The league’s biggest story over the past month has been the winding saga involving Carlos Correa’s free agency. The two-time All-Star had agreements with the Giants and Mets each fall through after the teams raised concerns about the status of his right ankle during their physical examinations. After weeks of twists and turns, Correa returned to the Twins — where he’d spent the 2022 campaign.
Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, addressed the situation in an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today over the weekend. The agent expressed frustration with the Mets, telling Nightengale the New York club relied upon the same doctor who had raised concerns with Correa’s ankle while consulting for the Giants. The shortstop himself said the same last week in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Both USA Today and Dan Martin/Jon Heyman of the New York Post each wrote over the weekend that Dr. Robert Anderson — a Wisconsin-based foot/ankle specialist who also has ample experience working with NFL players — was the orthopedist who consulted with team physicians for both San Francisco and New York.
“I don’t understand the Mets,” Boras told Nightengale. “I gave them all of the information. We had them talk to four doctors. They knew the issue the Giants had. And yet, they still call the same doctor the Giants used for his opinion. There was no new information. So why negotiate a contract if you were going to rely on the same doctor? It was different with the Giants because a doctor had an opinion they didn’t know about. But the Mets had notice of this. They knew the opinion of the Giants. So why did you negotiate when you know this thing in advance?”
Correa’s camp pivoted quickly to the Mets after the agreement with the Giants fell through. That wasn’t the case when New York expressed concerns with the physical. Boras and the Mets spent nearly two weeks in exclusive negotiations, with the team seeking drastic modification of the original 12-year, $315MM agreement.
As Heyman first reported last week, the Mets’ new proposal involved a guaranteed $157.5MM over six years, exactly slicing the initial agreement in half. The deal would’ve come with an additional six years and $157.5MM thereafter in conditional money, with Nightengale writing the Mets wanted Correa to take a physical at the conclusion of each of the final six seasons. Nightengale reports that Correa’s camp offered language that would’ve allowed the Mets to reduce their commitment in the event of a right ankle issue that cost him two months of action and a provision that would’ve allowed the team to void the deal if Correa missed 120+ days over a two-year span because of an ankle injury. Whatever the specifics under discussion, the sides clearly couldn’t settle upon a satisfactory compromise.
With talks having reached a stalemate, Boras opened up lines of communications with other teams in early January. Correa’s camp reached agreement with the Twins late last Monday on a six-year, $200MM guarantee that contains another four club/vesting options that could max the contract out at $270MM over ten years. Correa passed his physical with Minnesota, and the team made the deal official on Wednesday morning.
Neither the Giants nor the Mets have been able to offer much publicly on their reasons behind stepping away from their agreements. Officials with both clubs have noted that HIPAA privacy protections prevent them from revealing many specifics about player health. Both teams released brief statements after their deals fell through noting they were unable to come to agreements and wishing Correa the best. However, Andy Martino of SNY reported shortly before talks with the Mets collapsed that team officials had become “very frustrated” with the status of negotiations.
In the end, it all makes for little more than an historical footnote. Correa will be a Twin for at least the better part of the 2020’s, with Minnesota betting on the long-term stability of his ankle. The Giants and Mets will roll with Brandon Crawford and Francisco Lindor, respectively, at shortstop while sticking with previous in-house options around the infield.
Poor Scott. Feel so sorry for him
Totally love the joke but definitely agree with him.
This is one situation I completely agree with Boras. The Mets knew for a fact that if they used the same ankle specialist the Giants used that the specialist would fail Correa on the physical. It was an obvious well known fact. When the Mets offered that contract I figured they were just good with his health or they were at the very least going to look for a separate opinion. The fact that they used the same specialist shows they never had any intention of ever paying Correa $315 million. I still can’t figure out why they went through all that. The only 2 things I can guess are the Mets/Cohen either wanted to attempt to corner the market on Correa later in the offseason to almost coerce him into taking a contract half the size they originally offered by hoping everyone else was scared off… Or they were just lying the entire time and wanted to show their fanbase they were willing to spend even more money even though they knew they would never spend $315 million on Correa before they even made the offer. Can someone help me out here? Why would the Mets use the same ankle specialist after they already knew that specialist was going to say Correa failed? Once they offered him that contract they did it knowing that doctor already said Correa failed. What’s the point in hiring him to say the same thing again when it was obvious that is what was going to happen?
Mets are well within their right to ask anyone they like for advice. They don’t have to follow it. What would you have said if they asked the same doctor and then decided to more forward?
Question though, we all saw the media circus boras put on. He said there was no issues at all with the leg, that there was a difference of opinion on the records. That the leg was healthy.
So, you take that representation. You float an offer. Then you call up the dissenting opinion and say, please give us a rundown on the leg.
Isn’t that called “trust, but verify?” At that point you’ve got open and unvarnished, unspun truth out of both sides of the argument – the player via his agent and agent’s hand picked doctors, and, a doctor who took exception to the records.
For what it’s worth, the twins also took some exception to the records after seeing the evidence and it’s why the deal isn’t fully guaranteed up front.
It was only when their own doctor Mark Drakos raised his own concerns over an MRI did he reach out to the Giant’s doctor. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary for doctors to consult one another. These guys shouldn’t be thrown under a bus for offering their expertise professional opinions. The Mets, Giants, or any team can use 20 or 50 doctors for medical assessments if they want.
Throughout high school, I did clerical work for a renowned doctor who worked at the same hospital the current Mets doctor does. I had authorized access and used to look at charts for many celebrities and politicians for fun while not understanding any of it. It’s a top-notch institution.
Sure, the Mets were trigger-happy but they also did their own due dilegence. Boras has every right to be upset and say things publicly to save face but that doesn’t mean he was right. Perhaps teams and agents should wait, like they used to, until physicals are passed before announcing deals.
#Steve – I think they did it just to keep him away from SF
U can’t ask the same specialist for a second take?
At the very least, they appear to be negotiating in bad faith.
If the Mets didn’t speak to the same specialist I would have been very weary of them. As a team you have to listen to what he says. I believe the Mets had every intention of signing him but once they spoke to that same doctor they changed their minds. We don’t know how many doctors looked over Correa’s results. Maybe New York had a doctor that agreed with the one the Giants used who knows? What I know for sure is both the Giants and Mets dodged a huge bullet because Correa is the worst player in the history of the game to get over $30M a year and it’s not even close. Plus he’s a cheating scumbag and that’s a fact. I don’t want to hear about the Yankees or the Red Sox cheating because Houston takes the prize and all those players who benefitted like Correa will forever be tainted as they should.
You should have been fired for looking up personal health information “just for fun”.
Has anyone considered that the Mets must have respected the opinion of the Giant’s doctor and therefore didn’t REQUIRE another specialist to examine Correa… so essentially the Snake Boras is FOS.
You’ll never hear anything but self serving garbage from Scott Boras.
Mets are well within their right to ask anyone they like for advice.
======================
Sure, but that’s not Boras’ point. If you come to me for tax advice, and I tell you xyz, and you don’t like it, then there is no point in sending your spouse in to ask for the same advice.
Just more BS from SB.
If they respected the opinion of the original doctor, then why make the offer?
wary ( not weary) Sorry don’t mean to be a jerk but they have different meanings.
Exactly.
Your right, they are. However all Boras is saying is if you used the same Doc and then negotiate knowing that, that Doc will fail you why negotiate. Its a very valid question.
I didn’t know it was a pass/fail scenario. Perhaps, it was more nuanced than that?
The Giants and Mets handled it correctly. Boras is just ticked his commission isn’t bigger.
Why would they refer to the same doctor? Maybe for the same reason the Giants selected the docor – he/she is the most knowledgeable and experienced to tell you what is going on with the ankle. The Mets did not have access to his report — why wouldn’t they inquire? Remember, the doctor did NOT tell the Giants or the Mets to avoid signing the player. How a team responds to the medical report is up to the team to decide. The Giants bailed — the Giants did not pursue renegotiation. The Mets did pursue new terms – terms that were similar to what Correa agreed to with the Twins with the biggest difference being the amount of guaranteed money.
Correct. Doctor’s don’t “fail” players. Correa did not fail anyrthing. Doctors give teams medical reports teams use to determine if they want to take a risk, or not. The failure is between the team and the agent/player to negotiate the risk.
Scott Boras is a major reason why the financial state of the game is what it is. He is a snake and many teams don’t like to or will not deal with him. I wonder if we ask Stephen Drew his opinion of Boras, what he would say?
When your spending 300 million, you talk to anyone and everyone involved. It was smart of the Mets to get all the details not just some ‘report’
According to Boras they used the same doctor. We don’t know for sure until the Mets confirm.
This is one subject where most Met’s fans have closed their minds, no amout of evidence will convince them that Steve Cohen and the Met’s did anything dishohest or unethical. The timeline is very important here, Correa files for free agent on 10/14, the Giants don’t proffer him an offer till 12/15, a full two months later, yet in all this time the Met’s are not involved, it’s not untill the Giants raise a concern about his ankle that the Met’s jump in with an offer, cleary aware that there was a potential issue., they then go on to call the same doctor that raised the concern, upon which they cut their offer to him in half.. Which begs the question, Did the Met’s think SF, which is a very well run organization, was fabricating the injury concern? Not likely. The only plausible explanation is that the original offer was a ruse, they were hoping that once the Giants pulled out that he would jump all over any offer they gave him, even when Boras tried making concession after concession to mitigate the Met’s exposure, they balked and refused to move off of their 6/157.5M offer. In the end Correa took the much better deal. The criticism here is that no one is willing to look at this objectively. The Met’s gave it a shot and it didn’t work out.. Time to admit it.
You’re missing the point. The doctor does not tell the team whether or not to sign the player. The doctor provides medical diagnosis and explains repercussions. It is the team that decides how to respond to the medical report. Two teams can receive the same medical report and come to two different conclusions about risk and contract structure.
If they respected the Giants Dr’s opinion, why offer the contract when they have the records of his opinion.
The fact is, they saw his opinion and offered a contract anyway. Then when the player agreed they changed their minds. Nothing changed between before and after their offer. The only conclusion is that:
A) they didn’t have the complete picture from the report and spoke to the doctor (which is unlikely) or
B) the Mets were negotiating in bad faith.
I don’t see anything Boras did wrong here.
Are you suggesting that we should not consult the Doctor that raised alarms about his health? This is just common sense. Of course you do! You need to know about any potential problems with an investment. They contacted many doctors, with many opinions. They decided to reneg while potentially taking advantage of a small window of exclusive negotiating. If you decide to buy a car and one of the four mechanics explains why you shouldn’t, it’s up to you to walk away or make the purchase. If the second buyer gets word that one of the mechanics has an issue w the car, why wouldn’t you talk to him? We’re not all experts; it would be completely asinine to not do the due diligence.
Both your takes are terrible, lostint
I would’ve fired myself.
@Mystery Team
“What I know for sure is both the Giants and Mets dodged a huge bullet because Correa is the worst player in the history of the game to get over $30M a year and it’s not even close.”
Hey, I don’t like Correa either; he’s an unrepentant cheater. However, your comment is WAY off base. Lindor isn’t the player Correa is, which makes Francisco easily the worst player ever to get $30m. Mets definitely didn’t dodge a bullet THERE. Mets would have cornered the market on bad $30 million a year contracts.
How so? What did the Mets not know when they offered a contract?
The point is why ask the same doctor. We already know his opinion. It’s as if the Mets thought by them asking the Dr. he may change his mind & say “actually the ankle is going to be fine, no concerns.”
It’s really bizarre the Mets used the same Dr. Like we already knew his opinion on Correa’s ankle.
Is it so hard to realize that teams cannot divulge personal health information? We are getting the aftermath. There is a process and there’s due diligence. If you were about to sink hundreds of millions of dollars without consulting said Doctor that raised flags or concerns then therein lies the argument. You either want to know everything before making a decision or you just want to be told what you’d like to hear. Anything otherwise is just smoke n mirrors by both sides; and both are paid handsomely for said tactics/approach that many couldn’t stomach. The agent will say whatever he can to land a deal. An owner, especially any of those with media ties, will do anything to save money if there is an opportunity to do so. If they have egos, then be prepared for situations like this, where each party will say anything to save face. Boras and Cohen are in a pissing match and nobody wins. Move on
Except for when the two spouses are estranged with a restraining/do not contact order between them where they can’t share information, and, it’s a 3rd party with no fiduciary duty to the spouse passing along word informally of what you said… then I guess the analogy is about right.
Let me explain the truth of what happened.
Boras got pissed the Giants pulled out right before the news conference. I don’t blame him there.
He quickly called his buddy Uncle Steve in Hawaii and said Carlos is now back on the table and he’s the bat that the Mets are missing and they’re going to win 11 straight World Series.
Steve, sipping a mai tai, said that sounds great. Then asked why the Giants backed out.
Boras said they found some old injury and really just wanted out of that large contract. They don’t have your money Uncle Steve. Boras assured he had Carlos checked out and the leg is fine.
Steve, excited he got his new toy and in Hawaii, starts prematurely spewing about the Mets are now complete.
Then doctors not funded by the Boras Corporation, namely a know ankle specialist from the NFL, tells Steve and his associates that indeed the leg and ankle are “not fine” and that he can’t last 10+ years.
Then Scotty calls his buddies over at the Twins clubhouse…..
he does make some amazing points
Boras is correct. I don’t know if the MLBPA can do anything, but it seems at minimum they should initiate an investigation regarding Cohen’s actions and his words. When the pending deal with the Mets was announced, I suggested he might *possibly* try and use the Giants medicals as a way to eventually reduce the value of Correa’s deal, figuring two teams backing out would collapse Correa’s market options, allowing the Mets to land a top-flight free agent at a reduced price. The Mets concerns might be warranted, but Cohen’s intent up front might have been purposely misleading.
Cohen and Boras need each other, but bad blood could create issues, although more on Cohen’s side. The other 29 teams would be quite happy if they could bid on Boras’ free agents without worrying about Cohen. From Boras’ side, the Mets have infrequently been a player for his clients over the years, so it’s status quo. Boras though will at minimum use Cohen to drive up the price of his clients, but he may push them toward other teams. Not saying that will happen, but Cohen has twice now backed out of deals with Boras based on medicals.
This goes beyond Cohen and Boras. MLB players will notice what Cohen has done twice. They will perhaps direct their agents (not just Boras clients) to steer clear worried the Mets might try to alter deals based on medicals as a tactic.
The MLBPA should look into this.
The MLBPA has absolutely no authority to look into this. If they try, the Mets will tell them to get lost and will be in their rights to do so.
Allegedly Correa signed with the Mets, because he friend with Lindor.
Lord, Steve Cohen is the poster child for what the MLBPA wishes every owner was. Free spending, driving up the compensation of the union members. If the MLBPA had an award for MVO, Cohen would have won 2022 hands down. Having a medical report on paper and hearing the actual insight and interpretation from the doctor are two completely different things. Maybe Boras did send the Mets all the medical files in the middle of the night when the contract terms were discussed, so what? The Mets medical team in those wee hours saw and examined everything? Doubtful. The following day(s) they did and during the Mets physical sure…..and then they wanted the interpretation of the Giants doctor…sounds very normal.
Great Richie/Dick Allen username!
Not normal or even close to normal. Teams do not use other team’s doctors. I can’t think of a single time it has happened other than Tommy John surgeries.
They didn’t. The ‘giamts doctor’ was not the giants doctor. outside specialist. read the article.
So if Boras was selling a used car and you took it to a mechanic to check it out and then passed because the mechanic said there’s something wrong under the hood, he’s actually complaining about the next buyer going to the same mechanic.
Cohen’s mama didn’t raise no fool.
That’s not his argument, his complaint is why did the Met’s get involved to begin with? They knew there was an issue with the ankle before they made their offer, then they call the same doctor to what, hear it again? After which they cut their offer in half and refuse to budge, They were claerly trying to get him at a bargin price.
I disagree. What difference does it make whether the Mets knew or didn’t know? Would you not at least ask that “mechanic” what they found wrong? And where does it say they didn’t ask another physician for an opinion? Remember, this is Boras’s version which might omit other details.
RH: You are assuming the Mets knew the {entire issue with the ankle} before the tentative offer. And, Boras involved the Mets by reaching out to Cohen, honestly. Plus, I think it’s fair to say Boras significantly downplayed the injury and the Giants motives for reneging on their initial offer.
Most of all, Boras talks like the Mets brought Correa in and sent him straight to the same doctor. That is *not* what the objective writers say actually happened. The Mets own doctor (different than the Giants) took issue with the medical reports only after they were finally afforded the opportunity to review them and then called the specialist to confer with him about the medical records. **Perhaps Boras could’ve avoided this whole mess if he didn’t have the standing rule that nobody can review Correa’s medical records unless there was an informal offer…**
Boras is writing a different narrative and leaving out key facts about the process, which naturally shines a more negative light on the Mets. And, I’m not a Mets fan, obviously- far from it.
Boras can file a grievance as soon as Correa draws a paycheck so in early April.
Do not understand your argument. Giants announced a deal “pending” a physical. Mets did the same. Nothing is guaranteed until signed.
I hear Boras picks each baseball
It’s pretty simple. Cohen saw an opportunity to get a good player from the scratch and dent section. All Cohen wants is a good deal. Boras has mad a great career of pulling one over on the owners. He spent all offseason trying to get his player full price when clearly he was damaged goods. Even spinning away so fast from more guaranteed money by the giants in hopes the Mets wouldn’t care and sign too soon. Then they don’t and he’s threatened having to sign the deal anyways because he talked about it publicly. And finally he takes home $150,000,000 less than originally offered and it’s a pity party oh woe is me interviews for Boras and Correa. When you have injury concerns you don’t get full price. Maybe the owners are tired of paying 40 year olds BIG money to nurse them a few years before retirement. Add this to the reasons I already don’t like having Correa on my favorite team
“….and he’s threatened having to sign the deal anyways because he talked about it publicly. ”
ohyeadam;
Sure.
There was nothing to that or Correa would have a $315m with the Mets today.
Most of the stuff people read that’s released to the media about player contracts and their negotiations are nonsense. Reporters know nothing about finances, businesses or negotiations….sports
or otherwise.
Good reply. You can dislike Boras and his tactics and still be honest about what Cohen was doing.
They’re both crooks. Boras wants to sell a contract he knows the player may not fulfill. Cohen is just trying to squeeze out value, fully being able to walk away w the get out (jail) contract card. This why they’re the best at what they do. They get the money. Boras will spin whatever he wants to prevent this amount of embarrassment in future. They both lose.
Every 4 or 5 seasons boras has a year where one or two free agents overplay their hand(s). Some years it was QO/compensation connected, some years it’s holding out too long towards a guarantee and winding up with no seats left when the music stopped due to team having spent their allocated budgets.
I think this was the first one where it was directly tied to player physicals coming up tails, but, even so goes back to incorrectly managed expectations.
You shouldn’t let your dislike of Boras cloud your judgment. In this specific case, I side with the agent for Correa.
Boras Derangement Syndrome.
It’s real.
I usually like your takes but not this time coop, why do you side with Scott this time?
reminds me of the ebay sellers. who sell like new or open box but reality received its for parts or not working.
I don’t know if it’s the way in which the paragraph was worded, or if Scott’s statements are intentionally misleading, but it reads that he called that specialist to consult with the Mets doctors. That’s not the same as sending Correa to the same specialist and relying solely on that particular specialist’s recommendation. If that’s true it makes sense to me because the Mets likely wanted to speak in-depth with that doctor. Moreover, there aren’t usually a ton of renowned specialists used by teams at the highest level. California has a multitude of specialists but they went to this one for a reason, as presumably the Mets did too.
Moreover it doesn’t really inform us if that doctor is one the Mets have used in the past (or MLB teams in general) or if this is a one-off consultation, which can also make a difference in this context. It does tell us he’s used for NFL teams, which is somewhat germane, since they deal with more lower levels/ankle injuries & resulting surgeries (probably why they went to him – recommended by a sport that deals with these injuries all the time).
I am sure, however, that Boras had a doctor to recommend *right around the corner from the Mets…… like a questionable traffic crash attorney
“Intentionally misleading…”
There is so much with mlb that is explained and ran through lawyers first.
It make it impossible to pull out facts and common definitions of each side.
I kinda hate it. But whatever.
The word ‘offer’ is still used decades later in mlb, when the word is still so ambiguous, and almost intentionally misleading. (Same term you used above). In fact, its pretty much meaningless as a word now without context.
Was it a handshake offer, a verbal offer, was it just a framework of an offer, was it an offer contigent on something else, was it an offer in writing, was it an offer in writing approved by both sides, was it an offer approved by both sides and signed off on by all the necessary parties.
Player “They never made me an offer”
Team “Welp, we made him an offer”
Or was it an offer that is so out of touch bad, to not be rationally accepted as an offer.
Yeah, very true on all accounts, man. Good observation. Like so many aspects of business/politics today, the statements are purposefully clouded, ambiguous, and interpretive.
Sadly presented as facts. Then, not even retracted when proven to be false. Fact is gone, only interpretation of fact exists.
Well said dpsmith. It’s a sad state of affairs when truth is {completely} subjective and the only truth is the one that someone believes regardless of facts.
The Mets wanted out of the deal. Why else would you bring in the SAME doctor that gave the Giants ammunition to back out of their own? It makes zero sense. But in the end, it is the Twins that benefit. Correa has had ZERO (known) issues on his ankle since the original injury. And we have no clue if the MRI of today looks any different that what it did in 2014.
Now, he could develop noticeable arthritis or even suffer a career threatening injury on that ankle before the guaranteed six years are up. But there is always risk and I think the Twins may have the “steal” of the off-season.
I wouldn’t call it a steal. Annually, the Mets and Giants were averaging 26-27 mil a year. Whereas the Twins jumped in and offered 33 mil for a guy that 2 teams were trying to walk away from. Or, at least, offer a significantly different contract.
The Mets and Giants AAV’s were significantly below the expected value heading into this free agent season. The Giants and the Mets wanted to lower the AAV, while guaranteeing significantly higher dollars. The Twins signed a 6/200, which heading into the offseason people would proclaim is a bargain, hoping their teams got him at that price. The Twins are paying Correa a couple million LESS than they did in 2022, and are only committed to his prime years, 28-33. Even better, they have four team options at a reasonable cost. If he’s productive, you take them. If he’s not, you move on. The Twins are going to likely be happier with their deal than the Padres will be paying Xander until he’s 40.
$200MM for six prime years vs 315 for 11 or 350 for 12 guaranteed? Give me the Twins deal 10 of 10 times.
The Twins were playing a different game from what the Giants and Mets were facing. He was still the shiny young FA SS at the start of this, but by the time two teams backed away from the medicals the Twins had far better leverage. They’ll pay CC well for the good years and were able to lop off the middle aged descent years (what I like to call the Pujols years.) Good deal for everyone.
Or, the Mets wanted to understand what exactly the concerns were since the giants couldn’t discuss things, and, you can’t blindly take the word of a player or his agent.
It’s part of due diligence.
I’m not sure how much of a steal it’ll turn out to be. They had Correa last year and ended the season in third place with a losing record.
What does the team’s record have to do with whether or not Correa provided value to the Twins?
Given that GMs have finite financial resources, how they use those resources is important. A GM has to allocate those resources in such a way that he fields a balanced team — this is, after all, a team sport with a lot of complementary players.
Stars can draw fans to the stadium, but nothing draws more fans than a winning team. So a GM needs to calculate whether the investment in a star player is going to help the team win, thereby helping to justify his high salary.
If a single player’s huge paycheck is, as the saying goes, robbing Peter to pay Paul — i.e., underfunding other parts of the roster to pay that marquee player — the investment might prove to be counterproductive. The issue of whether owners are really spending what they can afford is a separate issue. The fact is, they set limits.
I hope that answers your question.
Yeah! Correa was terrible in CF while Buxton was DHing his broke-ass body for half the year, he didn’t do a thing when half the catching platoon went on the DL and Sanchez was out there way too often, and once Polanco and Lewis and Arraez were unable to play 2B Correa didn’t play an inning over there, That completely glosses over his lack of appearances on the mound, where 14 guys ended up starting games, several of whom might not have had as strong an arm as Carlos.
Correa was one of the parts that *wasn’t* a problem last year. With all the DL days it was a wonder they finished third.
@crise
He wasn’t a problem? Go back and look at his year. He slumped for two months at a time the Twins could have easily pulled away from the division, sparing the team the need to ante up some good prospects at the deadline.
Then, once hope was falling by the wayside, Correa amped it up and compiled some nice shiny numbers down the stretch to burnish his free agency resume.
After the season he haughtily insinuated that the Twins needed to shop at Dior instead of Nordstrom’s if they wanted him. Well guess who needed to put his inventory on sale at a department store instead of a exclusive boutique?
As a Cleveland fan, I’m tickled pink the Twins have hung this anchor around their neck. What a bum.
Zero known ankle issues?!?! This whole saga is because of some sort of ankle issue. Hard to imagine that the Giants and Mets are making it up. If it’s going to affect his play is yet to be seen, but there’s certainly an issue.
Rybowski… it’s like the difference between buying a car with factory paint, or, one that earl schleib slapped a replay on.
Both are shiny and functional right now. Will the repaired paint job hold up the way an original would? Could the bondo slapped on the dent under the repaint let go before the life of the car is up?
Boras is saying the paint is shiny, now, and thats what matters. The Giants/mets/twins all found him to be worth being locked into a lease for varying terms while not wanting to overpay for something less than they expected… that shiny car in years 7-12
And it should be noted as the OP pointed out near the top of the comments section that the Twins also have an obvious issue with the medicals and are not using the same doctor.
So three separate teams took exception to his medicals, which is why he went from 12/$360 down to 6/$200 with the possibility of 10/$270 if he remains healthy as defined in the contractual agreement.
Earl Scheib, hilarious…
That’s right. (It was 13/350 from the Giants, 12/315 from the Mets, and 10/285 from the Twins originally, BTW.)
The primary consideration for most players/agents is total guaranteed money – but Correa/Boras ended up settling for 42%, 36%, and 30% less of that, than the Giants, Mets, and the Twins themselves (respectively) previously offered! That tells us a lot.
The other thing to consider is this: It’s well understood by MLB teams that if they offer decade-plus guarantees to elite players, they’re accepting an outsized risk – it’s likely to go poorly in the out years. It’s the price of doing business in such cases. But if you layer a known medical risk on top of that generic long-term risk, you’re stepping into something more akin to a prohibitive risk. So, even though the Twins will pay a higher AAV, I think they made a wise choice to limit that guarantee to 6 years.
I was thinking more like getting a car that test drives well but has a salvage title.
#Yankee C – it was 350 million, not 360
Yeah, sorry. I noticed Goob correctly put the contract terms of all three teams in there too. That’s my bad for thinking my recollection of that was better than what it actually was – lol. I made the general point though, hopefully.
Thanks man, I always appreciate being corrected if I’m wrong (which is at least once per post).
Wrong. Boras is saying that 4 top doctors said there was no problem with Correa’s leg but the Mets went back to the one that said there could possibly be one down the road.
Even that doctor didn’t say there is a problem now. He said that in a small percentage of athletes with plates in their legs it can lead to issues years down the road.
Channeling my inner boras….
“I’m Earl Scheib, and I’ll fix any ankle for only $99.95!”
“I traded my ankle for gold at Roslin Capital. If you’re investing in things like healthy bones, don’t! They’ll be worthless eventually. Be like me and trade your bones for Roslin Capital…”
More like I’m Scott Boras, and, I’ll find 4 shill doctors for any bad prognosis for only 5%!
The doctors Boras used were the top 4 orthopedic surgeons in the US.
According to whom? Who ranked them?
Read the referenced articles.
There’s nothing in any of the linked articles saying that Boras’s doctors were the top four orthopedic surgeons in the U.S.
If you found otherwise, copy the sentence and paste it here.
Fink Ployed: you’re responding to a troll burner account. I’ve picked up a couple of late
BaseballisLife is Pads Fans, outinleftfield, websoulsurfer and PLTuna. Possibly others.
Very easy as to why they sought the opinion of the the same specialist. I would have done the same thing. Would want to know what that Doc saw that raised concern. If you are looking to spend over $300 million on a player, wouldn’t you want to know what that specialist saw?
No. Boras had already supplied the Mets with that doctor’s diagnosis. I would have sought 2nd and 3rd opinions from other doctors.
There’s a big difference between getting a bottom line and being able to talk through with your questions.
Not many people get a phone call from their personal doc with a message ‘you’re OK now but long term there could be issues. Ok, thanks. Bye.’ and don’t want to talk things through with questions.
He didn’t give them a bottom line. He gave them the full medical diagnosis. At least read the articles referenced. Maybe then you don’t sound like an ill-informed hater.
They forgot to calculate what it would cost in tax penalties to add the contract. They were at 315mil with a 90% balance tax on top of that. When cohen saw half a billion he probably freaked out a little.
I understand putting incentives based on games played but 6 years of team options based on a physical is something no smart agent would agree to.
Doctors opinions vary on many things, especially when projecting a future injury that might or might not happen.When news broke of this signing, there were reports that other owners weren’t happy with Cohen. The pressure from his peers might have factored into Stevie’s tough negotiating tactics.
I think it’s better for baseball with Correa in Minnesota anyways. Hopefully he stays healthy and the Twins get elite production from him, many of us enjoy seeing a small market team get a rare big name free agent.
And perhaps fans in California, New York, Boston as well as the entire baseball sports media will come to the realization that Major League Baseball ACTUALLY EXISTS in places besides: California, New York, Boston, etc.
It takes money more or less to buy exposure and there’s plenty of it to go around.
Don’t be sour because fans in California, New York, and Boston don’t care about teams in other parts of the country. That’s how fan bases work. Easiest way to let the baseball work know your team exists: put together a team that doesn’t suck.
I think it’s more that MLB and their media don’t realize the sport is dying in other parts of the country…and don’t seem to care.
To be entirely fair, though, a disproportionate part of the US population live in those areas. The fan base for all of baseball will always be skewed toward the Northeast and California.
I think it’s a little unfair to say that baseball is dying in the rest of the US because teams can’t compete. The Mets aren’t the reason the Reds can’t compete in the NL Central.
Well, attendance figures are in the tank, kids are more interested in the NBA and NFL, and you don’t see them playing baseball.
What else would you call it?
As far as a disportionate part of the population in the Northeast and California, that is coastal bias. Most of the country’s population is in between.
Attendance doesn’t equal Fandom.
Fact is, there are more 1%ers in California, the northeast than the rest of the country. Paying to attend regular baseball games is tough, I don’t care where you are.
Then, add in if you’re going to save up and drop big to go to a live sporting event, in the Midwest and deep south you spend on football, always have, not as much on baseball. So if you’re only going to one big family game trip a year, baseball won’t be it.
Want to grow the sport, drop prices. Compare cost in 1940 to 2020, adjust for inflation and there’s no comparison
More kids played little league baseball than in any year since the 1970s.
Look at MLB attendance compared to the 1970s and 1980s. Its up a massive amount.
2022 was record revenue for MLB. More than 50 million people subscribed to MLB.tv and MLB Extra Innings around the world. Manfred said that more people watched baseball than ever before in 2022. You can call him a liar if you want to. When it comes to MLB revenue and viewership he is the guy that would know.
Winning teams attendance was up in 2022. Was the team you cheer for a winning team?
Better for fans for Correa to be at short, not third
@Manny: But better for Correa to get more money.
@ Uncle Bens TEK
In what world is Minneapolis-St. Paul a “small market”?
One where Cleveland is infinitesimally tiny?
If I were the Mets heck ya I’m having a conversation with that doctor. Seeing the exam documents is one thing but I want some clarification between those lines
Precisely. I can only assume Boras isn’t stupid enough to believe what he’s saying and, as usual, is just trying to spin things for his own benefit.
Anyone dumb enough to blindly trust something that was said or done by a third-party, no matter how seemingly reputable, is asking for trouble. Not only because you may not agree with that characterization of them, but because not everyone interprets information, particularly risk assessment, the same way. Moreover, it’s always better to get the words straight from the horse’s mouth rather than have to read a report which may not provide the full context of the situation.
I’ve had plenty of family members get burned by well-known doctors, lawyers, etc., over the years. “But they won an award!” “But they went to Yale!” All the while ignoring the clear red flags in front of them—signs that would have been obvious without the blinders on. Always take the time to vet yourself and trust your instincts. Clearly, the Mets believed he was on the money.
This whole thing is a Boras spin job because he knows his reputation took a hit with this one.
I really hope Scott Borax and Correa can recover from this very traumatic event. No one in this country should ever have to go through the adversity that they faced these last couple of months. At least they had each other to get them through this horrific experience
There’s at least 200 millions reasons to feel better in bed every night. I’m sure they’ll be just fine.
But the poor guy barely slept throughout the process of negotiating about $1B in new contract money. Somebody do the math of the 5% in commissions he made for all that suffering.
He has a Corporation and likely has others getting paid too before taking home the salary. He likely doesn’t picked 100% of all commissions. Maybe, he does big deals himself, but I doubt founding a company is the same as directly working for players.
I read that even with the employees etc, boras’ personal take-home cut alone across all pro-sports amounted to upwards of over 200m last year for active managed contracts.
Just to be clear, do you mean 200 MM? M means thousand and MM means million.
K mean thousand. M means million.
I dont do metric
Meh, stupid browser crashes and errors. To continue, I don’t do metric, I gave that up when I quit being an engineer. I also don’t do accountant subspeak.
Many different ways to say the same thing. But to me the whole ‘mm’ thing is stupid.
Correa reported his parents broke down and cried for 20 minutes after the Giants deal fell thru. It’s probably why they never re-kindled the negotiations and he quickly pivoted to the Mets.
When you consider the Posey injury and the what he went thru to get on the field everyday I get their hesitation. At Poseys retirement he talked about the many hours of trainer time to just get on the field.
Like how the word pivot is used on an ankle injury. Short stop or 3rd base, wherever Correa is slotted is a physically demanding hot corner position. I read boras or Correa didn’t want to move off the position either. So no deal.
MLBTR should settle this once and for all with a poll on a chat: Favorable, unfavorable, or neutral view of Boras and then close the comments and run as far away as possible.
Boreass actually makes a good point. If you’re the Mets, why use the same doctor? Why bother? It’s all pretty clear. The Mets aka Cohen swooped in thinking they could “J.R.” Correa & Boras, and get Correa for less years on .25 cents on the dollar, using his failed medical history w/ the Giants as leverage to drive the price down. The better question is, had the Giants not overbid, would Correa be a Cub right now? Would Dansby be a Padre? Would Xander be a Twin? Alot of interested teams suddenly pivoted when Correa & the Giants became a thing. I’d be curious if the Cubs, Padres, Blue Jays, etc. would’ve looked at Correa’s medical differently, and THAT ultimately cost him millions.
Many guys like Prince Fielder have gotten a huge deal and have gotten injured. However, Correa got unlucky to have gotten these issues before the contract. If not, he would likely be way richer. Now, it’s possible Correa’s guarantee ends up lower than Fielder’s present day value. The same goes for Grady Sizemore and Brandon Webb. Timing is everything. It changes so many players’ lives drastically.
He doesn’t make a good point. The doctor they used is a specialist in the field and the Mets reached out to hear his opinion on why he gave the no go to the giants. Clearly what the doc said was of weighted concern. Can’t fault the Mets for opening their eyes at the right moment before being tied down to a potentially terrible contract. Glad they reached out to the same doctor to ask what was wrong in the first place.
Why pay a highly-qualified specialist when they could have gotten so many completely uninformed, amateur medical opinions here for free?
And imagine, two parties looking at exactly the same information about a situation and coming to different conclusions about the risks and rewards involved. Because that practically never happens.
Curve: I completely understand your point on this and it is a valid perspective; but also consider that although the Twins signed him, they obviously had a major issue with his leg too.
My [uninformed] opinion is that if Boras would’ve agreed to 6/$200 (w/ health incentives to 10/$270) with the Mets/Giants, he would’ve already been signed by them. I believe Boras pivoted to save face and show, insofar as possible, that he didn’t cave to a team on his initial asking price, but instead negotiated a “better deal” with a new team. Boras is all about his image because it’s his selling point.
You’re too smart for this place curveball.
The fans here love to call these players garbage and hate to see them get paid large contracts.
There’s a decent amount of envy from the commenters anytime players get paid.
Even though you’re right most here won’t agree because they dislike Correa and Boras. I did like both of them too but it doesn’t change what went down.
Why would both the Mets and Boras agree on contract terms without first agreeing whether or not the issue SF found was going to be a problem for NY. Would have saved everyone a lot of time and drama. And these guys are at the top of the MLB business pyramid? Wow.
This is why you need intelligent people in charge.
Because before you can discuss a players health records with physicians you need a deal in principle.
I think it’s safe to assume that Boras was 100% downplaying the negative medical opinion when he was on the phone with Cohen – to the point of assuring the Mets owner that it was an absolute nothingburger. The public drama part of it could have been avoided if all parties involved had kept their mouths shut until the deal was finalized but the outcome would likely have been the same. Cohen wasn’t going to stick to the agreed upon price, without consulting with his own medical team about the entire range of collective opinion. And I’m quite sure Boras understood that when he hung up the phone.
I’m not worried about Boras, Correa, Giants, Mets and Twins finances, they all have more money than most of us. So let the “rich people problems” solve their own issues. Let’s get back to baseball’s off season and make some Trades. Always remember, buyer beware.
It’s not rich people problems. It’s “no one wants an injured player hogging up payroll for almost a decade becoming unable to field the best team possible for your fans” problem.
Prince Fielder
Just because Scott showed the Mets 4 doctors opinions doesn’t mean the Mets shouldn’t have reached out to a specialist. It may have been the same specialist as the giants but oh well, clearly what THAT doc said mattered most. I wouldn’t go through with it either when a specialist in the field is saying “look, something’s really wrong”.
Especially when you consider that Boras has a vested interest to make his client look as good as possible. Of course he was going to find doctors who looked favorable on his medical history.
If I really wanted to, I could find a bunch of “doctors” who don’t believe in vaccines or “scientists” who don’t believe in global warming. It’s not hard when there’s many thousands of them out there. Always a few apples that differ from the bunch. And it only takes those few to present an inane argument.
Obviously what that doctor did didn’t matter the most because Correa signed with the Twins for more money and the Mets were left with egg on their face.
How is $200M more money than $315M?
When the $315M is bogus.
Keep your eye on the ball son. The Mets didn’t offer $315. They offered 6/157. Scroll up a bit and read the article before you comment.
He wasn’t injured though.
This was from his time in the minors. The guy has been a HOF caliber SS since he hurt his ankle.
Anyone who thinks the Mets are justified are ignoring the facts.
If I was a free agent I would stay away from SF and make NY pay more in case they pull out and crater the market.
MIN offered $285 million before SF pulled out. There’s no way the twins would pull out when they approved the same player with the same injury just the year before.
Agreeing to that deal with SF cost Carlos anywhere from $85 million to $15 million depending on how the options play out.
“ There’s no way the twins would pull out when they approved the same player with the same injury just the year before.”
It’s a valid point but you’re missing a key piece of information: Twins also didn’t send Correa to a renowned specialist for these types of injuries/surgeries and get his informed medical opinion about the leg. It could be a case where the Twins nearly made a really bad choice and were saved from themselves by the Giants/Mets too.
I agree clipper
Anyone who has dealt with an auto insurance company, workers comp, or, SSDI understands completely how easily boras could find 4 doctors that would claim correa was a pinnacle of health and could play meaningful games until his age-72 season.
I don’t know. I doubt the specialist said, “look, something is really wrong.” If he did the negotiations would have ended immediately. The fact they stayed at the table, to me, meant it was more “there’s the possibility something could be wrong someday”. That doubt was enough to get the lawyers hackles up.
If he hadn’t pivoted so quickly to the Mets I’m not sure the Giants wouldn’t have made a better renegotiated deal. They needed him most and showed they would spend. He really had them over a barrel, bad leg or not. I think Boras shot himself in the foot… no pun intended.
I sort of get the impression that Cohen saw a shiny new toy. Got excited, and jumped the gun before talking to his people. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and I think the Mets made the right decision, but I do agree with Boras here: why would the same doctor give a different opinion for another team?
Boras is trying to spin the narrative that the goal should’ve ever been to get a different opinion.
The mets couldn’t call the giants and talk it over. So, how do you learn what the conversation was between the giants and the expert? You call up the expert and say, hey, we’d like you to look over some medical records and diagnostics. Then you know, as the Dr likely gives the same result.
Or would you take boras’ word for it, a guy who has a fiduciary interest against your own?
Good points, but Boras states that the Mets had access to that doctors findings already. So it does seem odd that they would go back and ask him again. I’m not sure what teams are allowed to discuss in terms of medical records, so maybe you’re right.
The Mets had access after the fact of their own doctor having the same concerns. It wasn’t a direct beeline like Boras made it out to be.
@von – boras gave them 4 doctors medicals. 4 doctors he picked. Why woukdnt you go back to the doctor that had a problem for clarification
Because why would a doctor give different medicals than he/she already gave?
@ Von – If I were the Mets, I would have wanted my doctors to actually talk to the doctor who gave the info that made the Giants step back from their deal and get more of the story as to why he came to the conclusion that raised red flags for the Giants. Reading reports is one thing. Discussing the matter with the doctor who wrote the report gives you better depth into the reasoning behind the reports.
@Von To me, it’s obvious that they were (understandably) attempting to get additional clarity about those differences of medical opinion – in consultation with Cohen’s own medical people – to get their take on that specialist’s concerns. It’s apparent now that they didn’t just reject that negative risk assessment. Nor did the Twins people, BTW, given the dramatically lower guarantee that Correa ended up accepting!
Von, a finding isn’t the same as back and forth live questions and fleshing out the opinions. A written line of ‘potential for future deterioration’ isn’t the same as getting to ask ‘what factors could speed up or slow down the potential?’ ‘How long are we talking, you best guess?’ ‘would the cold weather games in one area have bigger impact than others’ blah blah blah.
If you’ve ever read a doctor’s chart you would know how much is unsaid, and, doctors are in the habit of writing observations more than opinions.
I’ve read many a doctors chart related to cases and there’s more unwritten than actually appearing there, some specifically contradictory.
That doctor can’t discuss what he told the Giants with the Mets. Little thing called HIPAA.
I would take Boras word over Cohen everyday and twice on Sunday. Cohen has been convicted of financial crimes.
Only moron fans think Boras lies. If he did teams wouldn’t trust him and he wouldn’t have the most players and money under contract of any agent.
They can if Correa gave them permission.
From Boras’ comments, it sounds like they gave the Mets full access to everything the doctor found. So by using the same doctor, it seems a bit strange to assume he would say anything different again. I think Cohen was the only one who wanted Correra.
@BaseballisLife–Doctors discuss their diagnosis on patients with other doctors all the time. I am sure Correa signed an authorization allowing the doctor to discuss his findings. If not, negotiation with the Mets would have ceased.
As for Boras lying, Boras is a Lawyer. Lawyers are very good at only giving out the info that they want and phrase what they say to put themselves and their clients in the best light. Lawyer spinning a narrative to some equates to lying to others Not giving all of the story is not exactly telling the truth.
Boras has lied plenty of times. Like with the Carter Stewart grievance and when he provided those forged documents claiming international players he represented were older than they really were.
That money was better spent on Top pitching… but offense sells tickets… and that is the pooing… pitching meanwhile wins championships..
“You can’t win if you can’t score.” This goes both ways, obviously.
Boras is so unlikable. It’s 101 to use the best leverage in negotiating. I just hope players realize you better get ready to move somewhere new right before the holiday…
Most are ready as soon as they’re drafted.
I’m with Boras on this one…..Why negotiate and then go to the doctor who’s diagnosis voided the Giants deal. That’s mind boggling behaviour. Completely avoidable.
Why would the Mets not want to get clarification on the doctor’s findings?
Boras is so whiny. They called Anderson because he’s the best. EOS.
Anderson is not considered top 5.
I understand the angst of the Correa camp, but its fairly simple…much like a trial.
Several witnesses testify. The various statements are not all in agreement, but the jury…or judge…chooses the testimony that is the most compelling.
In this situation, the Mets felt that Dr Anderson’s testimony was the most compelling, and based upon that, did not feel that a third of a billion dollars was a wise investment for Correa. They then balanced the risk against the financial investment, and came up with lower numbers, both in dollars and years, that they were comfortable with. The new numbers were the new benchmark from which Boras could work, pivoting to the Twins.
The Twins agreed to a better figure than the Mets final offer, but in the end it was a huge drop, in dollars and years, from what the Correa camp originally expected.
IMO nobody has a legitimate gripe, and certainly nobody is going broke over this.
The only party that is taking a risk now is Minnesota…a risk it was willing to take.
Why didn’t the Mets get a 2nd opinion for instance the opinion of the Twins specialist who 2 years in a row saw no issues with Correa’s ankle.?
Unless the of course the Mets were grandstanding and were never really going to sign Correa.
Or why don’t the Twins have any concerns after the specialist with the Giants did?
I think you mean saw no IMMEDIATE concern with Correa’s ankle, which was the only relevant factor with him on a shorter-term deal with optouts likely to be exercised.
Totally different ballgame when talking about a deal spanning almost a decade.
Well MLBTR reported Twins offered him that 10 year $285 million contract and they already knew about this injury from the physical the year before.
Minnesota and NY took advantage of the damaged goods label given to him by SF.
This is an injury that hadn’t even cost him games at the major league level.
The Twins gave the 10 year $285 offer before they saw any new x-rays. If Correa would have acceptable there would have been a new physical. Then they would have seen the new x-rays that must have shown some deterioration in the surgically repaired ankle and no doubt would have balked as well. The original offer was $285 million guaranteed. Now it is $200 million over the first 6 years and the last 4 years for $70 million is not guaranteed. The Mets were offering more total but less guaranteed. Correa went for less total a more guaranteed. Obviously there must be a little concern about the long term health of the ankle because Correa opted not to bet on himself to get more in the long run.
It’s all about HIPPA. Once Mets were in they had access to all records. First the Mets doc and then the Giants doc. At that point they rescind. It’s Boras the showman that is on the carpet. It looks like Mets risk assessment kept them at the 157.5 million guarantee. Twins loved the guy and assess that 200 million was OK for them. Mets can be in market for Ohtani, Machado and others. This ended up a good move for twins.
Beyond Ohtani who won’t play in NY and Machado who said just a couple of weeks ago that he is a Padre for life, the Mets will be SOL next offseason.
And you know Ohtani won’t play in New York how? Or maybe you’re making things up to somehow make yourself look smart? Here’s a hint for you, it’s not working.
Hoping you will be a Padre for life is a very different thing from saying you will be a Padre for life. He will be a Padre for life if they offer him the most money when he opts out. Otherwise, he’ll be on another team for life. He has also said he will opt out of his contract at the end of the year.
Where did Machado say he’s absolutely opting out next offseason? If his 2023 is anything like his 2022 there’s no way he opts into his remaining contract but there’s no reason for him to commit one way or the other with a whole season left to play before his opt-out date.
I didn’t think anyone could screw this signing up worse than the Giants and then we read multiple accounts of the Mets doing just that.
You are right but Mets won 100 last year and Giants won a lot less. So even though Giants have three recent championships, Giants fans are more disappointed
Nope.
#Manny – As a Giants fan, I can tell you that you’re right
So the Mets talking to doctors about an injury that might pose problems 6 years into a 12 year multi-million dollar contract is screwing things up? I think we can all agree that Steve Cohen is a much better businessman than you.
I’m sure the Mets are glad they didn’t prematurely announce a press conference date.
Or disrespect their current and/or franchise GOAT SS.
Correa was not playing SS in NY. He clearly stated he was moving to third. Very well documented in the media how he talked to Lindor.
#Jdt – that’s exactly my point
Of course, they’re going to contact the doctor that had a problem with his ankle. Jeesh.
In addition to the Nightingale story quoting Boras on Correa and Boagarts signings, there’s commentary from him about the Rodon, Nimmo and Conforto deals as well. Plus a list of the remainder of his stable of players who signed deals. Holy smokes! Does this dude sleep? And this expression of dissatisfaction with the Mets, damages his opportunity to do future deals with them?
No ones likes dealing with Boras That’s not changing any time soon. The Mets will deal with if it’s in their best interests.
I think the bigger question is how did he pass the physical with the Twins? Let’s see if he is indeed healthy this year.
Sorry, not enough time to read his whining. Could someone paraphrase it to 2 sentences?
When Congress is done with Trump and Sleepy Joe, there’ll be a full investigation with consequences and repercussions.
Looks like the Mets negotiated in bad faith, with clear intent to use already known information against the player at a later stage, in order to offer a drastically reduced contract at the last minute.
Reminds one of used car dealer tactics, where the buyer suddenly finds imaginary nicks and dents that “unfortunately” negate the previous agreement.
Understandably, Correa’s camp didn’t trust the Mets regarding their new conditional offer. Taking the franchise’s shady behavior into account, there’s a high possibility that the Mets would have done everything within their power to screw Correa out of the non-guaranteed part of the contract.
Better to part ways with “partners” like that.
This is a laugh and a half!!!
“But the Mets had notice of this. They knew the opinion of the Giants. So why did you negotiate when you know this thing in advance?”
Well, if I had to guess…
Because you led the Mets to believe that the ankle was no big deal only for them to find out the truth later and you are now mad at them for relying on an expert instead of your word?
So we’re just assuming that Boras and Correa are telling the truth about what the Mets did?
I dont believe this to be so.
Boras said that he had the Mets talk to four doctors (of his choice). They then talked to Anderson. They believed Andersons prognosis and explanation mpre.
How is that bad faith?
The last doctor was a twins fan… all part of his evil plot lol
I like the theory that upon hearing “Correa to the Mets”, 28 fed up owners called Manfred, Manfred called Cohen and Cohen decided discretion was the better part of valour.
Fullerton
This perfectly illustrates when any other team does one thing, it’s good business, but when the Mets do the EXACT SAME THING, it’s LOLMets. Honestly, it’s just old.
Funny how the Mets were so incompetent his other client, Verlander, had no problems. Maybe Correa is just damaged goods.
Boras is unscrupulous.
Stick with Lindor? Correa was never going to play SS in NY. He was willingly moving to third. He stated as much. That’s a bad job at the end of the article.
Is it more likely that Boras A. Was completely transparent and forthright regarding the medical findings or B. downplayed the findings and withheld information?
If you’re the Mets, why wouldn’t you contact the same doctor? Sure, contact others too.. but gather all the information you can before making that type of commitment.
I’m trying to find the quote where Boras says, “I really tried to mislead these teams into making a 12 year commitment, but they actually did their due diligence. I still know I’m the smartest man in the world, but they caught us this time. Luckily we still got the Twins to soften the blow.”
What we know:
* Boras is an agent – his job is to find the best deal for his client
* Correa is simply trying to find the best deal for himself, as is his right as a free agent.
* Interested teams have the right and the obligation to do their due diligence, and the high $ long term deals get extra attention. Of course.
* Medical determinations and forecasts are rarely completely straightforward.
* There is always more to the story than what we see.
When it is serious misconduct by a high ranking government figure, I want to find the real story. When it is a baseball player, his agent and the free agency tour, there is only so much curiosity.
I just have zero interest in finding scapegoats here. Where the interests of the parties collide, things happen. It is now resolved so let it die.
Nicely said!
Yea scott like they’re going to trust you and your doctors
Boras is correct, imo.
At a minimum, the Mets should’ve requested that they be allowed to talk to the doctor. Otherwise, the doctor that told the Giants not to sign Correa will simply tell the Mets to not sign Correa.
The better practice would be to get a second opinion on the ankle.
This almost feels like they were doing this for publicity.
Not sure I entirely agree. If there’s a professional out there with first hand knowledge of a situation that caused him to recommend a course of action, especially with this type of money involved, I’d want to talk to him, and integrate that info with whatever else I can determine. I can’t take Boras’ (or any agent’s) word as to what the person said.. This doesn’t exonerate the Mets, but the money they are spending, a very long term Correa contract helps keep them way above CBT penalties for a long time. Maybe that’s worth it if you get the player performing at a high level. But if he’s going to be injured….
Joe, the mets saw at least 6 opinions on correas ankle
– 4 from boras,
– 1 from the specialist the giants used,
– 1 from the mets team doctor.
Obviously what the specialist said resonated, and, may have been echoed by the team medical staff who looked at everything as well.
And as I said elsewhere, anyone who dealt with an auto insurance, a workers comp, a ssdi claim, those people know how easy made to order medical opinions can be. So I put basically no credence in any player/agent provided ‘opinion’ just like I trust nothing a used car salesman tells me.
This is just Boras crying he failed to deliver his agent the money he wanted.
What I want to know is how did he get a better offer from his fallback option (twins) after being rejected by two big market teams???? Does not compute. I would have given him half money half years after he came crawling back…..
When literally every other big name free agent signed basically a 10/300 deal, and you’ve failed after Houston and twice this year in free agency to get your big money deal and gotten stuck in Minnesota both times.
Is Boras really crying the blues because he lost out on 2.1MM-3.45MM in percentage fees on the contract?
While I understand Bora$$’$ frustration with the Mets, I have to wonder how honest he was with the Mets? My guess is not very. Probably did not share all the information. And those 4 doctors are likely ones hand picked by Bora$$. Not saying doctors always agree on this type of thing. we often do not. That is likely why the Mets went back to the doctor who did the Giants evaluation, to get a different opinion on this. And it is not true that there was no new information on this if in fact the Mets talked to those 4 doctors.
Now my suspicion is that the Mets did actually know everything and made an agreement with Bora$$ on Correa fully intending to use the Giants evaluation to leverage concessions. When that did not happen, they were fine with moving on. So no, don’t think the Mets were honest in this matter either.
As a lifelong Mets fan I find the change from the Wilpon’s to Cohen remarkable. The Mets now have the ability to make serious offers on all players they’re interested in and have an owner who is not only a lifelong fan but a remarkably successful businessman.
What i find fascinating about the commenting is how many folks are taking Boras at his word. He clearly has a vested interest and is shaping his commentary to support his point of view. The Mets however can’t express their point of view because HIPAA laws prevent their ability to say anything about Correa’s health issues. It’s like a Boxing match where only one person can hit.
It would seem obvious that the Mets didn’t simply consult with 1 doctor. They have their own doctors examine Correa and then consulted probably a number of specialists, including Dr Anderson.
Lastly I don’t think Cohen is naïve about how Boras does business. His reputation is well known in the industry. Will this affect future business between them? I think not. Cohen knows from his long experience that business negotiations often are conflictual and problematic.
Do I think Boras is smart to try to make Cohen and the Mets look bad is a good business strategy? I think not., but hey will do business together,
I’m with Boras on this one. Some questionable antics here.
SB may rub people the wrong way, but SC to me is someone to question more.
Why? It’s not like Cohen has committed a crime or anything! Oh wait……….
this isnt a historical footnote,
just a blip on the radar,
teams and free agent cant agree on contract with injured player.
The agent brought his down doctors says correa was ok to play for 10 years.
of course they are going to say that.
Boras lambasts the mets and giants for a second objective option.
Boras…. newsflash, you do not run MLB. You have an opinion… and you talk entirely too much. You want to play kingmaker, entirely too often. Owners, players, MLBPA… they all can do whatever they choose….. without your permission… or for that matter…. asking for your opinion.
It always mystifies me how many fans let a player agent live in their heads. News flash: his job isn’t to please you.
Scott “Live,Love, Laugh all the way to the bank” Boras
GMs who deal with Scott risk getting fired, like Mr. Dipoto.
It’s not like Boras has ever downplayed a client’s injury before in an effort to get them a multi-year payday. Oh wait, didn’t that happen last off-season with Michael Conforto? The shoulder injury that wasn’t a big deal until he actually had surgery performed.
By the way, it was Boras who pivoted to the Mets after the SF fell through. Cohen was interviewed that they took a run at Correra but were rebuffed cause the Giants negotiation was in the home stretch.
I’m not saying that Cohen didn’t try to get Correra at a reduced rate, it’s clear he used the injury as leverage, but let’s not hold Boras out as as the paragon of truth here. Dr. Anderson’s consult was likely one of several data points that the Mets relied on to make a decision.
Boras has a reputation to uphold and has to come up with with a reason why Correra for two years running was unable to secure a contract the size of Lindor, Turner, or Tatis.
Boras’ lies and misleading statements don’t much interest me. I can see why players would be interested in what he says—he can get them money. But fans? I really find nothing of relevance. And this website? Restating his lies and misleading statements, at length, results in a loss of credibility I think.
For example, the Mets can contact and rely upon whatever medical experts they want. If they chose someone contacted and relied upon by the Giants—must be somebody good. They can hardly be expected to rely upon the doctors Boras is paying. Boras’ complaints about this are silly.
While Boras is only ever doing his job – which he is great at – he’s an a**hole.
Would you invest over $300 million based on documents Scott Boras provided, or would you want to speak to the doctors to make sure that the documents reflected their findings accurately and completely?
I wouldn’t be so dirty as to call the neutral expert that diagnosed his leg. I would take Scott’s word and use his choice doctors and then give Correa a raise for helping me make my decision so easily……
As usual, you don’t understand the underlying facts.
Boras provided medical records including complete medical records from the doctor the Giants consulted.
As soon as the Mets came to their original agreement with Correa and submittedit to the league office, MLB provided the Mets with his complete medical records up to that point including any medical evaluations or treatments.
The Mets then did their own physical at the best medical center in NYC.
Keep on trying to hate on Boras. It makes you look ill-informed but doesn’t reflect on him at all. He is the best agent in baseball because teams trust him. Its stupid fans that don’t.
You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. First you complain that the Mets consulted a doctor whose opinion gave them pause, then you say teams trust Boras, who said there was nothing wrong with his client.
Make up your mind — did the Mets trust him or didn’t they?
Boras told the Giants (and subsequently the press) that there was nothing wrong with Correa. Did the Giants trust him?
You sound like an employee of the Boras Corporation. Are you?
Dumas, don’t try to spin my words. I said teams trust Boras. If they didn’t, he wouldn’t be the top agent in the game. He wouldn’t be able to get his players signed.
You are a hater with no clue about what is actually going on. Its obvious from your comments that you not only never read the articles referenced by the MLBTR writers, you rarely if ever read the MLBTR articles themselves before commenting.
Find me a quote from Boras where he said that. Fact is, he never said that at all. People in the comments HERE said that and since that is all you read you think it actually happened.
You fabricated a story that somewhere in those articles was a reference to “the top four orthopedic surgeons in the U.S.” When I challenged you to cut and paste that reference here, you couldn’t do it because it doesn’t exist.
I’m going to go with the interpretation of GASoxFan:
“Fink Ployed: you’re responding to a troll burner account.”
That means you. Buh-bye now, troll. No more soup for you.
Ever notice Boras and Borat are only one letter off?
No
Ever notice Boras will say ANYTHING that is in his interest no matter how far from truth?
Very nice!
In Correa’s defense, he hasn’t been injured one time for that ankle since surgery. I’m a SF fan, & I believe after the dust settled, SF front office was not comfortable giving out a 13-year contract. The longest contract Zaidi has given out since being in SF is 4 years. So SF found a Dr. to come up with this. I mean Correa’s ankle has been fine post surgery. So SF was concerned about a player who played most the games last year, then they turn around & sign Hanniger, Conforto, & Luke Jackson, all of whom played very little or none of last year’s games. Makes zero sense!