The upcoming free agent market will be shaped to an unusual degree by agent Scott Boras and his clients. That’s true not just because he represents so many of the top players heading to the open market, but because several of his clients have opt-out opportunities this fall. It’s all reading tea leaves at this point, but Boras did offer at least a few subtle hints in the course of an interview with Jon Heyman and Josh Levin on the Big Time Baseball Podcast (audio link).
He was asked first about Stephen Strasburg, who just turned 31 and is presently polishing off an excellent and healthy campaign. Given a chance to chat about the talented righty, Boras was muted. Indeed, he began by pointing out that Strasburg can opt out either this winter or next — which is true, and notable, but isn’t exactly a patented Boras sales pitch.
So, does that mean that Strasburg is leaning against an opt out and/or that Boras will recommend he hang onto his four-year, $100MM commitment? That’s impossible to say. And Boras made clear we shouldn’t assume any such thing, saying: “I make it a practice to not discuss anything with players about their contracts until they’re done performing and certainly we’ll have time to address that and I’m sure Stephen will give me direction on it.”
Boras was not similarly restrained when the hosts raised the topic of Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez, another prominent opt-out candidate. Though he didn’t specifically address the opt-out decision (three years, $62.5MM in his case), Boras left little doubt that he has begun compiling talking points on the slugger.
Martinez, per Boras, is “one of the top 5 offensive players in the game … and that is the vision of J.D. Martinez that I believe all teams have.” But the premium hitter is not a bat-only player, says his agent. He’s in the lineup every day and “plays forty or fifty games in the outfield,” says Boras. “I don’t think teams would in any way view J.D. Martinez as a DH,” adds the always-entertaining player rep, who also emphasized Martinez’s leadership and provision of hitting information and “intensity” to teammates.
Whether it’s fair to read anything into these comments is up for debate. Strasburg is famously quiet and may simply prefer his agent support that low profile. But those decisions are of critical importance to the respective teams and the overall market landscape. While their names were at least mentioned, Boras unsurprisingly passed on the chance to highlight Elvis Andrus and Jake Arrieta — two other clients who don’t seem to be in position to strongly consider opting out of their deals.
Boras also largely passed when asked to comment on two key Nationals players, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto. Boras says the team has made clear its “strong interest” in retaining Rendon. Having previously sputtered, contract talks won’t start again until the Nats wrap up the 2019 campaign. It still seems unlikely that a deal will be made before Rendon has a chance to test the market, though that’s not written in stone.
As for Soto, Boras acknowledged some recent comments from president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo regarding the team’s obvious interest in a long-term deal with the exceptional young hitter. But he did not read more into them than was intended or give any hint that there was particular interest or disinterest in dealmaking on the part of the 20-year-old Soto. “Those are things that we kind of leave in the space of the offseason before we ever begin discussion,” said Boras.
If there was another topic that really seemed to pique Boras’s interest — aside from the need to protect the health of players, in relation to the recent Kris Bryant injury — it was the upcoming free agency of Nicholas Castellanos. The outfielder has been aflame since landing with the Cubs, with Boras explaining that his talent has finally been freed by “getting into a lineup where people really can’t work around him and have to throw to him and they also have situational pressure.”
With Castellanos having “taken advantage of that situation to illustrate his skills,” and shown the defensive chops of one of the “ten to twelve best right fielders in the game,” Boras obviously feels he’s got a significant piece to market. Castellanos is still just 27 years of age and has certainly impressed in Chicago, but it remains less than clear just how robust his market will be. Boras says he believes “everyone understands now what kind of ballplayer that Nick Castellanos is.” And that may be true. But what isn’t clear is whether teams really believe Castellanos to be more than a 2.5 to 3 WAR range of performer — and whether they’ll be willing to commit big money over a lengthy term to acquire such a player.
So tired of hearing about Boras and his ego. Dude, the front office has played your games long enough. It’s payback time and they are beating you like a rented mule
Write this down, folks. I upvoted CFAP. It was well deserved.
The one thing in favor of boras is even if the front offices are done dealing with him he is notorious for going over FO heads straight to the owners
If you needed an agent for your job, wouldn’t you want Boras and his ego? I sure would.
Not today. 5-10 years ago, yes. So much so that guys are leaving him for other agents. You can’t collude with players, but I don’t think it’s against the CBA to collude against an agent. I could be wrong on that, but I think that has slowly been going on against Boras.
Where’s your evidence that his business is down? Yes Boras is an often tiresome attention junkie, but it seems he still has plenty of high-profile clients. They must believe he’s doing the job for them. Whether we or the owners like him is sort besides the point.
Its still mind blowing to me how all the Joe Baseball Fans in these comments, who I assume are not millionaires, absolutely hate Boras for taking money out of wealthy owners pockets and into the players and his own pockets. Boras’s net worth is $400M and he rips off billionaires on the regular, I completely love what he’s doing for the game and you should too.
He’s a hero to the worker and the enemy of the owners, but the owners also own and run the media, which paints the worst picture of Boras, and all you Joe’s eat it up like its your last meal. Open your eyes for like 5 seconds, you will be surprised about how things are actually are in the real world.
Take your union stump speech somewhere else. And par for the course, your union rhetoric has about 40% of the facts. Yawn.
How about you open your eyes for like 5 seconds and realize the words Boras and hero have no business associated. Parasite? Sure.
If he is a parasite clepto then all agents are parasites. Everyone singles him out because he is the most visible. Agents provide a service and undoubtedly get more money for their clients
I wouldn’t have put it that way exactly, but the owners have a great thing going in that how much they pay the players is made a matter of public record, but how much money they take from the game is a deep, dark secret. That’s why a lot of working stiffs side with the owners. It’s ironic since we pay to watch the players play, not the owners own.
Especially in the system they operate under and the control they have over the system. Owners have already squeezed the IFA market under the guise that it unfair to pay ifa’s yet you continually see them squeeze the life out of the milb players and the archaic system. Put simply fans get pissed off when players look to get paid after the somewhat 10 years of control. Yet they fail to raise ire concerning cheap labor that has made FA somewhat obsolete. Controlling prime years at nothing. FOs Owners have gotten smarter yes, but save me the sob story when Boras is essentially doing his job in representing players instead of owners lining their wallets.
A hero for the worker?
Most hyperbolic statement of the day.
Hero to workers? Farm workers? Steel workers? Carpenters? Supermarket workers? You get the idea. He works for millionaires against billionaires and who pays the freight? Fans be it directly through seats that have gone up in Price the last 25 years many times the rate of inflation, through ridiculously overpriced merchandise or indirectly through media costs. Owners took advantage years ago creating the need for Marvin Miller and only recently has a little player leverage been given back. Even when it is, the only teams that give it back to fans are those that are hurting at the gate and have no choice.
I’ve said it before. There should be a shorter period to free agency, say four years (could actually lower salaries of the best because only one arb year will be included. Do this along with giving teams that resign their own players a 50% credit against the salary cap starting with year five. Do you think the Sox position on Mookie for example might be different in offering an 8 to 10 year deal if after year 4, only 50% was assessed against the cap? Teams, fans and of course the players win this way. Also if the team were to trade him, his return would be much higher under such a formula.
An Econ 101 lesson seems to be needed here. The team owners will charge as much for tickets and everything else as the fans will pay. They don’t lower any prices when they have lower expenses, they make more profit. They can’t charge more than the fans will pay. When their expenses go up, profits go down. The same as any other business. Ownership has conditioned fans to side with them by making sure we don’t know how much they make owning, but making sure we do know exactly how much players make for playing. It’s kind of twisted but it seems to work.
@Strike Four
What an obnoxious and absolutely ridiculous comment.
So let me open your eyes and show you how the real world works…
Yes, you can say the owners are rich and should just spend more and more and more, right? Okay, but an owner isn’t a team. A team is a business with a BUDGET. A business doesn’t run on spending more and more. A business doesn’t profit by continuing to spend money on declining value. So people get pissed because someone pays $350 million for Bryce Harper or Cabrera. Short term they might get some bucks on jerseys and season ticket sales. Long term it hinders team rosters, payroll, and ability to spend to improve the team/business.
I don’t care if the guy is trying to get the most for his money. It’s his job. Kudos for fleecing owners. But don’t ever tell me this guy is a hero for making multi-millionaires even richer. Scott Bora isn’t Jerry Maguire. He’s Bob Sugar.
Theoretically yes to a point. Did the Yankees need a new stadium at the same time as the Mets? Ticket prices were raised many times over with the opening of the new stadium. Families and small businesses who had seats forever were forced to give them up or relocate to worse seats. It’s an embarrassment that the most financially successful team, the Yankees often play with empty seats behind home plate. I used to sit fifteen to twenty rows up through a business client. Pretty successful business but they gave those seats up when the seats went up so much. How could a 16 year old working after school part time as a bus boy afford the best seats available and today I have to choose between those same four seats on an appliance, new furniture or something of that type? Of course winning and demand has a lot to do with it but municipalities always sell their fans out. One third of the cost of each NY stadium was public money and instead of imposing some type of cap on the cost of tickets, concessions and parking, politicians went the other way and allow the municipalities to get their cut via taxes. The more charged, the higher the tax collected.
Not theoretically, but in reality. I own a share in a season ticket to the Dodgers, which has gone up in price by 25% in the last two years running. It sure isn’t because the Dodgers are spending more on salaries, which they are not, it’s because they can. They sold nearly four million tickets year, a record not only for the Dodgers but I believe also in the history of baseball. If I give up my season ticket because it’s become too expensive for me, somebody else will buy it. The Dodgers know that, which is why they keep raising the price. That’s how it works. No public financing at Dodger Stadium so that is not a factor in what they charge or what they are allowed to charge. They are allowed to charge what the traffic will bear and that’s exactly what they do. It’s highly unrealistic to expect them to do anything else.
Hero to all workers who can’t afford to take their family to the ballpark because Boras’ tactics have driven up salaries and priced the common man out?
How dumb is the American public if people really believe agents like Scott Boras are the reason ticket prices go up? That’s an absolutely ridiculous statement. The money is in the game of baseball. Your owner is going to charge what the market bears no matter your teams salary.
Boras isn’t a hero either. That’s a beyond naive statement from a guy who regularly slaps them up here. He’s a capitalist. Plain and simple. No different than the owners. He just sits on the other side of the table.
Dewey your view is over simplistic. You can not impose a meaningful ticket cap. This isn’t like a rental ceiling where there’s no secondary market. There’s a gigantic secondary market for tickets in all professional sports. You attempt to pass some sort of price ceiling that teams can charge and I’ll tell you exactly what will happen.
Should they attempt some price ceiling; the season tickets will be bought up immediately by individual investors and resold on the secondary market for their true market value. I’d be buying myself some Yankees season tickets if they ever tried to do something so easily exploitable. That would be the easiest dollar I ever made.
Now, you might argue that spreading the wealth around to a bunch of slightly above average Joe’s who can flip season tickets may be better than giving it to Mr. Steinbrenner but you’re not going to see the “cheap” ticket effect you want.
And my last paragraph isn’t entirely true either. The real winner would be stubhub and every other secondary ticket vendor who would see a huge increase in revenue.
The good seats are supposed to go to the rich. The 16-year-old bus boy sits in the nosebleed seats, which most teams charge as low as $5 per ticket (plus fees) depending on the game. Just don’t buy much inside the stadium, and MLB games are still mostly affordable for the average fan, especially at the stadiums where you’re mostly allowed to bring in your own food and beverages.
@jekporkins
If you think his comment is ridiculous, look in the mirror. Owners are raking in hundreds of thousands per game on ticket sales, without considering the TV contract, Jersey sales, concessions (exp $12 beers), and other item saled included and are making millions in the playoffs. You’re trying to teach an economics lesson you have no business conducting. There’s a reason those huge contracts still get paid out. Wish I could downvote you.
There used to be laws against ticket scalping. What used to be done illegally is now allowed. Why? Because government now gets their cut. Suits against those who use bots to unfairly buy up hot tickets to then resell. There should in my view be limits to protect the public. Some things the rich just shouldn’t be able to buy. I realize we’re not talking body parts but it’s such a slippery slope. Baseball is different than other sports because there are so many games. Families until the last twenty five years were always able to make a day out of a game and sit in seats where they could actually see and enjoy the game.
You complete me
It would depend on if I’m the best at what I do or if I’m just average. He’s lost his touch with the second tier players.
It depends. If every player simply wanted the most money they’d all be with the Boras Corp. When I took my last job I left some money on the table because it was so close to the house I was looking to buy. Look at someone like Trout, imagine the contract if he was with Boras and didn’t sign an extension.
Lol. So true. I love seeing the teams gathering in a circle and watching Boras get systematically c 0 c K-slapped.
Google Scott Boras net worth and think about how much he cares about what you think lol
Pupils, Cuban Connection.
Oh I meant Puig.
Castellanos’ deal will help me decide whether Boras still has the Midas touch. The guy can flat out hit and is obviously still vectoring up but his type skills have not been paid very well lately so we’ll see if Boras can reverse that or if we get another holdout who settles for some less than expected.
My prediction: Castellanos overrides Boras and signs early with the first decent bid. 4/45 to stay a Cub or 5/50 to become an Angel.
Castellanos will be signing with the Cubs. He has said on numerous occasions that he loves Chicago — the fans, the ballpark, the energy, the organization. He even went on the radio and said he was disgusted how the game he loves has turned into nothing but being about money.
Uh huh. How many times have athletes said they love an organization, a city, a fan base, etc only to sign with the highest bidder? Stop kidding yourself, it’s all about the money
I don’t know. Name some.
That’s a black and white way of looking at it. Players obviously have preferences with where they play. If that team comes close to where they want to be and where the other bids are, they typically take it. They aren’t going to uproot their family to go make 1 or 2 million more with another club. If the preferred team is way off, you can’t call the players greedy if they want to take that higher deal.
An obvious example would be Markakis, who left lots of money on the table to stay with the Braves.
Let’s see…Greinke, Sabathia, Fielder, Jason Giambi, Jayson Werth, Johnny Damon, etc etc
Jd Martinez is a great hitter but he is really limited to 15 teams. That being the AL, so those that can actually afford him and have space are even smaller.
And of those teams with payroll space who can really use him? The Yankees don’t need another DH. The Angels play Ohtani there half the time so I don’t think that would work. Texas has a team full of guys who could fill that DH slot. And Houston looks just fine with Alvarez. I can’t imagine more than a handful of teams having interest in Martinez.
The best fit is clearly Boston. If I had to pick a second I guess it’d be Minnesota if they opted to let Cruz go. Cleveland or TB could potentially use him also but I do not see them making that financial commitment to a DH.
Minn couldn’t afford him. You also got that nick cass (sp) with the cubs. Market is extremely limited. Maybe the rangers ? Outside of that, if he does opt out, I don’t think bosox try to resign him. I could see them try to cut payroll a little. Seattle is out of it for a little bit.
Minnesota has next to nothing on their payroll next year. They’re going to make a big splash in FA this year. I think that’s a matter of who and not if. They have 38 MM plus some arb raises on their payroll tab. They certainly have JD money if they want to go that way.
Cruz is outhitting him and they have a very affordable team option on him. So that probably was a bad call by me for the second best fit. I would imagine they’re going to spend big on some pitching. JD May be better off opting out next year when Cruz will be a 40 year old FA. Minnesota may be an ideal fit at that point.
But will
they?
Hmm…..
I agree. Anaheim, Seattle,Baltimore, Detroit and the Yanks have no use for him. He is AL so that knocks 2/3 of the league out of consideration before he ever hits the market.
How much of a raise does anyone think JD would get?
He’s just shy of $21 Mill/year now. Might he stay for the guaranteed money?
White Sox – they could use him. Doubt Reinsdorf opens up the wallet enough for him but they definitely could use him as a DH. I’d take him in RF over Palka too.
Please no more Palka. I’ll take anyone out there in place of him
The White Sox will have money to spend but it won’t be on J.D. Martinez!
White Sox are on track to have 6 Right handed batters in the lineup. They’ll go for a lefty power bat like Dickerson or trade for Winker, Pederson
JD Martinez likely wants out of BOS. Nicholas Castellanos is a worse defensive OF than JD Martinez. Yet still, I think teams will overlook their defensive struggles and they both will end up in the NL on short contracts.
I think that if Stephen Strasburg opts out, Gerrit Cole ends up in WSN.
cole wants to go home to the angels.
source?
he said he wanted pitch in front of his family and friends
Yes but do the Angels want him? Of course we know they need him but!
Moreno is pretty tight with the cash and given the contract he just gave Trout, is there really room at the top of their payroll for another $20-25Million a year pitcher? They have more holes than just one guy….expecially a guy that contributes about 35 times a season.
Even so, he would be a great pickup for them….guess well see!
So did Sabathia before signing with the Yankees which are probably as far as you can get away. Money talks.
The Nats are leveraging cash as it is right now with all of the deferred money. I highly doubt Cole is an option unless he also takes a huge chunk of deferred money. I doubt he does.
Woa! Boros says Castellanos is in top half of baseball RFs.
Martinez wants out of Boston because of??? The stadium is perfectly built for him and he loves the place and players surrounding him. The team isn’t very likely to go into one of those tanking rebuilds half the league now finds popular, but possibly move just a couple of pieces and remain competitive, so just why leave a stadium perfectly built in every way for him?
Money. JDM isn’t going to the Hall of fame. If he opts in this year it’s highly likely he walks next year in search of a bigger payday. He may have a hard time topping 3/61.5 in the market today but assuming another productive season next year he should be able to beat a 2/39.5. If he opts in now I’d be more surprised if he doesn’t opt out next year. Or the Sox tack another year onto his deal in lieu of an opt out.
I can name 5 players on the A’s alone who are having a better offensive year than JD Martinez….maybe top 5 on his own team…
*JD Mattinez would at worst be their 2nd best hitter*
Even if you completely ignored JD’s history of doing this year in and year out. He would be currently tied for 2nd per WRC+ on the A’s. So yeah going to have to say no there. Beane already locked in Khris Davis; which I’m sure he’d like to have back.
Sacball, first of all, Martinez is #1 on his own team with a .938 OPS and 138 OPS+.
The 5 Oakland players you can name better? Who are they? Semien? .894 OPS 139 OPS+. Olson? .903 & 140. Laureano? .861 & 129. Chapman? .842 & 125. Canha? .928 & 150. In reference, Martinez has 634 PA. Laureano 459, Olson 525 and Canha 481. So no, there are NOT 5 Oakland players having a better year than Martinez. They are all very good but none dramatically better or worse than the next guy.
Discount 2019 because of the ball. JDM has now proven year in and year out he simply rakes. How many players in 2019 will be one and done or struggling if the ball gets changed again? MLB apparently did this purposely although they will deny it as they think HRs sell. The beauty of last year as a Sox fan was how they hit with two outs, with two strikes, etc. I watched less this year than I did in 2014 and 2015 when Boston finished last.
Clearly he would be the best hitter on the A’s…certainly Semien is having a good year but let’s see him do it consistently. Davis has been awful this season…so not sure how JD wouldn’t be a top 5 hitter on Oakland
Seems like A’s fans always forget the consistency issue when trying to subjectively interject their players into “absolute best” conversations….happen with them every time an article comes up.
They all are reliving 1989 which was the last time the team won anything!
REALLY…name them?
And, do these supposed A’s players do it year in and year out like JD has?….Doubt it….you sound just like an A’s fan!
Jeffrey… how many WAR’s is a double worth? Castellanos is a doublin’ machine.
I’ve always thought that defense might be a tad bit overrated when it comes to calculating WAR
The Rendon situation is by far the most critical. Soto is years away from even being thought about.
I think with Strasburg injury history, you keep your 25 mil a year.
Rendon is a great player and in honesty his biggest benefit will be for the Brewers as him being available will drop Mooses price for them to resign him to a two three year deal averaging it at 12 million a year.
This dude is such a leech..his only talent is to manipulate his clients to leave their current t teams.
Only mike Trout and sd Stephen Strasburg have stayed and signed extensions. I bet boras was mad as hell when mike Trout wanted to sign an extension
LOL Boras is not Trout’s agent
El Mago N9ne = Lack of Facto in English
Players pay agents to represent them in contract negotiations. Who they hire for that job is entirely their choice. Just thought I’d point out that little item.
Incorrect. Trout obviously isn’t a Boras client.
Other clients who signed extensions: Ryan Madson, Jered Weaver, Carlos Pena, Elvis Andrus.
Xander Boagarts signed an extension with the Red Sox this year for 4 years / $80 and he is a Boras client. Great deal for Boston!
The sad thing is a team like the Padres or Giants will cave in and give one of his clients a very bad contract. Padres blew it with Manny and Hosmer if they add another one they are the worse. Boras only cares about one thing the most money he can get his client no matter how bad the team is.
Thats his job.
Everyone hates Boras, but it’s the owner(s) who say “Ok” when he asks for the moon and the stars.
Yeah, it’s weird. Everyone hates Boras, but they love Eric Cartman. Same basic person.
“Boras only cares about one thing the most money he can get his client no matter how bad the team is.”
So wait… “That guy who gets hired to get the most money for his clients does his darned job!”
Hosmer, yes, but the Machado deal isn’t that bad. I certainly prefer it to the Harper deal.
One of the top ten to twelve right fielders in the game? WHAT? We have been told time and time again that Castellanos is UNPLAYABLE in the outfield. Come on MLBTR, tell us how terrible of a right fielder Castellanos is. Tell us he is limited to only AL teams.
Tiger fan here…thanks for the sympathy.
Castellanos is a capable fielder of balls he gets to. The problem is his limited range. You can’t coach that. He is what he is. But the dude can hit.
Agreed. It’s not like his defense is atrocious. He isn’t some error machine. He will clean field whatever he can get to, but there won’t be any spectacular plays. His bat more than makes up for any shortcomings in the field.
Castellanos I dont see him getting anymore then 15 million a year if he is lucky. Boras may have gotten some players money but I also believe he will cost some players HOF too by getting them to sit out until June and leaving teams which does have affect on how certain players are percieved in ways. I see guys like Machado and Harper as guys who care more of status through money then working hard to have HOF careers. I would even say Boras has probably influenced other players such as Bryant and others to worry more about money then their teams which has also influenced bad play caused bitterness. Cubs are a prime team. Egos of players have held them back from success more then anything
As a Cubs fan, I’m done with Bryant. The Cubs offered him a more than fair $200 million dollar deal and he turned it down. It’s behind a joke. Learn to hit when it matters, and maybe we can discuss more than that. Trade him for a haul. All the other players are eager to work out FAIR extensions.
“Learn to hit when it matters” is just a terribly wrong narrative. It’s unreal how many people think that because they see someone strike out once with guys on.
2019 season: 903 OPS
None on: 852 OPS
Runners on: 976 OPS
Bases loaded: 1150 OPS
RISP 2 outs: 955 OPS
If you don’t think he hits when it counts why would another team take him and trade the Cubs a HAUL?
Do you think other teams don’t know that too?
@CubsHope5 His clutch numbers are atrocious. Two batters can hit .310. One when it actually matters, and against good teams. The other when it doesn’t matter, and against bad teams…..but both are .310 hitters. He also doesn’t pass the eye test. Too many whiffs in key situations.
@rocky7 He’s still a big name that has relatively good numbers. He would be good for other teams in other positions. Namely ones that want to fill seats, and aren’t in such a pressure-packed situation. I think he would fair much better in a smaller market than Chicago.
put him at 1st base, profit
Many players diminish their chances at a big contract simply by retaining Boras. He always asks to much and I seriously believe a lot of teams would rather pass on a player than deal with Boras. If I were the Cubs GM I would offer a fair deal to castallanos one time and then move on. Bryant also employs Boras and they should trade him while he has trade value. Boras sucks.
I would like to hear Boras’ philosophy on slow negotiations. It’s really just him. Players who strike early tend to do well.
Boras used to be able to hold out to February and then get a huge deal. That doesn’t seem to work.
Manny and Bryce were supposed to be generational players. They eventually got paid, but those contracts already look suspect. Not terrible. Just that 28 other GMs are probably happy to not have to worry about them.
Money money money
It is always about the with Boras
He has ruined the game and so has the shift!
Also when that fat slob with attitude Prince Fielder retired, he still got the money even though he never really help win a championship or a playoff game.
Smh
No, he just drove in 100+ runs every year he was in Detroit.
Oh, and he never, not ever, failed to run out an infield grounder. The guy hustled all game long.
Yes, he disappeared in the playoffs, but that happens. To a lot of good ballplayers.
“He just drove in 100+ runs EVERY year he was in Detroit”….”EVERY year” sounds much more impressive than BOTH years (2012-13).
I can’t see JDM opting out, but if he did Castellanos might take his place for cheaper than what JDM was making,
I can’t imagine Rendon staying in Washington. If a deal didn’t get done by now it will probably play out the same way Bryce did,
Come on, we all secretly love the Boras interviews. And glad to see Jon Heyman bringing someone else in to the family business.
Of course, he’s pitching. And so will Strasburg–for the Nationals next year. No way is he walking from a $100M guarantee.
You guys are hilarious. Boras, on his own, is demanding the most money for his clients and is ruining the game? You do realize that players hire Boras to get the most money, that he tells them how he plans to do that, and they approve his strategy. That’s what it means to be registered as an agent. If they want to stay with their team they instruct him accordingly and he negotiates the best deal. If they want to sign an extension pre free agency and leave money on the table they instruct him and he negotiates that best deal. And the very wealthy people who own teams decide what they want to do with their money.
Exactly. If anyone influences a player changing teams, it’s the MLBPA as they encourage players to get the largest contracts so everyone after them can get more. Even then, the player has to agree to do it, even if he’s pressured into it.
Boras is the used car salesman who tells you the oil leak is a self cleaning engine.
“He sells lots of used cars, that’s his job, why do people dislike him?”
As a Red Sox fan I take this to mean JDM is opting out. The Red Sox should be able to reset the lux tax next year and reload again starting in 2021.
JD said he would look for advice from his agent so I would say you are correct, he’s gone. That’s okay with us. Sox won’t be able to match his numbers exactly but they’ll find a way.
You can argue that JD is the best at what he does, but as several have noted, there just isn’t a wide market out there this year. Certainly not for the extra money.
I think there’s mutual interest in having him stay. He knows that market is skinny (JD’s a pretty bright guy), and it’s not like the Sox are going into any kind of rebuild; they still view themselves as “in it” for 2020. And with the Killer B’s. Devers, et al, they are. I’ll even go out on a limb and project they’ll run at Cole. There’s too much ancillary income that’s lost when they’re not competitive, more than what’s Cole’s going to make. And they’ve got some bucks coming off.
Exactly what “bucks” are coming off…still paying Petey, Rusney, Betts is going to arb again and will cost a ton!
Still need bullpen help etc.
The bottom line, is that its either JD or Mookie but not both unless Henry bites down hard on a 75% tax on every dollar the team continues to spend at or beyond where they currently are.
Boston has about $60M coming off the cap this year between Panda, Porcello, Pearce, Nunez & Moreland. Plus, Rusney’s salary does not count against the cap because he is no longer on the 40 man roster. He’s just a very expensive minor league player.
OK, but they’re currently so far over the cap that a large chunk of that $60M is used up just getting back under it, and then they have to use up even more of that difference on arbitration raises and improving their pitching.
Never mind the contracts just signed since the start of 2019, Xander and Sale. $50m right there.
The Xander signing adds 8 next year and the 15 for sale that’s 23 million when they are taking north of 60 off the books. If JDM opts out that’s another 20 and if they trade Betts that’s another 23 they will easily go under the lux tax if that happens even if they add something else. I look at next year as a year the Sox go under the lux tax and reset rather easily if that happens then reloads in 2021. If that doesn’t happen then the Red Sox will probably be doing that after the 2020 season.
Boras and his greed for so many clients is part of why teams don’t give long terners to many guys over 3O. Boras and some of his greedy clients burned alot of teams in taking big cash and delivering zero success. And then the players whine but the analytics and data are there to show a 100 different guys that under performed or becane quickly injured after big payouts.
Now it’s a world where veteran players are released in big numbers and every team only wants prospects. Greed played a big role in how things evolved. Boras got very rich but was very bad for baseball
My understanding is that both sides need to sign a contract. Boras, the players, and the teams are all responsible for some of these deals that turned out to not be favorable for the ballclub. Teams have looked at long term deals differently and it has adjusted the market. It’s not like Boras is robbing or sneaking one past anyone.
Yes and now teams have decided not to be that partner in fiscal insanity and the Boras spin and hype. Good for them.
Well, Boras is wrong on at least one account, JD is not one of the top 5 offensive players in the game….according to mlb.com, he isn’t even in the top 10 with respect to HR, BA, OBP or Slugging over the past 3 years. That said, he probably won’t find a better deal elsewhere.
I think Boras is looking at the body of work and in the last three years I would bet his offensive is top 5.
yes, just that Scott tends to exaggerate when his guys are (or might be) coming due for a new contract…that’s his job right? either way the new mantra I’ve heard is teams don’t want to pay for what players did before…they want to pay for what they can do in the future, and frankly, I see JD declining…he can’t lay off anything low to save his life.
Over the last 3 years, JDM:
1st in HRs
2nd in RBI (behind Arenado)
2nd in BA (behind Altuve)
2nd in OPS (behind Trout)
I pulled this off Fangraphs, last 3 years, qualified Not sure where you pulled your numbers from and who you have with a better OPS and more HRs than JDM.
Flash…Garritt Cole to Padres
The fact that JD plays 40 to 50 games in the outfield hurts his value. It doesn’t help his value
Sorry, Boras, but if your client only plays about a quarter of the games in the field, most teams are indeed going to look at him as a DH.
The number of people who are unable to think that have posted comments on this article is amazing.
Boras is supposed to get the best deal he can for his clients. The owners can always say no.
Let’s take the emotion out of this thread and I’ll put it all in perspective here. Players hire an agent (or professional representative) to work out contracts with lawyers and professional negotiators in the employ of the ballclub. Owners can’t play sports at their level, and athletes can’t negotiate on their own at the owners’ level, so each side hires someone to hammer out an agreement.. When we buy a new house, both the seller and the buyer are represented by real estate agents,who are trained professionals in their field. There have been many terrific deals made by agents on behalf of dozens of players, not just Boras. And while it’s true that not every new contract works out for one side or the other, I’ve never heard any team or owner complain that they got screwed in the negotiation by Boras or any other agent.
Strasburg and Martínez will opt out. Could see Stras going to LAD if Cole signs with another suitor. Also, Martinez maybe goes to a team looking to compete in the near future and needs a big bat (and a DH spot) like maybe the Blue Jays.