, he signed a three-year, $105.3MM deal with the Twins which allowed him to opt-out after each season.
After another strong season in 2022, he triggered his opt-out and returned to the open market. He finally found the mega deal that he was looking for when he and the Giants agreed to a 13-year, $350MM framework. That deal eventually got scuttled when the Giants grew concerned by Correa’s medicals, as did another pact with the Mets, but Correa still got himself a sizeable $200MM guarantee to return to the Twins. That deal can also max out at $270MM via four vesting options.
That is the type of playbook that each of the Boras four will be looking to follow, though obviously without the part where deals gets thrown out by physicals. Chapman got three years and $54MM from the Giants, also with opt-outs. Montgomery got one year and $25MM from the Diamondbacks, with a vesting player option valued at $20MM if he makes just 10 starts this year.
The hope will be that each can continue to perform well in 2024 and hopefully find better conditions next winter. The 2023-24 offseason saw many clubs scale back spending, either due to competitive balance tax concerns or uncertainty around television revenue. “One billion dollars was removed from the ability to contract players,” is the way Boras frames it. He and his clients will be hoping some of that money is back on the table next winter.
Scott got taken to the cleaners. Montgomery didn’t even have a QO attached. Complete botch job on his part thanks to delusional asking price. If he said Monty takes the first 80 million dollar offer, he would’ve got that in November.
What if it was the player who demanded the delusional asking price? Boras works for them.
LOL, players with other agents all got paid so?????
So… what? Boras doesn’t dictate the deals these players sign, the players do. Montgomery or Snell could have easily told Boras to accept the offers they reportedly got earlier in the offseason. It’s not difficult to understand.
“Boras doesn’t dictate the deals”…. “What’s the most surprising thing I’ve seen during my many years as a MAJOR League General Manager?…..Just how disconnected and uninformed most players were during the free agency process…Most of them had no idea what the offers were or where we stood in the negotiating process” – MLB Network’s long-time Major League baseball GM Dan O’Dowd.
So you’re going to take the word of Dan O’Dowd? One of the worst GMs in modern history.
“So you’re going to take”…When’s the last time you saw someone hire an expensive lawyer and then not take his advice during a trial, negotiation or other form of litigation? And yes, I’ll take Dan O ‘Dowd’s word over some guy in the comments section of the online peanut gallery.
No offense, but O’Dowd still held one of those coveted few jobs. That is experience we cannot easily replicate.
And Boras clients like Rhys Hoskins and Sean Manaea signed contracts within the expected range. I believe Boras Corporation had something like 13 free agents who signed this offseason without any drama. Everyone just focuses on the big names who held out and act like they had no say in the strategy.
I don’t believe that for one second. Let’s ask Theo Epstein, Branch Rickey, Pat Gillick, Andrew Freidman, etc. I’d love to know what winners who had no problem swaying guys to join their teams have to say about that.
southi- The claim doesn’t mean it’s an experience every GM has had, though. If it were, I’m sure it would be a much more prevalant topic. Some guys might not care and just tell their agent to so their best. It’s up to the player how they approach free agency. And why haven’t we heard this from other GMs? Plus we can’t act like nepotism doesn’t play a part in who gets some of these jobs. You know damn well there have been some under-qualified GMs who didn’t earn it and had no business doing the job.
Rhys Hoskins missed all of 2023 with a torn-up knee and was grateful to sign for whatever Milwaukee was offering.
Speaking of whom, didja see Hoskins stirring up the Mets on Opening Day when he broke up a double play with a late slide?
“LOL”? Sigh.
Did Amed Rosario get paid? Barely. Did all the other decent, acceptable, starting-caliber or first off the bench guys get paid? Hardly.
They have said a bit recently.
The cubs guy spoke about his disrespect of execs and process not long ago.
Stearns essentially said there is no point wasting time on an extension offer to Alonso as Boras is his client.
Zaidi gave him shade all Spring for not getting deals done earlier.
Definite change in vibe for me. In a normal year, the criticism is all flowing the other way. Made for a nice change.
*Boras is Alonso’s agent not client
“When’s the last time you saw someone hire an expensive lawyer and then not take his advice during a trial…?” How about Trump?
myaccount2: That’s an excellent description of Chris Getz.
@MLB Your an analogy is a but off. The better comparison ti a contract would be a plea deal. An offer by one side the other side can refuse. Yes the agent can give advise much like an attorney, but ultimately the client decides if they take the deal.
As for your comparison to litigation, that is more akin to an agent negotiating. And a trial would be more akin to an arbitrator where ones case is pleaded and the judge or arbitrator has finally ruling.
Spin doctor. I still expect Boras’ and the MLBPA to review for collusion, something they do every year.
Worst according to whom?
Here we go.
@Foppert It would be a waste of time trying to extend Alonso at this point. Alonso has already established quite a bit of value and he already risked all of his free agent years. Mets lost all leverage in extension talks now that it’s his walk year.
And why should Boras or any agent appease to GMs for timelines?? Many of these same GMs weren’t going to negotiate with agents til Ohtabi was off the board. Timeliness and processes go both ways.
@Dewey I doubt they ll be investigating for collusion. This was simply a batch of players with alot of question marks. There were also teams with cap issues and the uncertainty of TV revenue.
Help! Boras is making me dizzy and now that effing Spin Doctors is stuck in my head.
So teams can lock in plans and players below the top of the market tier have a better opportunity to move themselves forward.
It’s not so much appeasing GM’s. It’s more make a farking decision so the game can move forward.
@Fopert It appeasing GMs though. All these players signed prior to the season starting, anything prior to that is the offseason. If the teams would like to expedite the process I’m sure there are offers they could have made that would have done just as you said.
Or do you just believe that all that you mentioned should happen and it should happen at the exact amount Teams would prefer??
I don’t prefer anything. It’s up to the league and the players to sort it out. Doesn’t affect me one little bit either way. I just noticed (and enjoyed) public pushback from teams regarding Boras.
@dewey: As well they should given the owners’ slimy behavior in the past.
Some players are pro-union like Correa and want every last penny they can get. Actually, those types are the only ones that should hire Boras.
Players like Montgomery and Snell appear to have favored certain locations and should stick to the more traditional agent.
Alonso wants to be paid more than Freeman and Olson. That’s why he won’t be extended.
@avenger: LMAO. But, the only reason his lawyers are a bit expensive, is because none with any credibility would work for that fool.
@CleaverGreene: All players are pro-union, as they should be.
It would be incredibly dumb for a player to be anti-union.
socal – Exactly.
Boras had 5 clients in the Top 25 Free Agent list, all of them were still unsigned after ST began. They were the ONLY Top 25 free agents still unsigned. Boras has a long history of dragging things out because he demands the moon. This year he misread the market and overplayed his hand. He’s in his 70’s now, not as sharp as he was 10-20 years ago.
Deferred – Why would ANY GM lie about something like that?
Okay, here’s the word of JD Martinez when asked 4 years ago whether or not he will opt out:
masslive.com/redsox/2019/08/jd-martinez-on-if-hell…
“That is the last thing I am thinking about. When the media asks me, I am just like, ‘You know Scott Boras? Call him up.’ He’s the guy that is going to help me with that decision. I let him worry about that stuff.”
mlb – Well said!
It’s kinda pathetic how the Boras suckups attack the sources whenever proven wrong.
socal – All 5 of his clients who were ranked in the Top 25 Free Agents were unsigned after ST began, and they ALL ended up taking far less.
Manaea and Hoskins were the only other clients of his in the Top 50. Not sure who the other 11 clients are that you claim, but needless to say if accurate they aren’t very good.
When a player isn’t very good, Boras doesn’t have any leverage and will take whatever he can get for them.
my – I’ve provided proof that at least some players leave all the decisions up to Boras.
How about you post a link that shows players who rejected Scott’s recommendation.
dewey – Sure, Boras might put on a show to make excuses. But it won’t get anywhere, because the only collusion was Boras instructing all 5 of his clients to stick with unreasonably high demands into ST.
Boras tried to corner the market, it backfired bigtime.
Tigers – BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
Thank you for the laugh!
So Ohtani’s ability to ever pitch effectively again wasn’t a question mark?
Yamamoto’s having NEVER THROWN A PITCH IN MLB wasn’t a question mark?
If you really want to nitpick, EVERY player has “question marks”.
Fact is, as just one example, Snell was offered $88M more than what he ended up getting. So OBVIOUSLY all your excuses don’t hold water.
Scott got owned. He spent an off season trying to break the narrative they’d lose out from inconsistency but couldn’t create a bidding war. He’s accustomed to using 2023 as a reason they should get long term deals they were seeking
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b It was indeed the player who demanded a price he couldn’t get,
Boras seduces players, so to speak, into going for the maximum (or more than the maximum) clubs are willing to pay, but we know that since they’re adults it’s on the players to get second and third and fourth opinions from other sources, and to understand the cost of failing to hit the target.
Well, no one’s missing a meal, in any case.
Jack – Too funny how you Boras suckups keep saying he’s the greatest agent in the world right now, but his clients shouldn’t trust his judgement and instead should get (presumably) free advice from three other sources? Comical.
When you go to the doctor and he tells you that you need to lose weight because your blood pressure is sky high, do you ignore his recommendation too?
All you have to know about Boras and his “clients” can be seen in Blake Snells presser after he signed with the Giants.
Zaidi opened with a joke about deserving a medal dealing with Boras for 3 contracts and Blake Snell sounded lost. He literally said “I think Scott got tired of hearing from me … at times I got lost in the process.”
Blake Snell did not sound like a player in control of what just happened.
Scott is about Scott.
@nukeg Wow, I didn’t hear about that presser from Snell. That sounds pathetic. That sounds like a player who wouldn’t take ownership over his own financial future. That sounds like a player who needs some remedial basic education when it comes to Personal Finance 101. And I bet Boras didn’t offer to teach him anything either. I understand this overall deficiency in very skilled human beings though. I know a lot of brilliant artists and chefs and musicians who can’t balance a checkbook or stick to a budget if their lives depended on it. Similiar tendency could show up in some talented athletes as well.
nuke – Fantastic post!
Ignorant – That is why so many athletes and celebrities end up getting ripped off by those who made financial decisions for them. They all took the approach that they aren’t financial experts and therefore will trust someone who is.
On the flip side, agents like Boras wouldn’t want a client who doesn’t blindly take his advice …. because it could cost Boras millions.
You really think Boras recommended Snell take the Yankees offer and Snell refused? Not a chance.
They hire Boras to do his job.
Boras works for them.
=======================
This is not like your barber asking you the length of your hair.
Boras gets paid millions to provide expert advice.
Ignorant – Can you really picture a player telling Boras “No I disagree with your recommendation to take the offer, you can do better Scott”.
The whole reason they hire him is because they trust his judgement. As JD Martinez confirmed a few years ago, players usually leave the decisions up to their agent. That’s what the agents get paid millions for.
@Fever No I don’t think that’s how it would play out but I would think a player would have a ballpark idea of where he wants his contract to be. The player leaves the nuts & bolts negotiating (& knowledge of current economic landscape) to Boras but it’s the player who’s driving the ultimate destination and general length. It’s not like listening to your heart doctor where most people are ignorant about how their body works and what the test results mean.
Ignorant – I agree players have conversations with their agent prior to the offseason, to make sure they are on the same page.
The conversation with Boras probably went something like this:
Scott: “I’m confident I can get you X dollars, but how much less are you willing to accept?
Scott’s clients: “If you’re confident, then let’s hold out until we get it”.
@amk1920 Extraordinary, that even at this late date all Montgomery got was $25m with a $20-25m player option for 2025 if he’s healthy enough to make 10+ starts in 2024.
Snell was offered 6/150m, and there’s some case for preferring Montgomery over the next six seasons. Even if he comes out on the low side a little, Monty’s surely in the 6/132-138m range. Even 5/120m would be preferable to 1/25m with that fallback option for 2025 he signed for in case he’s dismal, given Monty doesn’t really have great years that would catapult him into the next tier of SPs—and when the most valuable thing he had to sell this offseason was his 2024 season, his age 31 season, and he wound up letting that go far too cheaply.
I’ll try and dumb it down some more but I’m already about as low as I can get. If after this year Apple TV and Amazon decide they want to take over the markets for the TV deals for the teams who don’t have one then next year you’ll see the same crap you’ve seen for the last however many years. Some streaming services will want to play also. So if the competition for the new TV deals is healthy then everyone will have enough money to bid at their former levels. The teams that wouldn’t play before won’t play again. Tampa,Miami,Oakland etc. If you don’t get it now, You need to stop taking the short busses and move up.
Snell made a big mistake not taking the $150 mil. I’ll bet he never sees that money.
Snell preferred the west coast. The Yankees probably did not include a 1 or 2 year opt out.
Cleaver – Can you provide a link that shows he preferred the west coast? Other than Seattle, I hadn’t heard that before.
They interviewed him in the dugout the other day. The man himself stated the following order. West Coast, Alex Cobb, Bob Melvin and familiar division.
Fopp – Sorry I need a link, because what you wrote totally contradicts what the man himself said just 10 days ago.
sports.yahoo.com/snell-downplays-rumored-geographi…
“I didn’t really care where I played, honestly. For me, I’m at the field every day, it doesn’t matter what city I’m in.”
Sure his wife preferred being somewhat close to Seattle, but she doesn’t make the decision and for a significant amount more she would likely go along with an East coast team.
Don’t forget his first 5 ML seasons were in the AL East, and that was back when it was still a heavily unbalanced schedule.
You know you can easily google things and find the answer in less than 2 minutes. For example: reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1bm39qn/blake_snell…
Just as Fopp said West Coast, Alex Cobb, Melvin and the division were important to Snell. This was in response to “Why the Giants?”
Geography absolutely played a large role in the Giants ability to sign Snell.
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
“Teams aren’t falling for my b.ullshit” is what he meant to say.
Time for the Betas to circle. Rooting for a person to fail and savoring when they do is pathetic.
Dorksco666, I’m sure you’re an alpha wolfpack laser-focused leader magnum high intensity standing on a pile of conquered women and cuckolded men connoisseur of manly masculinity. I can smell your Drakkar Noir through my internet connection. I’m in awe. Bless me, Alpha. I’m not worthy.
I’m more of a sigma but you are right about not being worthy.
The problem wasn’t Boras and the problem wasn’t the players. The problem was that most of the teams had less TV money and what really drives the prices up is multiple teams bidding. All the big contracts were signed by teams who had large TV revenues for the most part. It’s as simple as it can be.
But Uncle Mike couldn’t some of the issues with the Boras 4 have to do with the ups and downs and questionable track records of all 4 guys? Each one had a bugaboo that a critic could tear apart and question the rationale for a long term contract.
Aside from Montgomery, I would agree with you. Bellinger was never going to get a 7+ year deal. Chapman was pretty awful with the bat most of the season last year and third base wasn’t much of a need for most contenders. Snell has issues with health and doesn’t go deep into games.
But Mike is also right, had the Diamond Sports bankruptcy not have left so many teams in limbo, there would have been more of market and an actual bidding war for some of these guys.
I also think players and agents got a bit of a sticker shock when Ohtani and Yamamoto signed for their massive deals. I think they got dollar signs in their eyes and set unrealistic expectations early on, potentially missing better contracts.
***worth noting also major spending Yankees opted to make a massive trade, negating their interest in Bellinger and the Phillies re-signed one guy and extended another.
It was actually a perfect storm
See Drascoo gets it. And to the rest of the people on this thread I’ll ask again. How is any of this Boras’ fault and not Manfred’s? You people are blaming the wrong guy. It was Manfred who let all those owners get fooled by a bad TV deal.
@drasco: Theta Chi man myself.
Also, Cohen had hit his spending limit and Boston is in some weird profitable mindset where they will accept 70% capacity ticket sales and NESN viewership.
Ignorant Son-of-a-b10 hours ago
Each one had a bugaboo that a critic could tear apart
======================
Every player in baseball has some strikes against them.
@JoeBrady Yes, all players have areas of weakness, baseball is a game of failure. However the Boras 4 all had entire past seasons that were askew (Snell, Belli), or declining power numbers (Chapman) or a solid but not super duper track record (Monty)…question marks that work against awarding long AAV’s or at least cause some trepidation.
Uncle – Why don’t you look at the 20 players in the Free Agent Top 25 who were NOT Boras clients.
Look at WHEN they signed, and HOW MUCH they got.
We want you to learn about critical thinking, so you won’t continue to be grossly misinformed.
Ignorant – Sorry man, those (and I’m not saying you) who rag on Snell for the walks while ignoring his pure dominance over the past year and a half are severely misguided. He didn’t just win his second Cy because he won 20 games.
Monty has been a workhorse whose numbers have been steadily improving for years.
JDM just had a season where his OPS jumped 103 points.
And like I posted earlier, look at the other huge contracts given out this past offseason. It’s silly for anyone to say only the Boras Five had questions.
Or…
There are talented people who are secure with themselves and don’t need feel the need to shout it in everyone’s faces.
But we’ll never know what they’re capable of because they’re not a good bro, bro.
P.S. It’s not show friends, it’s show business
I’m all for the player getting paid. I’m sick of Boras being the enabler that ruins it for the fans. Boras is lawyer and business man so he definitely knows how to BS people. I’m just glad his era is almost coming to and end
What specifically has Boras ruined for the fans?? Is he the cause of rainouts? How about the obnoxious drunk guy a few rows back?? If not what specifically is he responsible for??
And do not even say the cost. Plenty of other agents have got players huge deals and it’s ultimately the teams who offered these contracts. And even if teams cut costs do you really believe those savings will be passed on to fans. ..
Tigers – This I agree with you on. The only thing Boras did to negatively impact fans is delay the season for some of his clients. I don’t think anyone will be too bummed out if they can’t see JDM hit or Monty pitch for the next couple weeks.
@Shadow: Boras’ era will come to an end when he chooses to retire, not when you say it does.
Blue – Have you ever worked in the corporate world?
It’s common practice for longtime greats to announce they are voluntarily retiring, when in actuality they were forced to retire because their services were no longer wanted.
Eventually we are all replaced by someone younger and better, until AI takes over all jobs.
@Fevwr Boras Corporation represents 175 MLB players and employs 80 people. One of which is Boras’s son who is am agent. When Boras retires it is likely his son will take the reigns, his company is going nowhere anytime soon.
Tigers – I don’t claim to know the inner operations of his corporation. It’s probably a good assumption that he takes the lead on negotiations for his Top Five clients, with perhaps others in the corporation assisting.
Can his corporation survive after he retires? I haven’t a clue. I don’t think it’s wise to assume his son will be nearly as good an agent as he was. Ted Williams’ son, despite all the special treatment and opportunities he was afforded because of his dad, was awful at baseball. The Bo Bichettes and Vladdy Guerrero Jrs are the rare exception.
Boras’s son already is one of the top agents in Boras Corporation. And becoming a sports agent is something a bit easier to teach opposed to being a professional athlete. So I’d say the comparison to Ted Williams son is in no way relevant. One can get through law school by hard work and determination.
All the hard work and determination in the world is not going to get most to hit MLB pitching. Not that pro athletes don’t work hard. Just most people lack the hand eye coordination and physical abilities needed to .are it at MLB level.
No offense but for someone who admittedly knows little about Boras Corporation, you sure are critical.
The way this played out doesn’t seem ideal for the players or the sport, and so hopefully players get signed before spring training next year
just – I totally agree. This offseason will hopefully put an end to the notorious stall tactics of Boras.
Imagine that, past performance does matter. Who’d a thunk?
Age also has a factor in this. Most players predictably start to decline in their age 33 season. So teams will pay for that decline if the player is a premium player and they are going to get several seasons in the player’s prime prior to that decline. So Ohtani got paid this off season and someone will back up a Brinks truck to Juan Soto’s house this off season. Bellinger is 28 but those years between 2019 and 2023 make teams pause in offering a long term deal. And for Snell, Montgomery and Chapman, not only do some down years dampen the years and $$$ they will get, but the fact they are all 31 means they only have two prime years prior to the decline year. Snell may not have to win a Cy Young every year but he better be damn close in 2024 if he wants to opt out and get a long term deal. Even then, he might find given he’ll be 32 next off season that 2-3 years might be all teams are willing to go.
Show me Montgomery’s “down” years.
Luxury tax team couldn’t pay him 3/90 and then double that.
@Drasco Show me one of Montgomery’s Ace years. And how many total Cy Young votes has received in his career?? I ll give you a hint, it’s less than one.
tiger doc: Players don’t automatically decline at 33. There have been a lot of players who still play at a high level into their mid and late thirties. Verlander comes to mind. Also Kershaw and JD Martinez. You don’t know when Snell, Chapman and Montgomery are going to decline. Everyone’s different. Someone like Betts and Ohtani will likely play at a high level at 40.
Yes everyone is different and nobody knows who will perform well late into their 30’s. But neither Snell or Montgomery have reached the heights of JV or Kershaw, so they re not declining from that height of talent.
As for Chapman his offense never has been anything special. Unfortunately for him teams do not pay as much for his biggest asset defense. JD I believe will still produce without bat for a few more years, but he is pretty much a pure DH at this point. His market is gonna be limited. Many teams already aging bats to occupy DH or some just simply value using DH to rest players from field while keeping bats in the lineup.
It was simply a group with some flaws or question marks.
I’m not even taking the time to read this. Hopefully players get smart and go hire other agents in the future. I’m over Scott Boras and I hope MLB is too.
I wager that the “Boras Four” when they opt-out after the season.
^stay with him
100% agreed. One “underpeforming” offseason (in which his clients reportedly turned down $150M and $120M deals) does not negate some insane deals he’s gotten his clients in the past, most notably to me being Gerrit Cole’s $324M.
I would like to see the GM versus Boras fangraphs war.
Seems Boras gets maximum $ for clients over the long run.
My translator will take that bet, YBC. As for me, I agree with ya.
Boras is a phenomenal agent when it comes to the top players. Ohtani’s present day value of his contract is like $46M/yr. You don’t think Boras would have squeezed $50M/yr from the Dodgers for the 10yrs? He’s a great agent for great players, like Cole/Seager/as far back as A-Rod.
The truth is his 2024 class was awful… Chapman can’t hit, Snell walks the ballpark, Bellinger goes seasons without producing, etc. These guys are all flawed players. If Soto has to sign a 2 or 3 year deal, then i’ll start believing that Boras has lost his touch
socal
“I’m going to remain ignorant but comment anyway”
Whatever
Oh snap… Boras threw cold water on the MLBTR crew. That’s kind of impressive!
Yeah Scott boras is a poison. He’s charging $25 for a large coke and is basically price gouging every team all the time. What this does is slows down free agency for everyone. He can never accept a fair offer and always drags the entire process
Teams and professional general managers are signing Boras clients under duress, please contact Congress!!
Whether it was Boras or the players, someone misread the market. I doubt next year will be any better if the media revenue for half the league is still in question. Obviously Snell should have taken the Yankees offer.
Misread the market, market correction, etc… Businesses are cyclical at the end of the day. I remain skeptical that the Snell offer was real as nobody ever confirmed it.
Snell was probably 6/150 but only 90-120 was guaranteed. Snell got 30 AAV for 2 years and has a chance to recoup that other 30-60 after this contract.
Cody had poor prime and Montgomery is a 3 war declining meh and still got the AAV.
Tough to hate on Boras until these careers playout.
Maybe Snell just hates NY
He clearly wanted the west coast. That doesn’t mean he hates NY, BTW.
Rogue – No player would take $88M less because they hate a city. He wouldn’t have to live in NY, he could live in CT in-season and anywhere else offseason.
The cardinals misread the market. They could have been patient and done way better
Agreed
Boras should’ve been pictured with giant sunglasses to cover the shiners given to him by Owners/GM’s this winter.
It took teams only 30 years to realize they were bidding against themselves when it came to Boras clients.
Or they are just broke from lack of tv revenue. I mean come on, does anyone really learn from their mistakes ?
Big – Look at the contracts Ohtani, Wheeler, Nola, Hader, Glasnow, Yamamoto etc just signed.
Plenty of massive contracts given out this past offseason.
Montgomery set the record this year for the highest one year contract.
25 million one year no opt out.
False? Soto signed a $31MM/1yr this offseason.
I forgot for a pitcher.
That was an arb award.
While Soto was Arb controlled, that $31MM deal was struck outside of Arb.
Giant – Arenado signed $26M contract, Mookie $27M, there are likely others.
High for a pitcher.
Giant – Verlander signed a guaranteed 1-year $25M deal with Houston in 2022.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32656082/sources-houston-a…
Maybe but it is just the tied for biggest.
I got my info from MLBNOW. Thanks BK for all the flak.Next time I’ll mention your show ASAP!
Going to see all of them back in free agency after 2024. Asking for the same long-term over-valued career free agent contracts again.
Which makes SF signings all the more headscratching. Tossing away Draft Picks and International $$$ for (essentially) 1 year of Snell and Chapman seems like strange tactics for a “rebuilding” Giant squad.
But they have a big money TV contract with NBC, So they don’t care if they leave they’ll just take a shot this year and move on.
You’re definitely not wrong, Mike. Just seems like an odd roundabout and contrary way to build a team though, imo o/c. They potentially threw away 12-14+ years of MLB talent for 1 year (x2) now… They can always just buy bullets to roster reload quicker, as we have seen.
Why spend a ton of money if you’re them? It’s not like they were gonna beat the Dodgers anyway. This way they take all the leftovers and at least tell their fans they tried. I get it.
Which lends weight into our CBT reset strategy this season. Made perfect sense to me, honestly. Cheers Mike!
Bottom line is Boros overestimated the market, probably 75% of the time he’s right. It just didn’t work out that well for these 4 players, but I’m sure everyone here would trade jobs with them! Hard to feel sorry for someone making 15-30 million a year to play a game, enjoy it and invest it wisely. Oh and don’t waste it gambling lol
The bottom line is Boras didn’t estimate anything. There was no market. If the Big spending TV revenue teams didn’t want you, Then you weren’t getting a long term deal. Most of the teams are on 1 year TV contracts that have to be renegotiated after this year. The Twins weren’t going to sign somebody to a 5 year mega deal with a 1 year TV contract. There was no market to over estimate. There were only a couple of bidding wars for high priced talent. Once that was over there was no market. I can’t really dumb it down any more than that.
Add in the number of big market teams pushing tier 3 CBT where every dollar you spend costs the team two dollars and a dime. That’s pretty much a perfect storm of problems for mid tier free agents.
You seem pretty well read and understand the English language Card Fan, Can you figure out why any of these people think this is Boras’ fault? Boras made the TV contracts go bust. I’m sure that was good for him right? Boras made Manfred tell all these owners that it was a great idea to sign TV deals with gamblers. That was a great idea right? I had no idea Boras works in the Commissioners Office in his spare time. He probably sits out on the streets of L.A in a tent with a tin can on weekends too.
I’m thinking that baseball is a business. Sometimes business is very hard to predict. I can’t blame the teams for signing the best contracts they could. I can’t blame MLB for local decisions. Boras is much richer than I’ll ever be. He’s richer than his clients who are also richer than I’ll ever be. I’m just an observer.
The one thing you can predict about baseball is it’s unpredictable. I’ve only found one statement that is true all the time and can’t be refuted. And that’s,” Wherever you go-There you are”.
Shaiken was wearing hip boots during the interview. Everything coming out of Boras’ mouth was deeper and deeper sh@*
Kind of mush-mouthed. The CBT thresholds made a big difference and “his” players all had flaws. There were strong early signings, good contracts for players, and then the money seemed to run low.. Boras’s wait and see policy ran into overall reluctance. And the owners are not stupid. Once they started to see the shape of the market, they clearly decided to be disciplined, I’d like to see MLBTR run an article comparing the top 50 predictions to their actual signings.
They’ll never run that article.
It reeks of jealousy in here…
Maybe the owners are tired of Boras and his mystery bidders. Boras looks silly right now and he knows it.
Mercenary: Yeah. He looks silly depositing millions of dollars in commission into his bank account.
I don’t care for Boras, but I thought he did well for his players. all the TV money that’s screwed up really messed up the market and 3 of those 4 players went to, or stayed, where they should be propped up by their environment.
Something to consider when evaluating Boras: none of his client are openly transgender. Think about it.
Any switch hitters?
I’m predicting that CBT becomes a problem for the players union when the current agreement expires. That had a lot to do with the way this offseason played out.
Teams with the stomach for the big deals that are also contending already have their big deals. Some were uncertain about their TV money. Then got less than years prior.
Baltimore should’ve stepped up for one of the pitchers imo
If I see one more article about this guy this Spring I’m going to stop supporting you guys. He is bad for baseball. I love your sight and your work in general but just stop it. PLEASE.
Alaska
LOL
Ignorant as hell
He’s bad for baseball? lmao That’s such an ignorant statement.
Boras can try to rationalize the results, but it doesn’t change the fact that he completely misread the market and did a terrible job representing his clients this off-season. It sounds like he was telling his clients “I’m going to try to get you a long-term deal, but you might have to settle for a short-term deal with a higher AAV if teams don’t want to spend.” What he didn’t tell them is that the reason they might not get the long-term deal is because he overplayed his hand because his ego is more important than his client’s interests. Boras gambles and takes risks with player’s careers because he knows he’ll still be in the game regardless of the outcome. The players, however, may be out of the game after losing out at their best chance to maximize their earnings.
Boras needs to be more transparent if he wants anyone to believe he didn’t lay an egg in free agency. We know Matt Chapman turned down $120M over 5-6 years ($20-$24M AAV) and ended up signing for $54M over 3 years ($18M AAV). Chapman didn’t pass on that offer on his own. He asked his attorney-agent for his professional opinion and I think it’s safe to say Boras told him his value was higher. Oops. The Giants offered J.D. Martinez 1-year, $14M and counter-offered at 1-year, $20M. The Giants moved on. Terrible negotiation strategy by Boras. Don’t you think he could have gotten a deal done for $15M+ if their first offer was $14M? JD Martinez ended up signing for $12M, but with $7.5M deferred, so the net present value of his 1-year deal is less than $10M. And he’s only being paid $4.5M in 2024. So he signed a deal with the same length and significantly lower AAV than what was offered to him earlier in the off-season. Again, JD is not passing on that offer if his agent-attorney doesn’t tell him that he believes he will be able to get more from another team. Blake Snell turned down 6 years, $150M ($25M AAV) from the Yankees. He signed for what amounts to 2 years, $60M.
Yes, higher AAV, but $90M less in guaranteed money with no guarantee of ever making a dime beyond this contract. Same story with Bellinger and Montgomery. Same story when Mike Moustakas rejected the Qualifying Offer a few years ago and ended up signing with the same team for $6.5M. Same story with Greg Holland – turned down $50M and signed for $14.5M. The list goes on and on. Sure, Boras got great deals for Strasburg, Rendon, Cole and others. But that doesn’t change the fact that he got terrible deals for many other clients.
Sorry, Boras. We don’t buy your BS. You got played and if these players are smart, they’ll find a different agent before their next trip through free agency. They should tell him, “you got one shot, Scott. You lost. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it.”
Where are you getting the numbers that were turned down? For example, I’m not aware of any credible source that confirms Snell turned down $150 million.
bj1
Ignorant and arrogant as hell
Boras plays the victim card.. He just misplayed his own cards and talent.. Why use Boras as an agent going forward.. Players should dump this guy???
If a player wants to wait a few extra weeks to hold out for 10s millions more in salary, more power to em ! Good for you, once ina life time opportunity- so wait and try to get every dollar you can
Borass is bad for baseball, Glad he had a garbage offseason.
Boras is still the king. He extracted what he could from the owners and left the players in a position to extract even more next year. The prognosticators were wrong – not Boras. Boras did not go to the media and say this is what we want. The Nate Silvers of baseball thought they knew and they didn’t.
Amazing how vociferous the pro- and anti-Boras folks are.
1-He blew it this year. It’s okay for the pro-Boras folks to admit it. Not everyone bats a 1.000.
2-For the antis, if your GM signs a Boras client for too much money, it is the GM’s fault, not Boras and not the player. Just like every thing else in life, a house, a car, a 1915 Babe Ruth, you set a limit in your mind. If you pay more than you think it is worth, that’s on you.
3-Boras might be right. For 30 years, we’ve have insane contracts given out over one good year, probably PEDs-induced, only to see the player revert to his career numbers. Maybe some GMs have learned their lesson.
It’s easy to dislike Boras bc he takes the heat for his clients’ decision or “disloyalty”. How many times have we heard from these budding players pay lip-service that they want to stay and remain in one uniform their entire career? Most folks are pro- players getting paid until they realize that maybe their favorite players has wants and needs which involve leaving their teams. It’s like a tough relationship breakup especially for small market team fans. Boras doing his job well isn’t an enjoyable experience for fans and teams.
Joe – 1) Boras was never batting 1.000 so I’m not sure where you got that impression. He has screwed plenty of clients in prior years, including JDM and Tek to name just two.
2) Agreed, it’s ignorant to complain about Boras landing too much money for some of his clients.
3) This is kinda funny, considering you were on the Bello & Casas longterm extension bandwagons. Follow enough baseball like I have and you’ll learn rookies can go downhill just as fast as free agents.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the owners lose a collusion case from this off-season in the next few years
Boras is flawed: so are we all. We measure his success in the context of a winner-takes-all society. As does the union.
I would prefer there be less success measured in the $300 million contracts. More on the median results, and raising the salary floors to broaden the financial rewards of playing this game at an elite level.
Boras needs the old folks’ home. Whatever jibber jabber that was, wasn’t what he thought it was.
It’s funny how the same guy who used to produce booklets on the future greatness of players he represented is now blaming past performance as the reason Snell and Bellinger didn’t cash in. He had A-Rod breaking every record there is and sold teams on all the money the team that signed him would reap as fans would flock to see these records being broken. It didn’t work out like that. Snell wins a Cy Young and he’s now saying he didn’t expect to get both length and high AAV. I don’t know how any team negotiates with Boras in good faith. He has been talking out of both sides of his mouth for the last 20 years. IMO.
Chris – Even worse, Boras is essentially throwing his own clients under the bus by saying they didn’t deserve bigger contracts. All to make himself look better. it’s grotesque behavior, and many if not all of the Boras Five will be hurt by it when they look for new contracts after this season.
Your absolutely right.
Scotty really trying to use the PR machine to justify his failures. You could say he is really beaming it out there in cyberspace. Of course, the press is eating it up instead of ignoring him.
Baseball players get paid too much money. They are 100% involved in devaluing the dollar.
100% involved in demonstrating to the world the USA has lost it’s way and is no longer focused on the correct future.
The people that made this country the greatest nation of Earth would be appalled.
Please note, the uber rich and billionaires don’t need to worry about or feel the effect of that devaluing. They’re rich. They barely even notice.
WE THE PEOPLE, DO!
A house that would have cost $50-74K when I was a kid is $350K now.
The hippy generation did a really terrible job leading this country. It truly was the “Me” generation.
60 years of Bob Dylan, the Dead. Come on. What a bunch of PIGS. I’ve never even read or seen an article about a local band in my life!
Frank Sinatra and his friends didn’t stiffle the industry like the hippies did.
How is this related to baseball?
The action of the agents, players and owners stems from a different perspective. They live for themselves only. The expectations are different and acceptable.
Baseball transfers billions of dollars outside of this country ever few years. It would have been unthinkable to the generation that grew up with the reality that starving to death was a very real possibility.
Owners would have been aware of how that money should be used for productivity to benefit the country as a whole. They also would have been held more accountable by thier peers and local communities.
No articles on mainstream that is.
I think someone else might of been the catalyst for paragraph 2.
Montgomery got 1 year at $25. Seth lugo got 3 years at $45.
If that is success for Scott boras then players need to find another agent.
BORAS…
It seems like many did not read that Scott said he and the Players were aware of the possibility of not getting the Massive Long-Term Contracts. He indicated that waiting it out was “their” Plan together.
So, saying he is covering his A$$ seems a little short-sighted at Best.
Some of us are Reading the Pictures and Laughing at the Words of this Reality Comic Strip.
BLIN – Did Boras really say it was “their” plan together?
So he’s admitting there was collusion among his Top 5 clients.
Cool.
It’s hard to blame Boras when a team like the Yankees throw money at players like DJLM, Hicks, Stanton (they picked up his albatross contract), Rizzo, Gallo, Ellsbury, etc. There’s no rhyme or reason to some of these contracts. The Red Sox have been equally if not more stupid. Along with other teams as well.
Yes, there are players like Cole who provide value to a point, performing consistently well. But many players get paid off their best or near best performances, which they are unable to replicate consistently.
Teams are figuring this out. These players who are occasionally excellent but mostly average are not worth buckets of money. DJLM had one great year in Colorado, why would you think after 6-7 mediocre years, he would maintain greatness? Hicks? In what world was he worth what they paid him? Cole? Yes, he’s earned his salary, but they’ve burnt him to a crisp. His career is now clearly in jeopardy, they just can’t see past their noses to realize it.
The Red Sox have tried damaged goods to shorter contracts after the Sale debacle. Gio? Paxton? Does this work? Not much.
Boras pushes his guys based on their potential. Just because they’ve had a couple of excellent years doesn’t make them excellent players. MLB history is littered with those players, only now in free agency do those players get grossly overpaid.
Maybe teams are figuring this out? Maybe not? Who knows.
Take the L
He’ll recover with some of the free agents next off season.