MLB super-agent Scott Boras’ isn’t done yet
When former free agent pitcher Jordan Montgomery finally signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cy Young award winner Blake Snell with the Giants, and DH J.D. Martinez with the Mets, all for less years and less money than they were thought to have warranted, super-agent Scott Boras took the blame. Some called him too greedy, others that he badly miscalculated and misunderstood the market. Last week Montgomery changed his representation which is to say that he fired Scott Boras. Is this a sign that the era of dominance of baseball’s most famous and most successful agent is over? Don’t be too sure. Boras’ reputation has taken a hit, but his armor is quite thick and history quite good.
In 2019 Boras got Bryce Harper a $330 million 13-year deal from the Phillies at the end of February. The previous year he had negotiated deals for J.D. Martinez, Jake Arrieta, and Eric Hosmer that totaled $329 million. You would think these players are very happy with those deals. Well, all except maybe for Bryce Harper who has floated out a three-year extension for another $55 million taking him through his age-41 season, saying he’d prefer to retire with the Phillies. Nobody was calling Scott Boras a loser back then.
Boras’ focus on baseball-only, is a modern approach to player representation. Remember super-agent Leigh Steinberg? He was credited with being the real-life inspiration for the Jerry Maguire character in Cameron Crowe’s excellent 1996 movie. Steinberg, unlike Boras, didn’t only represent baseball players. Today at 75, Steinberg represents Patrick Mahomes and a few others so to some degree he’s still got it. However, Scott Boras is on a very different level.
Boras’ clients normally seek to get the largest contract possible. Alex Rodriguez’ $252M deal with Texas, and Gerritt Cole’s $324M deal with the Yankees, were landmark deals. In the 2022 offseason Boras locked down more than $1 billion for clients that included Carlos Correa, Brandon Nimmo, and Xander Bogaerts. Boras and his company have negotiated more than $4B of player contracts during his career. This coming off season Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman and Corbin Burnes will all be eligible for giant free agent contracts. Despite that Jordan Montgomery parted ways with Boras, his other clients are making no indications that they are ready to break up with him. It’s not impossible for any, or all, of those players to sign extensions prior to reaching free agency after this season. There’s precedent. Carlos Gonzalez, Elvis Andrus, recently retired Stephen Strasburg, Jose Altuve, and Xander Bogaerts all signed multi-year extensions with what was at the time, their current team.
Has Scott Boras fallen behind the times?
Did Scott Boras fail Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, and Jordan Montgomery because he failed to secure the long-term deals that everyone expected? It may be that it’s less an overplayed hand by Boras, and more of a concerted effort by MLB owners to be more careful. Officially or unofficially. With the spate of pitcher injuries so far this spring if indeed it’s more baseball owners’ collective prudence, that sure came along at a very interesting time.
When you are a fan of a team that has a Scott Boras client (or clients), you might resign yourself that your team’s player will chase free agency to maximize earnings making it likely the player toils elsewhere the following season. It turns out that is not always the case — see Brandon Nimmo and Cody Bellinger who reached free agency but decided to re-sign with their current teams. In Nimmo’s case he received a long-term eight-year deal, while Bellinger only received a three-year deal with opt-outs. If Bellinger has a huge year he then can decide to opt-out for a bigger and longer-term deal than the current three year. Those deals were signed only a year apart, which indicates the overall contract climate has clearly shifted.
A worthwhile article on Boras in The Week discussed Boras in 1998, being dubbed by the New York Times “the most hated man in baseball”. Boras was a one-time Double A player that went to law school and practiced as a defense attorney. His backup plan worked out quite well thank you.
Boras’ first client was former MLB second baseman Manny Trillo. He also negotiated a deal for Bill Caudill who was an MLB closer but also a former minor league teammate of Boras. Both Trillo and Caudill still work for Scott Boras. Over his 40+ year career Boras has built the Boras Corporation into the most valuable single-sport agency in the world. Specializing in one sport became a necessity and Boras’ understanding of baseball and its direction has always been one of his strongest assets. Being an attorney is also now a requisite in becoming a sports agent.
Boras has never been shy about what he stands for (the most money for his players) and what he’s accomplished. His own personal highlight reel includes:
· Named “Most Influential Non-Player in the last 25 Years” by Baseball America
· In 2010, ranked #1 sports agent in the world by Yahoo Finance.
· In 2009, top ranked agent on Sports Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential in Sports list.
· In 2008, ranked #1 agent in baseball by Sports Business Journal.
· In 2007, top-ranked agent and 12th overall in Business Week’s Power 100, a list of the most powerful people in all of sports
From a Boras Company release:
The Boras Corporation serves baseball players only Scott became an attorney dedicated to baseball because he saw a need for qualified representation and fair treatment of players in the industry. The Boras Corporation consists of four companies with over 200 years of professional baseball experience dedicated solely to the service of baseball players.
The Boras Corporation, Boras Marketing, Boras Sports Training and Personal Management Consultants simplify the complex issues and on- & off-field decisions confronting players and their families. The Boras Team is uniquely built to serve and protect the on & off-field goals of elite players — 37 World Champions: Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon, Derek Lowe, Barry Zito, Manny Ramirez, Jonathan Sanchez, Ryan Madson — among others. — 3 Cy Young Award Winners: Eric Gagne, Greg Maddux, Barry Zito. — 4 Most Valuable Players: Barry Bonds, Keith Hernandez, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez- 18 Gold Glove Award Winners: Carlos Pena, Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltran, Ivan Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Jason Varitek, Carlos Gonzalez — among others. — 25 Silver Slugger Award Winners: Adrian Beltre, Matt Holliday, Carlos Gonzalez, Magglio Ordonez — among others.
Boras has done, a lot
· Over the course of his career, has secured over $4 billion in player contracts.
· Negotiated the largest contract in the history of professional team sports (Alex Rodriguez, $275M, 2008–17).
· Negotiated the first $50 million, $100 million, and $200 million contracts in MLB history (Greg Maddux, Kevin Brown, A-Rod).
· Negotiated first $125M+ pitcher’s salary (Barry Zito, $126M)- Recorded the most salary arbitration (baseball litigation) victories (15) in the ’90s — more than twice as many as any other player representative — and the most salary arbitration victories in MLB history (19).
· Advised 89 first-rounders in the amateur draft since 1983 and negotiated an unparalleled $300+ million in draft compensation, including 25 major league guaranteed contracts.
· 2011 — landed the biggest bonus in draft history with the third #1 overall pick in a row (Gerrit Cole — $8M), the biggest high school bonus ever (Bubba Starling — $7.5M), and set the all-time record for a single draft, at over $43M.
· 2010 — set new standard for position players with #1 overall Bryce Harper’s $9.9M major league guarantee (largest position player compensation ever).
· 2009 — Stephen Strasburg, 15.4M (major-league deal), largest draft comp ever.
Why would a player be in a hurry to find other representation? Based on one bad winter? Boras is 71 and still maintains the attention of the best players in baseball as well as MLB owners. Let’s see how it plays out from here, but if I were an MLB player I’d be hoping that I was good enough for Scott Boras and his team to take me on as a client.
Here’s what I wrote for the Mets this week:
https://mlbreport.com/2024/04/mets-fans-can-come-in-off-the-ledge-for-a-while/
https://mlbreport.com/2024/04/which-unit-do-you-believe-in-more-mets-starters-or-bullpen/
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.
