Agent Scott Boras discussed the ongoing free agency of veteran lefty Dallas Keuchel today in an interview with MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio via Twitter). Keuchel is not expected to sign until after midnight on June 2nd, after which time he will be free of draft compensation.
It has emerged lately that Keuchel has thrown multiple simulated games, both to prepare himself for a quick reentry to the majors and to offer an opportunity for interested teams to get a look. Boras suggests there has been no shortage of interest from pro scouts. As he put it, “we had so many scouts show up we had to open up the hot dog stand.”
When they weren’t lined up for ballpark delicacies courtesy of the Boras Corporation, the scouts were taking a hard look at a 31-year-old hurler who worked 204 2/3 innings of 3.74 ERA ball last year but hasn’t pitched competitively in 2019. The indication has been that Keuchel will be willing to ink a one-year deal, but he’s understandably interested in a premium salary.
Boras didn’t give up any details, but he certainly left the sense that he’s not concerned with his client’s market positioning after giving such extensive live looks to scouts. “Dallas is going to certainly have a level of interest and demand,” says Boras. The outspoken agent didn’t miss an opportunity to shred the qualifying offer system. The fact that Keuchel is still on the open market, he says, “just shows you how teams value draft picks … they’re worth a lot of money.”
Most were probably there for the hot dogs.
Do you think Boras charged for admission and hot dogs? After all if Dallas isn’t making money he doesn’t get a cut…
Madman’s comment
Your head
Scott Boras is the Paul Heyman of MLB.
The greatest promoter baseball has ever known
They difference is Scott Horas actually knows how to handle contracts. Paul Heyman tends to write a lot of bad checks.
Well didn’t Heyman at least have some credibility? Boras burned his up a very long time ago.
Boras has a long career of success and is arguably the most successful agent in US sports history.
Paul Heyman was at the head of a wrestling company that was a distant #3 in the US, for a couple of years before his bad business led to the company folding.
No comparison.
Keuchel is only hurting his own career by staying out this long. Same with Kimbrel.
Teams don’t want to sign him because of the draft compensation. It is not his choice that he is staying unsigned for this long.
That’s the narrative that Boras is feeding you. Just because he says it, doesn’t make it so. I believe that other players with draft pick compensation attached were able to sign. Keuchel and Kimbral both failed to sign because their asking price was too high, and their agents misread the market. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the agents to acknowledge that they screwed up.
Rarely do I agree with Boras but this is a rare situation where he’s unfortunately right. Think back to JD Martinez last year. Teams are not giving up a shot at a good cost effective 18-22 year old that they can control for years in favor of really any 30+ player. That’s a huge flaw in the system. I think draft compensation should only be for players on the right side of 30. Easiest way to resolve the issue. Keuchel would have had a 4-5 year 80-90 million offer in a few weeks without draft compensation. Same for CK.
No question the agents misread and overshot the market, but the markets value was only so low because of the draft compensation tied to them.
Shouldve accepted the qualifying offer then. It’s not like it was a secret that teams value draft picks. Not saying the system can’t be improved but it was collectively bargained and approved by the players. Boras did what he always does, he overvalued a player with a lot of question marks and ended up costing his client tens of millions of dollars.
He shouldn’t have had to. Teams are overvaluing draft picks. Basically every player over 30 would play on 1 year deals if we followed that trend.
He had offers of 80-90 million. Dallas wanted 7 years and there’s no way he’s getting 7 years when he clearly is in decline. Boras needs to realize players on the wrong side of 30, don’t have the same value as they used to. If he doesn’t score big for his clients by 28 then he needs to adjust his strategy.
It’s probably a combination of both: unrealistic asking price, but also the draft pick compensation which, like many other items in the current CBA are heavily favoring the teams on the expense of the players. Lesson learned for MLBPA: use a lawyer when bargaining for a new contract, not a former player.
But isn’t that the exact trend that we’re seeing, with only a few exceptions? The value of a draft pick is in the amount of control the team holds economically over time, for varying levels of talent, not just the super stars. Most teams are choosing to invest dollars differently today.
Wasn’t DK getting offers but didn’t like what was being sent to his team? He gambled and lost.
He’s turned down offers.
Keuchel gave an interview a couple of weeks ago, and said specifically it was his choice he had not signed yet. He has a figure in his mind for what he thinks he’s worth, and he has rejected every offer that hasn’t met that standard. He even said Boras suggested he should accept some of those offers, which he declined.
This is not about Boras, who has worked with his client to keep him in-shape and viable. Keuchel said the reason he hadn’t signed already was the offers submitted—and we have to assume there have been many offers—were too low on the AAV and/or too short on the number of guaranteed years.
My personal guess is the offers are maxing out at 3 guaranteed years, with options for a 4th and possibly 5th year. His stated desire is 4-5 guaranteed years. Given his age, there don’t figure to be many teams looking to gamble on the backend of that contract range.
It’s dumb to limit teams going over the luxury tax with a draft pick dropping ten spots and international bonus money being cut. They’ve done enough on that front for other teams. Boston, New York, Los Angeles and others should be spending more.
That would definitely be good for whatever little competitive balance there is still left in the sport.
Yeah, but it would avoid a labor strike
The MLBPA decided they wanted to ride a bubble in which teams were giving out irrationally big dollar figures for irrationally long contracts. That’s all they’ve ever cared about, the top players getting the biggest longest contracts possible. The problem is so many of those contracts are objectively bad, and not just for the team paying the bill. Every dollar sunk into those contracts is a dollar not earned by a player that actually deserves it.
Agree. MLBPA continues to focus on the top of the market vs. overall player compensation. I am more concerned about quality MLB players who cannot get major league deals, like Gio, than I am about the guys like this that are misreading there market. MLBPA should be pushing for higher minimum salaries in the 2 million range, to offer better compensation for borderline players and to make it an equal risk to pick up an experienced player vs. rolling the dice on bringing up an unproven commodity. Whether Bryce gets 200 million or 300 million, he is set for life. MLBPA needs to worry more about the rest of their membership
I doubt that the Union is stupid enough to strike over non issues.
If they do,I hope that MLB and the owners are smart enough to do what the NFL did and have replacement players.
Then you would have competitive balance!
Since when in the last 50y were unions for the working stiff and not enriching themselves?
Reasons why each and every union is top heavy and there are going to be a chosen few (huge deals) while rest suffer.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if a city can’t sustain a $100 million+ payroll at this stage in the sport and salaries, the question really needs to be asked if that team should exist. We keep talking about league expansion but we already have 6-8 teams that are a leech on the rest of the system. Relocating those teams or forcing a change in ownership should be a higher priority then it is.
Competitive balance needs to be obtained by addressing the top and the bottom. MLB has done little to address the latter.
The NFL is the one league that has tried to have a balance and it has worked.
The Patriots are probably the greatest team of all time so they are an outlier.They win because of their organization and Belicheck and Brady.
MLB is designed for the teams with the most fans to win.There is a reason why the Dodgers have the most depth and best players,and the Red Sox and Yankees have good teams every year.They all three also happen to be well run teams,the best that money can buy.
Based on results since 1991 individual small market teams have a 1/2 % chance of winning the WS in any given year.
There is little competitive balance in MLB.
You must have missed the Twins, Jays (twice), Braves, Marlins (twice), Dbacks, Rockies and Cards titles. None of whom are considered big market.
Royals?
Twins were in 1991,and use of the word “since” means after 1991.
The others are medium market teams.
The only one that may be lower is the Marlins but I think that they are ranked as a mid market team also.
Good reading comprehension is a very important trait to have Colossus.
Junkyard-They were the team that raised it from 0 to 1/2.
The Yankees and Dodgers “ should be spending more”?? Please explain your thoughts. The Dodgers, most specifically, have a comfortable lead and the deepest roster in the game. I’m having a difficult time understanding why they should be spending more.
Philly should do this
I wonder who is going to sign him
Or they could’ve just accepted the more than reasonable 2 year QO. Then be free of it forever more.
They gambled. They lost.
**1 year. Fat fingers
Competitive balance was supposed to enable the teams with the lowest revenue to spend like the highest revenue teams but instead it completely stifled spending all together. What an complete utter failure.
Not true, total payroll spending goes up almost every year. The figures haven’t been released yet, but 2019 will very likely break the 2017 record.
This number is very deceptive. Right now you have 15 teams operating at below $100M on the 25 man roster. Of those teams 6 are operating below $70M. 5 of those are operating under 60 and 4 of those under 50. The top 10 are carrying about 65-70% of the weight with most of that being the Red Sox Cubs Dodgers and Cardinals.
spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/
Without a true salary cap there is no competitive balance. The luxury tax is a joke with regards to anything close to competitive balance. Baseball is closer to basketball, another farce of a system, than football; which is why the NFL continues to dominate TV revenue, etc. & has become our national pastime. Keuchal & Kimbral are examples of greed, not pawns of the system. Overpaying for aging players is stupid & it’s about time some teams have wised up regarding it.
+1
What are you on about? Baseball makes far more money than football. Football has higher ratings on TV because they play less than 10% of the games major league teams play.
If the Yankees played 16 games a season, their TV ratings would blow away football.
The NFL does generate more revenue than MLB.
“Baseball makes far more money than Football” How dumb or completely delusional do you have to be to post something like this? The fact that two people agree with you is maybe even more ridiculous. The NFL revenue 2018-19 season 25.3 Billion, MLB revenue 2018 season 10.3 billion. Your ratings comparison is even more insane. The NFL draft outpaced any of the 2018 World Series games by a huge margin. If you add up all the ratings for last years WS games they wouldn’t come close to the Super Bowl viewership. omfg!!!
Football is an event. If baseball weren’t every day for over half the year, it would crush the NFL. It’s the same mentality of why half of all New Yorkers have never been up the Empire State building. When it’s there every day you take it for granted.
Its not a rating or revenue race. It’s like comparing TV shows to Movies. Just because they are relatively similar doesn’t mean you can compare A to B and make any kind of tangible argument. Nascar crushes all. Justin Bieber was the biggest thing in the world for awhile.
MLB is still much better run and operated then the NFL.
NFL ignores it’s rampant steroid and hgh use. Watch some of the players talk about what a joke the testing is. Just to name one major difference. If MLB had let the home run race continue, where would we be?
My first thought is you’re definitely over 50 and white which is the average age of an MLB fan. “Football is an event” no bro the Super Bowl is an event! “NASCAR crushes all” not even close too any of the major sports..gotta laugh at that one.
I would love your links to where “NFL players talk about what a joke testing is”. “NFL ignores its rampant steroid and HGH use” I’m 100% sure you can’t provide proof of where you got this.
“MLB is still much better run and operated than the NFL” definitely just your opinion.
MLB is now considered the fourth favorite sport among minority’s in this country, and the changing population dynamic in this country only makes it fade more. The NBA has passed MLB in so many outlets, and polls show MLB is now considered people’s fourth favorite sport behind..NFL..College Football..NBA
NFL revenue last year was about $15 billion not $25 billion. More…but nowhere near 2.5 times more. And the NFL draft reference is also wrong. The NFL draft averaged 6.1 million viewers with a 3.9 rating. Last year’s World Series was the fourth lowest ever, but still averaged 14.1 million viewers with an 8.3 rating.
How is baseball the fourth favorite among minorities when it is the the top sport in so many Hispanic and Asian countries where a majority of minorities originated from.
2018-19..25 Billion combined NFL revenue. 2019 NFL draft total viewership for 3 days-47.5 million-average 3 day 15.8 million (ESPN, Forbes, Variety)
2018 World Series viewership-71.5 million over 5 games-average 14.3(Newsweek,Variety,Forbes) down 20% from 2017
While the NFL draft increased 11% from 2018.
Wrong again. From Fortune dated Feb. 2, 2019:
“The NFL generated about $15 billion this past season, making it the king of U.S. sports. And the league is about to lean even harder on its fans, aiming to boost its annual revenue to $25 billion by 2027. “
I evidently misread, so I stand corrected on the revenue for the NFL.
My first thought for Bocephus is I wonder why it matters if he is white and over 50.
My second thought is the NBA has become a joke in that the superstars control the league as it is only a five man sport.I doubt very much that it has passed baseball in popularity.
My third thought is why should I care that minorities see it as the fourth sport.It is a free country and that is their right.Hispanics and Asians would probably disagree regarding the sport’s popularity as another poster has mentioned.
You seem to be enamored with the NBA.
That’s the average age and average ethnicity of a MLB fan.
I understand that but I do not see as it is relevant to what he is talking about.Somebody under thirty could very well have said the same thing.
What are you even saying? Why do we need competitive balance? There have been different world series winners for 18 years now. Some teams have won it more in that span but that’s the way that works with or without a cap. The Warriors have won the NBA title 3 times (and it should have been 4). The entire season has been a joke, it amounts to “who can score the most points while the Warriors win?” And look, salary cap and salary floor. The Patriots have been in the title game for like 15 years in a row. There is absolutely no parity in all other sports (even Hockey has its repetition) but baseball.
Take a note from the government, forcing outcomes always, ALWAYS produces the opposite result.
The problem with all sports is the revenue structures. Leagues are scared to raise the salary floor and force teams to compete. Baseball is a tough game and there’s a reason no repeats have happened since the Yankees 20 years ago. The reason the same 15 teams are in it every year isn’t coincidental. They need a floor more then a cap.
Any relish on the hotdogs
Nope.
Any relish on the hot dogs
Still nope.
Keuchel will make just about any team’s rotation better, even if he’s not the ace Boras thinks he is. It’s just a question of price and fit. There are a lot of teams that have either spent most or all of their money, or are going to be selling and not buying, or have other needs that might take priority.
I think there’s 20 teams that cap consideration aside should be considering Keuchel.
Yankees could use him for sure. They have gotten great results thusfar from what they have but the stability will be welcomed in October. The entire NL East other then the Marlins has a good reason to inquire. The Twins, Red Sox and maybe Dodgers are the only 3 competitors that I can think of off the top of my head that for salary or depth reasons he doesn’t make sense.
Poor Dallas… Was never a big fan and always thought he was a bit overrated like another weird Cy Young winner in Porcello. But this is ridiculous. Guys that are good for 200 innings of 3.50-4.00 ball should not be this undesirable…
He’s not undesirable as a piece to a 2019 or 2020 team. That is why he apparently has received, and rejected, many, many offers.
He is looking for 4-5 years of guaranteed money, with AAV of $20M+. It is the backend of that expectation which keeps him unsigned, apparently, with the draft pick making a 1year deal non viable for any team.
My guess is he will sign a fat, prorated deal for 2019, and re-enter FA next winter with no draft pick attached.
He is whistling into the wind if he thinks that he can get $20 M a year even for a one year contract.
What do the Astros get if/when the compensation pick is dropped from Keuchel?
They get nothing for their troubles.
Brewers could use both….
But we’re Milwaukee which means 1) they don’t wanna play here and 2) we can’t afford their asking price.
I am sure there are a lot of teams kicking the tires on Keuchel. But we’ll see whether or not there are any teams willing to pay a ‘premium’ for Keuchel. While the draft pick compensation hurt his market, so did his high asking price.
The draft pick compensation drops off at some point I think. I would imagine he’ll get a bevy of teams willing to overpay at that point.
…but he’s UNDERSTANDABLY interested in a premium salary…
isn’t that attitude the cause of why keuchel is STILL unemployed?
the market spoke, keuchel needs to hear it
People are put off on his asking price and Dallas said in an interview i saw on another site he wasn’t interested in a 1 year deal and has rejected a handful of deals presented to him.
Maybe something changed the past couple weeks from when that interview was done, but in his own words he isn’t interested.
Pretty sure i saw the interview on y a h o o sports, … but Dallas said it not them
IMO he needs to realize he isn’t Zach, and this isn’t 2014. Teams are not going to pay 25M/year for 6 years for his current skill set.
If a team’s front office is smart, then they can replace that type of production for a fraction of the cost. The Astros passed on multiple years of Keuchel at possibly $18M+ for a single year of Wade Miley at $4.5M, and outside of a couple peripherals, those two are basically the same pitcher. K+K still being on the market is solely the fault of those two guys severely overvaluing themselves (Kimbrel’s declining stats really hurt him here, but maybe with the few months of rest, he regains his elite stuff and status and might actually live up to whatever contract he gets)
Dallas asked for too much. That’s why he’s on the market still. Great player, great pitcher, but the market didn’t want him at his price. Only had himself and his agent to blame.
Yankees. Phillies. If he was going back to Houston he’d be there already.
One year deal w/club option.
2/$30M
We will offer him a two year deal for 45 million just to stick up Houston’s jester!!
Keuchel is on the wrong side of 30 and has seen his peripherals trend downward significantly since he was a CYA winner. On a one-year deal, he only makes sense for teams who are all-in on the playoff race and who have a glaring need for an innings-eater in the middle of the rotation. The number of teams in that position is small.
Yes, the QO is hurting Keuchel’s market. That’s exactly what it was intended to do. It gives more incentive to the player to remain where he was. If he is, as Boras says, will ing to pitch on a single-season deal, he should have just accepted the QO to begin with.
If he wants a multi-year deal, then the cost to a team of sacrificing their best pick in the next draft becomes something that is absolutely going to get rolled into the price os signing Keuchel, and Keuchel is going to pay 100% of that out of what he is offered.
Boras and Keuchel poorly misread the market and now they are complaining because the system is working the way it is intended to .
Boras put both of those boys out of baseball because of his extreme contract request. Sure all MLB teams would be interested. But…it is a proven fact…..with pitchers especially, even those who didn’t sign until after Spring Training was over, Pitchers lose their touch. They aren’t the same as they were in their glory days. The only way these two pitchers will be signed this season is at a low priced, one year contract loaded with incentives for the pitcher and an option Year for the team that signs either of them. Pitchers will be rewarded on their effectiveness. Teams who extend a hand to them back into the MLB, will receive the option to resign and renegotiate their contract for 2020