In what is turning into a soap opera to rival Gossip Girls, John Harper checked in with Scott Boras and A-Rod last week. The two, he writes, are still in a fight, and Scott Boras isn’t too happy about it.
Harper notes that many in the New York media believed the whole opt-out/opt-in saga was orchestrated by Boras and A-Rod for some reason, but in reality, it seems that Boras really did make a mistake. While he’s still rolling in money enjoying his commission, Boras doesn’t like being on the outside of A-Rod’s life looking in. Harper writes:
Baseball insiders insist the hard feelings on A-Rod’s part toward Boras are genuine, that in taking over the negotiations himself he accused his agent of betrayal by misleading him about the level of interest from the Yankees. Likewise, they say that Boras is reeling from the ego blow A-Rod dealt him by telling the world on “60 Minutes” he’s not even speaking to his agent these days.
“Yeah, (Boras) made his commission,” a prominent agent said this week, “but, come on, do you know how much money he has? With Boras it’s all about being king of the jungle, the most powerful agent and the toughest negotiator in the game.
“He loves being the guy that everyone in baseball fears. He wouldn’t for a minute concoct a plan that would diminish his reputation. His image as a god to the players is too important to him. A-Rod might not be the most popular guy in the game, but don’t think he didn’t do some serious damage to Boras’ image. He basically called the guy a lying weasel on national TV. Nobody in the business is shedding any tears for Boras, believe me, but he took a serious hit.”
It’s no secret that Scott Boras wants to shape the economics of baseball in his own image. The rich would dole out more money and get all the good players while the have-nots linger in baseball purgatory — now known as Kansas City and Pittsburgh. This A-Rod debacle won’t be the end of Boras, and it’s doubtful that another agent will step up and fill the shoes seemingly left empty by Boras’ failures. But for now, Scott Boras is licking his wounds and trying to recover from a very rare and very high-profile misstep.