Cano Drops Agent for Boras

According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has changed agents, dropping Bobby Barad for Scott Boras.  The switch reportedly occurred after the two had a meeting together in the Dominican Republic.  

For the most teams, hearing that one of your star players has changed his representation to Scott Boras is cause for anxiety.  The Yankees, blessed with the largest payroll and revenue stream in baseball, are not one of them.  Instead, it's just a minor annoyance. 

It's not clear as to why Cano decided to make the switch now, but some have speculated that he's probably angling for his next big contract.  While Cano is in the final guaranteed season of the four year $30M contract he signed back in 2008, the Yankees still own two options for $14M in 2012 and $15M in 2013.  Considering how team friendly the options are, the Yankees would be crazy not to pick them up.  Additionally, the Yankees have a long standing policy of not negotiating with players until after their contract has expired.  Unless they change their policy (very unlikely), he'll have to wait until after the 2013 season to get negotiate and sign his next contract. 

Cano is coming off a tremendous season in which he finished their in the AL MVP voting behind Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera.  In 2010, Cano produced a .389 wOBA with 73 extra base hits, and 6.4 fWAR.

Moreno's Not a Fan of Scott Boras

If you were the owner of a major league baseball team and were trying to sign your ace starting pitcher to a long term contract extension, do you think it would be a good idea to publicly insult his agent?  Well, if you're Angels owner Arte Moreno, the answer would is yes.  When asked a question about Scott Boras yesterday, he responded:

“My mother always told me, ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

If you're reading between the lines properly, that was code for "Scott Boras is a manipulative tool."  While that may be an accurate statement, was it really necessary for Moreno to share those thoughts with a reporter?  While some might think he his statement showed restraint and diplomacy, his penchant for making offhanded, thinly veiled remarks makes me wonder if he's had this planned for a while.  Besides momentary satisfaction, I'm left wondering what Moreno had to gain by making that remark.  He certainly didn't gain anything with regards to the Jared Weaver negotiations.

So how did Boras respond?

"The Angels organization has been fairly extraordinary, in their handling of the Nick Adenhart situation," said Boras, referring to the pitcher who was killed by a convicted drunk driver after a 2009 game. "The work by [Angels President] John Carpino and [Vice President] Tim Mead is something I will never forget, what that organization did in a most difficult situation."

Say what you will about Boras, but he always takes the high road.  This time is no exception.

Scott Boras the Lobbyist

Manny Being Manny...A locker room force to be reckoned with...

With all of the major free agents not named Rafael Soriano off of the market, agents are scrambling to find homes for their remaining free agents.  As ESPN's Jerry Crasnick points out, there is perhaps no group that's as undervalued or underappreciated on the free agent market than veteran DH-type hitters in their mid-to-late 30s.  As such, no agent is faced with a tougher task than Scott Boras who has Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, and Andruw Jones on his list of clients still looking for jobs.

Here's what Boras had to say about his some of his highest profile available clients:

“These guys are star players,” Boras said. “They’re championship-caliber players. Owners and general managers know they have extraordinary abilities, and they can be a force in the locker room and around young players. Those are things that most veteran players don’t offer.”

Star?  Championship caliber?  Apparently, Scott Boras hijacked Doc Brown's Delorian, revved it up to 88 MPH, and went back in time to 2005 when all three of those players were still in their prime.  I understand that it's his job to sell these players, but he's really pushing the envelope when he talks about their "extraordinary abilities" and their leadership abilities--especially when one his of his clients is Manny Ramirez.

The Magical Mind of Scott Boras

Say what you will about Scott Boras (liar, manipulator, greedy, sweet guy who loves taking romantic walks on the beach with that special someone), but the man comes up with some very interesting ideas:

“Teams currently obtain such players through the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings. The cost of each player is $50,000, and the player must be offered back at half-price if he doesn't remain on the major-league roster all season.

The Boras plan would generate considerably more sizzle – and dollars.

Each team would protect a set number of players: 40, the current number, or maybe even 45. Every other player in a club's farm system would be available through a blind posting process similar to the arrangement baseball maintains with Japanese clubs.

(snip)

Boras, though, believes his plan would force clubs to place even greater emphasis on scouting and development, making talent evaluation that much more important.”

While his idea is incredibly creative, it’s neither necessary, nor in the best interest of baseball to implement.  For starters, there’s nothing wrong with the Rule 5 draft.  The draft serves its purpose by keeping teams from stockpiling young talent (not currently on the 40-man roster within three to four years of their signing) in their minor league systems.  Assuming Boras intends to keep the eligibility rules identical, the quality of the prospects available is likely to be fairly low.  While there will certainly be some diamonds in the rough, the pool will be primarily made up of raw Latin prospects in their early 20s and low reward post prospects in their late 20s.  If, on the other hand, Boras intends to change the eligibility rules (which it sounds like he’s suggesting) by making any prospect not currently on the 40 man roster eligible for posting, his system would change the way teams and farm systems are developed.  While this would greatly improve the quality of talent available, it could have a less than favorable impact on the development of certain prospects.

Secondly, a blind posting system could create something of an administrative nightmare.  The folks at MLB headquarters would be responsible for handling tens to hundreds of posting bids at any given time.  Mistakes are bound to happen occasionally.  (Let us not forget the debacle surrounding Pedro Alvarez at the draft pick signing deadline in August 2008.)  What recourse will a team have if they’re in advertently denied an opportunity to negotiate for a player’s services? 

Lastly, this gives big market clubs greater incentive to go “over slot” to sign draft picks in an effort to accumulate additional high end talent.  It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Scott Boras represents a large number of the top prospects in each amateur draft.  As a result, he will benefit from the larger bonuses given to amateurs.  Additionally, as big market teams build deeper farm systems, they’ll be able in better position to take some additional risks by selling surplus talent via Boras’s posting system.  The revenue generated via the posting process can then be funneled back into the Major League payroll.  The additional money flooding the free agent market will likely cause salary inflation.  Again, Boras, who just happens to represent a fair number of the biggest free agents every offseason, will reap the financial benefits.

I don’t want to give the impression that big market clubs will be the only ones benefiting from Boras’s proposed posting system.  Small and mid-market clubs will benefit to an extent as well, just not in the same manner.  Due to the likely salary inflation caused by an influx of additional revenue, small and mid-market teams will be at a greater disadvantage for signing big name free agents.  This may cause smaller market teams (like the Marlins or Pirates) to hoard the revenues obtained via posting rather than reinvesting it.  While this would positively affect an organization’s profit margin, it would have an adverse impact on not only the competitive balance, but also the overall quality of play on the baseball field. 

I know.  It’s shocking.  Scott Boras, knowing his dream of abolishing the amateur draft will never be realized, has come up with a way to build an alternate system that benefits him financially.  It’s pretty brilliant.  You can’t blame the guy for trying.  Fortunately, there are enough of us that are hip to his little charade.  Rarely does he have an idea that isn’t entirely self-serving.

Boras Pulls Heyman's Strings...Again!

 
In response to Ruben Amaro's comment regarding the Phillies interest in Jayson Werth, John Heyman reported via Twitter that the Phillies are making a "big push" to sign him.  Anyone who follows baseball knows that Heyman is Scott Boras's personal hand puppet.  (Enjoy the visual everyone.)  It's getting increasingly difficult figuring out where Heyman's head begins and Boras's ass ends.  This seems like nothing more than an effort to keep as many high payroll teams in the hunt for Werth's services in an effort to drive up the price.  It's a smart move by Boras, but I'm not sure what it says about Heyman.  On one hand, it's possible he's unaware of what Boras is doing.  If so, then Heyman is a fool.  On the other hand, Heyman knows what Boras is doing, and is willing to help him out because he wants the scoop.  If so, then Heyman is being a tad unethical.

Please Get Me Some of Whatever He's Smoking

We all knew it would happen eventually, but Scott Boras has finally gone off his rocker.  MLB.com's Todd Zoleski has all of the juicy details:

“We have, in my mind, probably the most coveted offensive player in the free-agent market,” Boras said. “Carl Crawford is a really great player, but the truth of the matter is, Werth scores as many runs, and his on-base percentage is the same. Werth is a guy that can play center field and has played center field recently.  He’s a Gold Glove-type outfielder. Crawford is, too. But the big difference is that Werth has 87 home runs over the last three years and Crawford has 42. Werth is really a middle-of-the-lineup guy. I think when he bats third, he’ll be a 110-to-120-runs-scored guy and a 100-RBI guy. And I think teams that are looking for a right-handed bat view Werth as a middle-of-the-lineup guy.”

If you're wondering if Scott Boras was high when he said this, you're not alone.  While he's right that Werth has hit for more power and driven in more runs than Crawford over the past two seasons, Crawford actually provided an additional 2.5 WAR in comparison to Werth.  While both players have skill sets that are likely to age well, Crawford is three years younger than Werth.  This makes Crawford a much better bet to play at a high level deeper into his contract. 

Additionally, Boras is apparently looking to get Matt Holliday money (7 years $120M) for Werth.  I don't have to tell you that it's an incredibly bad idea investing that kind of contract into a player that will be 39 when his contract is up.  If you don't believe me, ask the Yankees and Cubs how the Kevin Brown and Alfonso Soriano contracts have worked out.   If anything, I see him getting a contract a little bigger than the one the Red Sox signed to J.D. Drew (a great comp for Werth injuries aside).  My money is on a four or five year deal with an average annual salary of $15-16M.