Interesting Article About Scott Boras and Orioles

[Philip]

@Bemorewins

Gotta say, “As wrong as two left shoes,” is one of the best similes I’ve heard in a long time.

[jabba72]

12 minutes ago, Warehouse said:

Yes, Boras clients occasionally sign extensions.  No, Boras won’t prevent a client that wants to sign an extension from doing so.  Yes, Boras clients sign fewer pre-FA extensions than clients of other agencies (based on comparing his share of pre-FA extensions vs. his larger share of MLB players). That’s because of either the advice he gives, attracting clients with a similar philosophy, or both.

Scott has never signed a player with less than two years of service time to a long-term extension.  He has only signed 1 pre-arb player to a long-term extension which was 13 years ago (Carlos Gonzalez).

Expectations of signing Gunnar or Westburg to extensions need to be calibrated against this reality.

 

Its going to require Gunnar, Jackson and Westburg having an affinity for Baltimore and each other for them to stay. Boras is already cracking jokes about the O's wanting to extend them, so we know his feelings on the situation.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

Its going to require Gunnar, Jackson and Westburg having an affinity for Baltimore and each other for them to stay. Boras is already cracking jokes about the O's wanting to extend them, so we know his feelings on the situation.

I think affinity or not it's going to be close to impossible to keep all of them.

You have to zero in on a few targets.

[Frobby]

I think many players will sacrifice some player salary to play on a winning team with a bunch of guys they have played with for years and who are also good.  Not a lot of salary, but some.  And, there’s some market value associated with being with a single team for a long time, that could make up for any salary loss.  So, there’s always hope. 

[Allan Bryant]

10 hours ago, Frobby said:

My takeaway from that article is, “maintaining a winning team is different from building a winning team.  It requires spending a lot of money.”  Well, it probably does, but you can’t throw money at every problem, either.  You have to decide when to spend on expensive, established guys and when to count on younger, cheaper, less estsblished players.  It will be interesting to see what choices the Orioles make over the next 3-5 years.  

That’s what they hired Mr Elias for, to make decisions , short and long term . 

[Three Run Homer]

To me it's a puzzle why so many players sign with Boras, or with any particular agent for that matter.  When you represent a lot of clients in a single market like Boras does, there is an inherent conflict of interest, because the deal you make for one client has spillover effects on the other clients you represent. 

For instance:  suppose one of your clients (call him Gunnar) wants to stay in Baltimore and is willing to take a deal with a hometown discount.  But that deal would negatively affect the offers that your other clients will get.  So you will advise Gunnar to hold out for a bigger offer, perhaps with another team.  That may be the best strategy for your clients collectively but may not be the best strategy for Gunnar.  At worst you can wind up like Jordan Montgomery or Carlos Rodon, holding out for so long that it messes with your training regimen.  

If it were me I would want an agent who has only a few clients in MLB.