Several friends within MLB told me that the New Yorker profile of Scott Boras was a must-read, but I just stumbled upon it today. They were right – it is a must-read, and I give Ben McGrath credit for being balanced on a subject that (who) unbalances a lot of people.
I’ve never been down with the demonization of Boras. He’s serving his clients’ interests, and if he wasn’t doing so and there was no other agent filling this role, then MLB owners would be making a lot more money and the game would be no better off. The so-called haves/have-nots structure has nothing to do with Boras or with players in general trying to earn market salaries. And people who demonize him seem to forget that his aggressive strategies work, and that there are no style points in negotiations.
Couple of quotes that stood out:
At one point while I was in his office, Boras took a phone call, and explained afterward, “The draft is looming.” I asked if he planned to travel to Orlando, where the draft was being held. He smiled. “I think the draft is here,” he said. “It’s not in Orlando. We’re in the room”—he pointed up, toward the war room—”and we’re telling teams who they can draft, who they can’t. That’s basically how the thing goes.”
I would bet that the folks at MLB headquarters went apeshit when they saw that. But Scott’s not exactly wrong here, as I wrote before the draft, saying he was “the one man who might have the most say in how the first round unfolds.”
“The scouting director for the Twins was a very abrupt man,” Boras recalled in his office, referring to George Brophy, who died a few years ago. “He went public, saying, ‘It’s disgusting that these kids are being represented. They’re draft picks.’ All these antiquated thought processes. I kept on saying, ‘He’s a young man in a negotiation against a system, which requires him to sign a professional sports contract, which is governed by a collective-bargaining agreement. Why wouldn’t he need a lawyer?’ I said, ‘Why do your teams have lawyers who draft all these things up? You’ve unilaterally imposed all these rules.’ He sat there, looked at me, and goes, ‘I’m not a lawyer. I’m just talking to you about baseball. That’s not how we do things.’ I said, ‘Well, we’re changing. We’re changing for the betterment of the game. The great athletes aren’t going to come to baseball if you keep the bonuses at this level, because some owner will pay for that talent. It just happens to be in a different sport. Baseball players play football and basketball, too.’ “
I’m sorry to say that Brophy’s mentality still exists within the industry. There’s a sense that these kids should just be honored that anyone is willing to pay them to play baseball. Needless to say, I think that’s bullshit.
Critics of Boras call him a “compulsive liar,” or a “congenital liar,” while also granting that he, at least, seems to believe what he says. I prefer to think of it primarily as optimistic, adversarial embellishment…
I’m with McGrath here. I have talked to Boras a handful of times and don’t think I’ve ever felt that he was lying to me or caught him in an inaccuracy. He pushes the truth, which is one way in which he is like every other agent I’ve ever met, but I’m comfortable with that because it’s part of an agent’s job.
Excellent article. I like the idea that Scott Boras, born where I live and living where I went to school, wants to work for the betterment of future teachers; as a future teacher, having Scott Boras contributing feels pretty comforting.
I’m not a demonizer of Boras either, but the idea of telling teams which players they can draft really irks me and I am reminded of the relative merits of Dewon Brazelton and Mark Teixeira. I’m all for draft-entry players employing an advocate to see out the best possible financial terms, but a small part of me says if that large, fair bonus/contract comes from the Rays/Royals/Pirates/Whomever in the same amount that it would come from the Yankees/Sox/Cubs/Tigers, then you should suck it up and sign with the team that drafted you rather than threatening to sit out a year of go to college unless you fall to an “approved” team.
I’m not sure how much of a problem it is, as the Rays have managed to still build a monster system even with Boras running around and Sox typically drafting 3-4 players before the Rays pick their second. (I’ll never understand some of the crazy compensation rules)
Your thoughts on Boras aside, one can acknowledge that Kenny Rogers fired him and Warren Buffet advised A-Rod to employ another agent, without ” demonizing” him. But I will read the article. Thanks for the tip.
I’m going to agree with Paul M a bit here. I don’t have a problem with teams having to pay players they’ve drafted, but it seems a little unfair for the sport for an agent to set a player’s price so high – before he’s even played a minor league game – that teams which would otherwise draft him can’t pay it (or if they did pay it, it would be a ludicrously high percentage of their payroll). Too many high draft picks flame out. Yeah, that happens in the NBA and NFL too, of course, but when it does happen it’s all the more ridiculous how much money these guys made not to be any good.
It’s just something that bugs me about sports in general these days. Everyone wants a big pay day without proving themselves – it’s why I’m okay with the Cubs non-tendering Prior, because it seems perfectly reasonable to me that after paying him almost seven million dollars for one win over the last two seasons, they wouldn’t be willing to give him the same amount of money when he won’t be ready until May and even then who knows what he’ll be able to do.
Yo, Paul M….quit idolizing Keith Law …doesn’t SOSH provide enough internet posting opportunities for you?
I guess I still see plenty of talented players out there for the smart team’s taking. The Pirates have been killed in Pittsburgh for taking Daniel Moskos (and identifying him as a middle reliever) over Boras client Matt Wieters, when in reality, for the same money they paid Moskos, they could have taken Jarrod Parker (best non-Boras HS pitcher in the draft), Jason Heyward, or Matt Dominguez (both high-ceiling HS bats). They had Dominguez in for a workout and still took Moskos. That, to me, is what holds bad teams back: Blatant, unapologetic stupidity. Not Boras.
Never been on SOSH. Rays fan. Can’t stand the Sox. But thanks for jumping to conclusions!
People say that MLB draft picks should accept less money because a lot of them flame out before reaching the majors. But when you think about this argument in the context of Boras’ comment that “Baseball players play football and basketball, too”, the fact that the vast majority of draft picks never make it to the majors is actually the precise reason why they need to push it on their first pro contract.
The path to a major payoff in baseball is long and hard. If you have other options, it’s hard to come up with an economically sound reason to pursue a baseball career unless you are getting a significant amount of guaranteed money up front.
I don’t begrudge a guy like Austin Jackson at all for saying “I want big money or I’ll play college basketball instead”. He’s looking out for his own best interests — he would have been nuts to sign for $150k and pass up a chance at hitting the NBA lottery (literally) and getting tens of millions before proving a thing.
If you don’t like the way teams react to the economic decisions of draftees, then your problem should be with the teams themselves or the system, not guys like Scott Boras, who is simply looking out for his clients’ best interests. As the old saying goes, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
Building on your “unapologetic stupidity” comment…
How much money have teams like the Pirates flushed down the toilet on (relatively) high dollar/low (or zero) impact major league-level players over the years? They can afford to pay Matt Morris $10 million to suck in the big leagues, but can’t afford to take a player who might actually help them get out of last place?
The fact remains that, in spite of all the bitching, draftees are STILL incredibly undervalued at a time when the very best players are getting about 1/7 of what Carlos Silva will be making over the next four years (and obviously there are examples of even worse contracts).
Many good points here. How you can attack an 18- or 21-year-old kid for using an agent to negotiate a fair contract is beyond me. The NHL CBA allocated 53% of revenues to the players; say the average top 10 MLB pick is worth $10,000,000 to his team over the 8 years they have his rights, the going rate for his services seems to be $5.3M. The kid can leave the room and let his agent negotiate while he focuses on baseball.
I’m an engineer – imagine I signed a contract with a future employer while I was still in high school. Most engineers fail out of school or end up not practicing, so they offer me $10,000 a year for college, and then have to pay me $30,000 my first three years on the job (provided I make it there.) Then I go to college, do really well, and I can’t sell my services on the open market as an engineer for the first six years of my career? Even if the going rate for someone with my skills is $100,000 a year? No such system exists, thankfully!