Boras steals the show
By
So Joe and were just sitting around here in the press room, surfin’ the net and the such, when Scott Boras walks by followed by an army of reporters. I’m not kidding, there were about 40 or 50 people following him. He marched to the front of the room, stepped up on the little camera stage and launched into an impromptu press conference. Out of nowhere the guy storms into the room and commands everyone attention; it was pretty impressive.
Here’s the notable stuff he said:
- When asked about how many teams have expressed interest in Manny Ramirez, he estimated that “nine or ten teams can use a three-four bat,” which wasn’t the question.
- Boras feels the Sabathia deal “creates a path” for the remaining pitchers on the market, specifically citing Derek Lowe. He said Lowe’s received a ton of interest, ditto Oliver Perez, the “26 yr old lefty who’s pitched in big games the last few years.”
- When asked if Jacoby Ellsbury would be open a Pedroia-esque long-term deal, Scott didn’t answer the question, instead noting that if it gets to that point his job “will be easier because it’s mid-January.”
- He called the market for Felipe Lopez very good, noting that teams recognized his versatility, “his ability to start at second or play the outfield.” Lopez has played 17 games in the outfield in his eight year career.
- Joe Crede’s recovery from his back injury is going well, he’s going to start “skills drills” in January. Boras also called Crede an All-Star 3B, which made me laugh until I released that he was selected as a reserve this year. The guy hit .252-.323-.463 in the first half; how much do you think Boras paid Tito to take him?
- When asked if anyone other than the Sox have made an offer to Varitek, he went off into a ramble about how he wouldn’t get into the number of teams that have inquired.
- He believes Eric Gagne will get a closer’s job somewhere. Good luck with that.
Mark Teixeira was the hot topic, so he gets his own little section:
- He mentioned that he has received several concrete offers for Tex’s services and is currently in the counteroffer phase. It was the exact same question that he had ducked about Manny.
- When asked if the Nats losing 102 games would turn Tex off from signing with them, he specifically mentioned Pudge signing the Tigers the year after they lost 116 games as an example of players doing it before. He also noted that it would be nice to play for a team with the first overall pick in the draft, but he didn’t mention Steven Strasburg (his client).
- Boras doesn’t expect the Sabathia contract to eliminate the Yanks from the running for Tex, indicating that the Yanks have historically shown the desire to improve the team by any means necessary.
- He mentioned all of Tex’s skills (hits for high avg, gets on base, hits for power, Gold Glove defense) and noting that the only comparable player on the market next year was Matt Holliday, and that Prince Fielder won’t hit free agency until after 2011. He’s already laying the groundwork for the future.
Someone also asked Boras if there was any conflict of interest since he was representing so many high profile players. He said no of course, and mentioned that he has a 15 person staff here. It was pretty cool, you can tell he loved the attention.
73 Comments»
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The Mason Williams Watch
5th starter question.
Sheets for 2 years or Pettitte for one.
Pettitte for one.
Pettite for one
Sheets for two
Agreed.
Also, awesome handle.
I’m in the Sheets for 2 camp.
Its very possible we witnessed the beginning of the end for Andy in the 2nd half of last year.
I also don’t mind the idea of having an injury prone guy, because he’s backed up by Hughes, Aceves, IPK, and possibly others. I want the quality upside guy because I feel like I have depth to back it up.
Both.
AJ: A Brave or a Yank when it’s all said and done?
Hopefully a brave
Ditto.
Yep.
I hope a Yankee. It is no coincidence ARod, Jeter, and Damon are all hoping he comes to NY. His stuff is in top 3 in majors. I know he is an injury risk but all pitchers are to a certain extent. Did Joba, Wang, Pettitte pitch all year last year? 3/4 of a season of Burnett is better than a full season of Sabathia. If he comes here and especially if he stays healthy, he will be the ace. He has changed his workout and training regimen and is on the path to being a full year serviceable ace. I know he will be great—-notice the Braves are pretty darn interested and there aren’t many organizations with better pitching evaluators than the Braves.
You had me at “3/4 of a season of Burnett is better than a full season of Sabathia.”
Also, Damon is on record saying that Joba should be in the bullpen. I wouldn’t put too much stock into his opinions on personnel decisions.
I’d like to hold an impromptu press conference, but I’m afraid that nobody would come.
“He marched to the front of the room, stepped up on the little camera stage and launched into an impromptu press conference. Out of nowhere the guy storms into the room and commands everyone attention; it was pretty impressive.”
…
WHO WANTS TO SEX MUTOMBO?!?!?!
“…He said Lowe’s received a ton of interest, ditto Oliver Perez, the “26 yr old lefty who’s pitched in big games the last few years…”
Technically, that’s true. Every time he took the hill against the Pirates or Reds and walked 7 guys and gave up 6 runs in 3 innings, that loss (that should have been a sure win) allowed the Mets to lose more of their lead and thus, further enabled their eventual collapse. A huge, spirit crushing loss like that is a “big game”, so to speak.
Also, destroying the Met bullpen likely lead to a second loss later in that week, meaning Perez directly contributed to two “big game” huge, spirit crushing losses.
that was all part of the master plan
“…He also noted that it would be nice to play for a team with the first overall pick in the draft, but he didn’t mention Steven Strasburg (his client)….”
…
*cough*illegal bundling*cough*
I don’t get why it would be nice to play for a team with the first overall pick.
Sweet I can sign with a team that was the worst in baseball last year, and now they can pick the top college starter… and maybe 3 years into my deal he’ll be trying to break into the majors…WHERE DO I SIGN
This guy is awesome. I don’t get why the fans and media hate him so.
This guy is awesome. I don’t get why the fans and media hate him so.
http://aproposofnothing.files......3/envy.jpg
http://www.ratemyeverything.ne...../Envy.ashx
Fans and media hate him, because he has gotten a couple of his clients big deals that they never fulfilled/deserved.
Or in other words, people hate him, because he is great at his job and their favorite team made a bad decision in signing one of his worse clients (Andruw Jones).
Other agents, obviously have done the same, but the big difference is the casual fan knows Boras’s name, other agents are as well known.
Because he makes the poor wittle owners pay market value for his rich, spoiled, undeserving clients.
Probably because he like to rape their favorite teams with an extra prickly pineapple.
ew
Thank you. It’s not often that I get to evoke that sort of vivid imagery.
Thank you. It’s not often that I get to evoke that sort of vivid imagery.
That’s SO not true…
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/.....ent-225778
All he’s doing is screwing the owners. By getting top dollar for his guys he’s screwing the guys who have billions in the bank. I don’t see the problem.
He really is awesome, the man is essentially the definition of capitalism, and what he’s made the Dodgers & Giants look stupid for signing Andruw Jones & Zito to terrible deals…. good for him, there’s a reason other orgs didnt come near that shit.
On top of it Boras is great for the Yanks, make sure guys go to FA, and go to the team paying top dollar. Without Boras maybe CC takes that extension in Cleveland last year
Per Rosenthal the Mets are about to get Putz to setup K-Rod. If he’s healthy, that’s a pretty tough 8th and 9th. Of course it’s per Rosenthal, so probably not true.
Per Rosenthal the Mets are about to get Putz to setup K-Rod. If he’s healthy, that’s a pretty tough 8th and 9th. Of course it’s per Rosenthal, so probably not true.
The funny thing about that is, Putz is the better pitcher by far, so he should be used as the setup man in the 7th and 8th (where the game is often more on the line) rather than in the 9th (where it’s almost fait accompli)…
… but there will be Mets fans who will scream that since Putz is the better pitcher, he should be the closer and K-Rod should be his setup man. Thus being dead right and dead wrong at the same time.
I was thinking that as well. I guarantee Neyer or Law will write an article stating exactly this if the trade goes down.
3 team deal.. and Graziano has the story too, but not a 3 team
Putz is no Wang
Putz is no Wang
http://www.instantrimshot.com
They should just move Johan to the pen now, and the game will be over after 6 innings.
They should just move Johan to the pen now, and the game will be over after 6 innings.
That’s even funnier because it’s also factually probably true.
But you agree Wang is no putz
why trade for Putz when you can get Wood?
Wood apparently has a deal with Cleveland. Additionally if a guy really wants to close then he now won’t sign with the Mets, if they trade for a guy he has no say
all of that is good, but i was just making another weiner joke.
all these weiner jokes about available pitchers, and no Bit Unit talk?
MLBTR notes that Takashi Saito could potentially be non-tendered by Ned Colletti and the Giants; so I ask: Is he someone you guys would be interested in?
I know he nearly doubled his BB/9 from 2007 (1.82) to 2008 (3.06), but he did dramatically he reduce his HR/9 (0.70 to 0.19) among other interesting trends amongst his rate statistics. Also, he had an abnormally high BABIP (.350 in 2008; .213 in 2007; .283 in 2006) and his FIP of 2.00 shows that he was quite unlucky this season (2.49 ERA).
If Colletti is really going to non-tender this dude, I would love for the Yanks to take a serious look at him. I know he had some ligament issues in his throwing elbow that caused him to miss in excess of two months this season, but he did return and pitch in six games during the final week-and-a-half of the regular season.
Why would you want Saito? Bullpen seems to be one of the few places we actually have a glut of candidates.
Bullpen arms are so inconsistent. And I figure get as many good arms in the pen as possible to keep from having to hear the “move Joba to the pen” nonsense.
Good point.
If his price is cheap, yes. Sign me up.
Yeah, I just saw that and was thinking the same thing. Might even be worthwhile to sign in expectation to trade at the deadline. Also even though he was unlucky, he was still successful.
However, he isn’t a need, by any means, so I wouldn’t pay much for him.
Me too, issue is there are going to be teams who need a closer, or just need a pen arm more than the Yanks, and probably offer Saito a better situation… maybe not, but i’d think he would
Mike/Ben/Joe, when i click the comments in that new thread you just posted, i get a giant “404 NOT FOUND”
What new thread? This is the latest one.
another one appears on the main page
There was an “Analysing the opt-out clause” thread. That disappeared almost immediately.
exactly
Analyzing the opt out clause.
Yeah. Ben pulled it to post the Burnett post. That one’s going back up in 45 mins.
you didn’t post a thread about breaking down CC’s opt out? is that old? if so, my computer is screwed up.
No no no. It’s new. It’s coming online at 10. I bumped it back to post about the five-year, $80M offer the Yanks have reportedly extended to A.J. Burnett.
did i ruin the surprise?
Yanks in the race for tex?
Are you asking this or did your read it somewhere?
He did put a “?”
i hope
Scott Boras is best one…….
#2 free agent starter Lowe or Burnett?
Lowe will give you innings and durability, and as a ground ball pitcher you need to factor in the Yankee infield range.
Burnett can give you quality with swing and miss stuff. When he’s on, he can be unhittable. But don’t count on more than 25 starts per season.
Hate to say it, its Burnett for me. Like Sheets vs Pettitte, I feel like I have depth to back up the downside injury risk. I also don’t like the Yankee infield range on the left side of the infield, and as a righthander I figure Lowe will get more balls hit to that side (though I haven’t seen any charts to be 100% sure). I also like the way Burnett’s stuff should translate to the post season.
Ooops! Wrong thread.
A.J. Burnett, career ERA+: 111
Derek Lowe, career ERA+: 122
And Lowe’s last 2 years in the AL East are well publicized. He was a drunk, partying his ass off. His ex-wife’s name is Trinka. They were called Trinka and the Drinka. He’s supposedly turned his life around. I’m all for Lowe. He’ll age well too, as he doesn’t rely on a big fastball.
A.J. Burnett, career
ERA+: 111best ERA+ (in a full season): 122Derek Lowe, career ERA+: 122
Fixed.
Lowe’s ERA+’s in the AL East. 138,117,190,198,128,177,104,90.
Burnett’s in the NL East. 125,92,104,122,89,112,115.
Burnett in the AL East. 115,119,105.
Although, to be consistent, you should lop off the first half of those Lowe ERA+ numbers in the list, since he was a closer and not a starter.
Not a fair comp.
But he still did it, and I doubt Burnett, under any circumstances would put up 190 and 198 ERA+’s in consecutive years. With a smaller sample size of innings as a closer, one or two bad outings can throw your ERA way out of whack.
Good point.