MLB criticizes A-Rod, Boras for timing of announcement

[Crazysilver03]

Boras announced during Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night that A-Rod was opting out of the final three seasons of his contract with the New York Yankees. The timing left baseball officials livid.

"We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game," DuPuy said. "Last night and today belong to the Boston Red Sox, who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Colorado Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."

http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site/nbcsports/menuitem.6f806e473b4cb158fb00ec22493c2d04/?vgnextoid=17ce7941cdde5110VgnVCM10000075c1d240RCRD

Pretty lame on Boras' part.

[mweb]

Yeah, it was stupid, and unfair to the Sox/Rockies for them to announce it yesterday.

[Moose Milligan]

Yeah, the timing was pretty crappy.

Did you guys hear Gammons on the radio? He was pretty mad. I saw the radio podcast on espn.com earlier today, can't find where it is now, though. Worth a listen.

[Moose Milligan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=podcast&id=3085112#

Here's the aforementioned link with Gammons.

[DrLev]

Immediately after the announcement during the game telecast, I remarked to the future Mrs. Lev that Boras was a jerk for trying to upstage the Red Sox and Rockies during the game. It could have waited until tomorrow (Tuesday). I'm glad to see the talking heads were just as indignant.

[MChance]

MLB should take away his agent credentials, make him a hot dog vendor at PNC Park, and give his fancy stat tracking software in his basement to Andy MacPhail!!!!

[twoBshorty]

It may be phony, but Boras has apologized:

Boras said causing a distraction was an unintended consequence.

"I apologize to the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies and their players, Major League Baseball and its players, and baseball fans everywhere for that interference," he said in a statement. "The teams and players involved deserved to be the focus of the evening and honored with the utmost respect. The unfortunate result was not my intent, but is solely my fault. I could have handled this situation better, and for that I am truly sorry."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071030/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_yankees_rodriguez;_ylt=AlW2Deyn3EcMZjlNMkc_owms0NUE

[CrimsonTribe]

Meh, MLB needs to get over itself.

[JTrea81]

Boohoo, the poor Red Sox get upstaged by A-Rod. If anything this is good news for them as they can either sign him, or he's out of the division possibly and they won't have to worry about them. Red Sox Nation and MLB both need to get over this "upstaging" the WS. The A-Rod situation was more entertaining than the whole World Series was anyway...

[scOtt]

I was thinking about this this morning. Except my tin-foil-hat-wearing brain thought maybe MLB was nudge nudge wink wink in on it. Add a little excitement to a WS that was spiraling in ratings. Give Joe and Tim something extra to gossip about.

[24fps]

I doubt if Boras will lose a second of sleep over MLB's outrage, but I wonder if it might turn out that he's made a strategic mistake.

Maybe Arod's changed his mind since the last news story I read, but it's my understanding that he's only willing to sign with the two LA teams and Boston. (Yankees too, by default).

It seems kinda dumb for Boras to steal the spotlight from one of the very few teams who have the ability to retain your client. On the night they clinch the WS no less. It's my sense that Arod's very vulnerable at the moment in the image department. He really didn't need this.

It goes without saying that my heart is bleeding as I write this knowing the pain and suffering this unfortunate incident has caused MLB, that pinnacle of class and deportment.

[Sideburns]

I almost spit my coffee this morning when listening to a caller on Mike and Mike blaming the media for reporting the story

[DrungoHazewood]

Meh, MLB needs to get over itself.

Yea.

What Boras should have done was wait until the day the Mitchell report is released, to help blunt Bud's brute force finger pointing at the players and complete absolution of the owners.

[byrdz]

I doubt if Boras will lose a second of sleep over MLB's outrage, but I wonder if it might turn out that he's made a strategic mistake.

Doubtful, all of this was planned including the apology and Boras/ARod will get there's, he's forced this deal centerstage.

See, we're talking about it now and it's the hottest subject in baseball, not the Red Sox winning the WS. Boras is a genius when it comes to getting the most money for his clients and this is just another way of pushing the envelope.

That said, he's an a$%^&*( for doing it.

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[NewMarketSean]

I like Gammons and all, but I wonder if he would care as much if it were the Rockies and Indians in the WS. This reeks of "no one should take attention away from the Red Sox" crap.

Who cares. It was a boring WS.

And it's Boras. Should we be surprised by this?