IBC

For Mr. Boras it has been a different couple of weeks. Not necessarily a bad couple of weeks as he continues to be one of the leading figures in the world of professional baseball - but not necessarily a couple of good weeks either.

First the A-Rod issue which has been dealt with ad nauseum. Rosenthaul's article, dated 11/15 but already somewhat "dated" (Don't ya' just love the clarity of our language which allows for the use of the same word in the same phrase with two different meanings), summarizes it well:

For all those baseball executives and rival agents who want Scott Boras humiliated, the moment of triumph finally is at hand.

That is, if it's possible for an agent to be humiliated when his star client is on the verge of landing the richest contract in baseball history ó 10 years, $275 million.

Boras has lost his aura of invincibility, but you can already hear his spin: This is what Alex wanted. If, as his agent, I had to take a secondary role, then I was willing to step back ...

For once Boras appears to have misread the market. For once, A-Rod didn't appear to act as his puppet. For once, the final, jaw-dropping tally will tell only part of the story ...

The entire episode was so unnecessary; Rodriguez could have secured another record deal simply by pressing the Yankees to increase their initial proposal. Instead, Boras refused to even meet with the Yankees unless they offered A-Rod $350 million ó an empty threat if there was ever one.

Humiliation in such matters is relative, but two facts are indisputable: Boras had to apologize for the timing of the opt-out decision and Rodriguez had to act independently of Boras in order to make up with the Yankees.

Boras haters ó a group that includes pretty much the entire industry ó couldn't ask for much more.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7449344

And now the Gambler strikes:

In an unexpected twist to the offseason saga surrounding both free agent pitcher Kenny Rogers and agent Scott Boras, Rogers informed Major League teams on Friday afternoon that he has dismissed Boras and is now representing himself in contract negotiations, multiple baseball sources confirmed Friday afternoon.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... &fext=.jsp

But as RotoWorld wrote:

It's another blow to Boras' reputation after the A-Rod fiasco, though at last check, Boras could still afford to dry his eyes with $100 bills.

http://rotoworld.com/content/playernews.aspx?sport=MLB

The adjective du jour is "extraordinary."

Scott Boras uses a thesaurus better than anyone in baseball. He has advertised players as special, as premium, as iconic.

For Stephen Strasburg, and for Boras' mission to get him paid as if he were a free agent rather than a draft pick, baseball's most powerful agent has chosen "extraordinary."

As in: "The equation of how an extraordinary talent fits in really has little or nothing to do with the other aspects of the draft."

The confetti had barely been cleaned up in Washington. It had not even been 24 hours since the Nationals had selected Strasburg with the No. 1 pick in the draft, a giddy moment for a sad franchise, and Boras took to a conference call Wednesday to pitch on behalf of the best pitcher in college baseball.

"By most scouts' account, he's the best draft pick in history, for a pitcher," Boras said.

Extraordinary, yes. Tony Gwynn, his coach at San Diego State, has said Strasburg could be the Nationals' ace right now.

But this time belongs to Boras, not to Strasburg. The Nationals face an Aug. 17 deadline to sign Strasburg, and rest assured Boras will make the Nationals sweat for all 64 days until then.

What does Boras want?

He wants to persuade the Nationals that the risk in signing Strasburg is "almost nil," even though the track record for pitchers selected at No. 1 is spotty.

There are no Hall of Famers among the 12 pitchers selected at No. 1, just Tim Belcher and Andy Benes and Ben McDonald and Mike Moore and a bunch of regrets.

That is beside the point, Boras argues. It is all about the money. The best players, he says, are the ones who got $5 million or more.

"The risk is almost nil of them not making it to the major leagues," he said.

They all have made it, all 18 who signed for at least $5 million from 1998-2007. Joe Mauer and Josh Beckett starred. Joe Borchard and Eric Munson bombed. Mark Prior got hurt.

David Price and Justin Upton look terrific so far, Luke Hochevar and Andrew Miller not so much.

For that money, just getting there ought not to be enough. Mauer is the first two-time All-Star among that group of 18. Pat Burrell and Delmon Young might play out their careers without ever making the All-Star Game.

Prior signed for a record $10.5 million. Burrell, Price and Mark Teixeira are the only other players to have hit $8 million.

" ... An extraordinary player receiving a substantial bonus, far above other draft picks, has happened before," Boras said. "It does not happen often."

The Nationals would happily give Strasburg a little more than Prior got, but Boras wants a lot more. That $50 million figure floated on his behalf is not a random number.

The Boston Red Sox signed Daisuke Matsuzaka for $52 million out of Japanese baseball, described by Boras as "where our reserves who can't make a living in the major leagues go to better themselves."

If Japanese baseball were that good, Boras argued, the talent-starved Nationals would be filling their roster from Japan. "The players there are not, by and large, of major league quality," Boras said. "Certainly, the same is true for college baseball. It is not remotely comparable to the major leagues. We do have rare exceptions, in the case of the extraordinary player."

It does not matter to Boras that Matsuzaka was one of Japan's most decorated players, with success in professional and international play that Strasburg cannot match. It does not matter that Jose Contreras had similar success before he defected from Cuba.

It matters only that Matsuzaka and Contreras had no track record in the major leagues. Matsuzaka got $52 million from the Red Sox and Contreras $32 million from the New York Yankees, and Boras wants something similar for another "extraordinary" pitcher with no track record in the majors.

Boras is a master at creating leverage where he appears to have none.

There is an argument to be made that the draft artificially limits the bonuses of American prospects, since players outside the United States and Canada are not subject to the draft and can sign with any team as free agents. That is an argument for the next round of collective bargaining, not for the martyrdom of Strasburg.

The Nationals need not pretend that Strasburg is a free agent. In the next two months, when negotiations stall, Boras inevitably will say other teams would have paid more. That does not matter. The other teams cannot play.

Boras could take Strasburg to an independent league and try the draft again next year. Yet, Strasburg is No. 1 now, so he cannot sit out a year and move up. He will never see this much money in the draft again. Bad idea.

Boras could take Strasburg to Japan, then try to argue for free agency next year. That could end up in court, in arbitration or both. Another bad idea.

No, the best card Boras can play is the Nationals' credibility card. They are the worst team in the major leagues, again, and they failed to sign their first-round draft pick last year. If they do not sign Strasburg, baseball might as well relegate them to Class AAA.

Boras is not shy about taking his case to the public, so the Nationals ought to do the same thing. They ought to call a news conference and make the following announcement:

We agree that Strasburg is an extraordinary player. It is for that reason that we are offering him half again as much as any player ever has gotten in the draft -- $15.75 million.

Then sit on the offer.

The chances of Strasburg saying no?

Almost nil.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09165/977300-63.stm

[Orginally published Sunday, June 14, 2009
By Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times]

Scott Boras makes me want to choke to death on my own tongue.