In the ghost of baseball past, I have written about how much Scott Boras likes to stir the pot. I guess even in the middle of a pandemic and turbulent society that still remains true. Scott Boras is at it again....and he's still good at it. In case you missed it, Boras is now telling his clients NOT to negotiate with owners over the salary dispute, ESPN has a good write-up of it HERE.
Now whether you like Boras or not, his job is to get the most money for his clients. He's a powerhouse that represents some of the biggest names in baseball...and now he is working with Blake Snell, too. He negotiated over $1.2 BILLION in contracts this offseason, so we shouldn't be surprised that he wants to weigh in on MLB's current stalemate.
"Remember, games cannot be played without you," Boras wrote to his clients. "Players should not agree to further pay cuts to bail out the owners. Let owners take some of their record revenues and profits from the past several years and pay you the prorated salaries you agreed to accept or let them borrow against the asset values they created from the use of those profits players generated."
He's not wrong. Owners make a ton of money off of us, the fans, so that has helped the Yankees afford big contracts like Gerrit Cole. It's not just us either, the Phillies were able to afford Bryce Harper and the Padres can somehow pay big bucks to Manny Machado. They make the money and they have eagerly spent it.
"Owners are asking for more salary cuts to bail them out of the investment decisions they have made. They want a bailout. They are not offering players a share of the stadiums, ballpark villages or the club itself, even though salary reductions would help owners pay for these valuable franchise assets. These billionaires want the money for free. No bank would do that. Banks demand loans be repaid with interest. Players should be entitled to the same respect."
It's not a surprising thought. It's the same narrative, the billionaire owners and the millionaire players going at it. It's a game of chicken to see who will blink first. I just think in this case, Boras has three clients on the union subcommittee and that's a big party of the story. Boras shares his narrative with his players, several of them are key players in this union fight so that is really going to be an important factor in this salary battle. Boras has helped these guys get big contracts, why stop following his advice now?
But this isn't exactly the same thing. These players have a home and a team to play on, he's not trying to sell a team on a players services. These teams and players signed on the dotted line and the deal is done. That negotiation is done.
Cole was supposed to get $36 million this season, but with new proposals he's not getting that. So Boras has stepped in, but he is crossing into an entirely different realm in baseball. This isn't his realm, so has he crossed the line? Tell us what you think.
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