Stark on Strasburg/Nats negotiations

The long and the short of it is Strasburg probably signs for $20M b/c no way he turns down the most money ever offered to a draftee and no way the Nats go two years in a row not signing the #1 pick in the draft (especially when one of them is the best pitcher to come along in a decade).

But at the same time, nobody around the league is very confident in predicting the outcome.

almost 3 years ago benfunke 23 comments 0 recs |

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Strasburg has to be smart and sign

2 reasons.#1 is said above, who will turn down the most money ever offered to a draft pick? #2, no one will offer this kind of money next year if he doesn’t sign now. Better off taking the best offer now. Of course, I hope he passes to give the Royals more options.

by AxDxMx on Aug 14, 2009 3:13 AM EDT reply actions

Can't he just go back to school, though?

He should have another year of eligibility, meaning he could just go dominate the NCAA again.

by BrRoyal on Aug 14, 2009 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions

but he could get injured, his performance could fall off, etc.

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, at least for this situation

"The life of a (Royals) fan must be lived forward but can only be understood backward" -- Kierkegaard (more or less)

by benfunke on Aug 14, 2009 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions

When will Boras' act get old?

I know it is old to us as fans. We are sick of seeing the players that we want to see have their careers delayed in these prolongued holdouts.

I know it is old for GM’s & owners, for the same reasons.

When will it get old and draft eligible players won’t sign with him? I think Boras is a really damn good agent for his MLB players. He continually gets them above market contracts. That being said, I think he hurts a lot of his amatuer clients with his negotiating tactics. I know NY and others say that they players are in charge, and Boras only inputs his opinion into the negotiations, and that may be true. My question is what good is it to hire a guy that you KNOW what his advice is going to be before you hire him?

BOOM! ROASTED!

by GoBabies!! on Aug 14, 2009 10:21 AM EDT reply actions

Personally

I don’t see why you need an agent. Especially if you are already a proven MLB player. What’s his commission? 15%? Does he really get you that much more on your contract than you could get yourself?

by kcbottom9th on Aug 14, 2009 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

it's 5%....

and i’d say yes, its worth it. A player will not be able to talk a team into bidding against themselves…which is what Boras excels at. Who else was willing to give Oliver Perez anywhere near $40 million? Who else was even bidding for Manny? Nobody came within $50 million of Arods Texas contract.

Fire Everyone

by billybeingbilly on Aug 14, 2009 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions

who else could get Bloomquist 2/$3?

seriously, that’s as amazing as anything else

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by Matt Klaassen on Aug 14, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

no doubt bloomy couldve negotiated for 2/$2.85....

no doubt whatsoever

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by billybeingbilly on Aug 14, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions

to be fair

Boras vs. Moore = Brock Lesnar vs. me

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by Matt Klaassen on Aug 14, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

He probably does

and don’t forget, agents handle more than just negotiations with management, etc. There’s product endorsements, personal appearances, damage control for drunk (or worse) incidents…an agent is more than a different face to talk to team owners.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Aug 14, 2009 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

which clients has he hurt other than Harrington?

Luke? Porcello? Drew? Weaver? Arod? Moose? Hosmer?

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by billybeingbilly on Aug 14, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, didn't Moose reject his hard-line

against signing with the Royals for the amount that he did?

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Aug 14, 2009 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions

That's not "hurting his client"

Reportedly Boras wanted Moose to push for more money and not sign at all if necessary. Moose wanted to sign. So the client got what he wanted.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Aug 14, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, the client thought

that the advice he was getting would have been hurtful.

Granted, it’s not the same as him actually having caused provable harm, it’s somewhat ingenuous to say “his advice didn’t harm Moose” when Moose didn’t use his advice.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Aug 14, 2009 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions

his advice got moose $4 million

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by billybeingbilly on Aug 14, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions

His advice was to hold out for more

or go the Hochevar/Crow route.

Moose ignored him to take the Royals’ $4 million.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Aug 14, 2009 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Moose's dad was the actual cause of that

by AxDxMx on Aug 14, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions

who negotiated to get it up to $4 million?

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by billybeingbilly on Aug 15, 2009 3:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Harrington and Rey Sanchez are the only ones I know of

And Boras wasn’t even Harrington’s agent when he was first drafted and turned down the really big money. Boras only became his agent after that. Boras was Sanchez’s agent when the Royals offered him a multi-year deal for good money. On Boras’s advice, Sanchez turned down the deal and never got money anywhere near that later.

The fact that there are so few examples shows how great of an agent Boras is. He may not be good for the game, but an agent’s job is to get what his clients’ want. Boras’s clients want the most money they can get (that’s why they select Boras as their agent). And Boras does a great job of getting his clients a hell of a lot of money.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Aug 14, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions

well of his major league clients, Varitek

was hurt by Boras’s decision to refuse arbitration the past winter and got a much lower valued one year deal than he would have made if he had accepted.

by swing and a miss on Aug 14, 2009 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions

so...we've got varitek and rey freaking sanchez

boras is bad for his clients

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by billybeingbilly on Aug 15, 2009 3:38 AM EDT up reply actions

and that doesn't count Variteks' earlier contract

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

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by Matt Klaassen on Aug 15, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

I think your question answers itself.

My question is what good is it to hire a guy that you KNOW what his advice is going to be before you hire him?

They know he’s going to advise them to do what will get them most money. And these players pick Boras to be their agent because they want the most money. And he gets it for them.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Aug 14, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions