Boras Blog

December 04, 2009

Came From Nothing

Craig Calcaterra comments on an excellent Scott Boras profile from Fanhouse that we missed while dealing with two sick kids, but highly recommend checking out.

Boras truly came from nothing and built his business through a lot of hard work. He wasn't gifted with clients via his dad's golf buddies. He didn't inherit a portfolio. He gives tons to charities. He's a family man. He has employees who have worked with him for years and years and they all speak well of him. And despite all of that, he'll always be thought of as evil because he has demanded that billionaires give his mere millionaire clients a greater cut of the revenue they produce. His clients are rich and famous, but in the world in which they operate, they are the little guy, relatively speaking. We almost always root for the little guy in this world, but not in baseball, and not when Boras is involved. Why?

Dec 4, 2009 10:04:57 AM

October 19, 2009

Bus Drivin' Bernazard

Updated 1:24 pm est

The Daily News is reporting that ousted former Mets player development lunatic Tony Bernazard is close to signing on as a recruiter for Scott Boras.

I can get that sometimes genius comes with a volatile personality. In fact, from my personal experiences, it very often does. But here is the thing: Bernazard's on-the-job player development performance has been horrible. This is no genius, not by a long shot. So, for all of the Mets troubles - for driving Delgado away (round one), for Bus Drivin' Bernazard, for shirtless fights, for Adam Rubin Lobby Job, for all the punch-lines and PR scrambles and all the rest of the bagage that came along, the Mets got Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez and... Parnell? Murphy? Nothing. They got nothing for their trouble. Bernazard was a failure on every level, and I can only wonder how good he must sound in a conference room that he has even been able to get himself the opportunities that he has.

Bernazard's front office career began with the player's union, and I wonder if he developed a personal relationship with Boras in that capacity, because I cant imagine any other reason for Boras to put himself out there for this guy.

Oct 19, 2009 9:41:51 AM | Tony Bernazard

September 29, 2009

Shaz-Bagl

Sep 29, 2009 8:58:32 PM

August 18, 2009

A Day's Work, Part Two

We seemed to have missed first rounder Grant Green (#13 Oak) in our tally below. Green signed at the deadline for $2.75m. That brings the total to $36,675,000 for Boras' first rounders this year - and that is guaranteed money only. 5% of that comes in below $2m, which, to be honest, is an underwhelming figure. I cant imagine what goes in to signing these guys - the traveling, the courting.. Must be a painful and expensive process. Add in overhead and salaries.. whooda thunk it is a low-margin business?

The USA Today put together an interesting profile of the frenzy leading up to the deadline signings, which as it turns out seems like it was far more calm the frenzied. An interesting nugget:

"When we started our negotiations, we started in the low 20s over a longer period of years. We never, ever approached anything like $50 million-some dollars. I think people thought that because I had mentioned foreign players, and we represent Dice-K [Daisuke Matsusaka of the Boston Red Sox.]."

Aug 18, 2009 5:17:17 PM | Draft

A Day's Work

As you read about the Strasburg deal, seeing it described as a "resonable deal", "fair compromise", etc., consider how Boras was able to completely reset the standards for a free agent contract. Before the hype machine, before the talk of $50m demands, before the talk of international free agency and the liklihood of missing a year... think back a few months and consider what $15m guaranteed actually means. Its a phenominal contract. The best ever. Outdone, perhaps, by Dustin Ackley's $7.5m guaranteed.

A summary of the first rounders:

Stephen Strasburg (#1, Nats) - Four-year major league deal, $7.5 million bonus, $7.6 million in salaries ($15.1 m guaranteed).

Dustin Ackley (#2, Mariners) - Five-year major league deal, $6 million bonus, $1.5 million in guaranteed salaries, another $2.5 million possible in salaries depending on how quick he reaches the majors ($7.5m guaranteed).

Donavan Tate (#3, Padres) - $6.25m over five years, permission to play football as well.

Turner (#9, Tigers) - Major league contract with a $4.7 million bonus (over six years) and a guaranteed value of $5.5 million. Incentives up to $7 million.

Washington (#30, TB) - Did not sign. Keeping them honest, I suppose.

MLB Trade Rumors is the place to go for more draft coverage and to see the rest of the first round contracts.

Aug 18, 2009 8:57:42 AM | Draft, Dustin Ackley, Stephen Strasburg

August 17, 2009

The Best Just Isnt Good Enough

Big day ahead, to be sure. First round picks #1 Strasburg (Nats), #2 Ackley (Mariners), #3 Tate (Padres), #9 Turner (Tigers) & #30 Washington (Rays) are ALL going down to the wire. Jeez, you think Boras is going to get to take a bathroom break today? I would think he would have gotten one or two of these out of the way just to relieve capacity constraints on the organization. I have a friend who works for a large online flower store, tells me that everyone from the CEO down delivers flowers on Valentine's day. So, I have to wonder if the mail room clerks will be negotiating million dollar deals as we approach midnight.

By all accounts, the Nats have offered a deal surpassing Mark Prior's $10.5m deal from 2001. So the question is, is the biggest contract ever extended through the draft a good enough deal? Boras points out that revenues in baseball have doubled since the Prior deal, so you have to make that adjustment. He also points to free agent signings - can you imagine the frenzy if a 21 year old came out of Cuba throwing the gas that Strasburg does? Surely such a player would command the $50m Boras has reportedly asked for.

The Biz of Baseball does a nice job breaking down Strasburg's projected value and comes away with a 6/30 deal. Ok, I think Boras would live with that. I am not sure the Nats would, though. If the Nats dig in at the $15m range, I dont think the fans will blame them for not completing the deal, and I dont think Boras will take it. So, while most assume that a deal will go down tonight, I am not so sure.

Finally, the always amusing Kenny Powers - uh, sorry, I mean Rob Dibble, had this to say:

Kid, if you want respect you have to earn it, if you want to be hated as much as your agent Scott Boras, hold out and go pitch in independent league baseball.

The choice is really up to you -- hold out and put your progress towards the big leagues, push back time towards arbitration, and oh yea, risk getting hurt in some independent league game, or how about building on being the richest amateur draft pick to date in the history of MLB.

Aug 17, 2009 10:07:27 AM | Draft, Negotiations, Stephen Strasburg

August 11, 2009

Crunch Time

Here we sit, six days before the deadline, Strasburg remains unsigned and I have nothing to blog about. No rumors, no updates, no speculation.

Meanwhile, Dustin Ackley, the #2 pick in the draft and a Boras client, remains unsigned as well. I havent been able to write one word about Ackley yet, again - no rumors, no updates, no speculation. But Ackley's case is far less fascinating than Strasburg. We have already seen Boras go toe to toe against Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik for the Josh Fields contract. That standoff, reportedly over the relative pittance of $500k, ended up with a deal at the midpoint. With Zduriencik coming from a player development background, I dont think he will let Ackley go unsigned. It would stand to reason that he knows that Boras knows that time is on Boras' side, for now, and they will come to an agreement at the deadline.

Strasburg, of course, is far more interesting. For one thing, Interim GM Mike Rizzo is fighting for the job. He doesnt just want to the deal to go through, he NEEDS the deal to go through. And you can bet that Boras will test his fortitude. For another thing, there is little precedent for the level of hype Strasburg has received. Well... I might have to scratch that - that is hard to quantify and it always seems like there is some prospect somewhere that has been anointed the future best player ever (related: Mat Witers OPS is below .700, Mark Prior is not currently affiliated with any MLB team). But the hype is obviously huge for Strasburg, and that hype - even if never substantiated - has value for the Nationals. Finally, the Nationals... what's a franchise to do? If it ever paid to overpay, it does for the Nats and their beautiful ballpark, their sleepy fan base and their city that thinks baseball is better left to their friends fifty miles up the 95.

Aug 11, 2009 6:09:10 PM | Dustin Ackley, Stephen Strasburg