Is yet another negotiation falling apart because Scott Boras insists on acting like an ass?

December 11th, 2006 → 9:42 am @ // No Comments

Buster Olney and Gordon Edes both raise the possibility that Scott Boras has no intention of letting Daisuke Matsuzaka sign with the Red Sox. Edes says sources close to the deal fear that Boras is simply “running out the clock,” while Olney wonders if Boras has told his client about the Red Sox’s offer. “The question I’d love to know the answer to — and never will know — is what is Matsuzaka’s understanding of what is taking place?” Olney writes. “[T]he Red Sox don’t know what is being said between the player and the agent, and so they don’t know if Boras is bluffing, or if he has convinced Matsuzaka to go back to Japan.” Boras has never been in a situation like this, although he’s been remarkably skilled in getting teams to up their bids even in the absence of any competing offers.

If this is what’s going on, it wouldn’t be the first time Boras seemed to be less than forthright with one of his clients. (There is always the possibility that these stories are being planted by the Red Sox’s side, but I’m not sure what that would accomplish: they’re not going to sway Boras, and they’re not going to help with public opinion if Boston doesn’t sign Matsuzaka.) After last year’s Damon fiasco, the Red Sox considered filing a formal complaint against Boras, but they were told by people in MLB’s central office that there was nothing that could be done except assume that everything Boras says is a lie.

Maybe Boras is bluffing, maybe not. What’s scary is that he’s shown he really doesn’t care…


Post Categories: 2006 Playoffs & Daisuke Matsuzaka & Scott Boras

10 Comments → “Is yet another negotiation falling apart because Scott Boras insists on acting like an ass?”


  1. MarshallDog

    17 years ago

    From what I’ve heard, Matsuzaka is of the understanding that a deal will get done and he’ll pitch in the majors next year. Why else would he say farewell to the fans of Seibu? I think the Red Sox are playing this right. They chouldn’t get into a bidding war with themselves. If Scott Boras has failed to even make a formal counter-proposal, how can the Sox be expected to continue negotiations? Boras is showing he clearly doesn’t care about his client’s interests and only took Matsuzaka as a client to stick it to MLB’s posting system.

    Reply

  2. jim

    17 years ago

    Doesn’t care? About what? The Red Sox? Sox fans? Baseball?

    The job of the Boras devil is simple: Get the best deal for his client. Das it.

    Every deal a Boras client signs you’d be hard pressed to show how they could have gotten a better deal elsewhere.

    A-Rod? Yup.

    Nancy Drew? Yup.

    Is it really so hard to believe that the Sox just didn’t offer Damon the best deal possible? And that they had no intention of doing so or even coming close? It might be hard to swallow as a Sox fan. But there’s nothing more to it than that.

    DM is the same story. Boras knows there are better deals out there than what the Sox are offering. As he said best, even if the posting fee was one dollar, it shouldn’t affect the contract that the player receives. The Sox were twice the fools. First in the bid they placed. And second, in thinking the bid, with Boras standing in the way, would deflate the value of the contract. By contrast, in bidding 51.11 they *drove* up the price of the contract. Brilliant.

    As for the story being a Sox plant, read the ESPN/AP report. They quote an official with knowledge of the negotiations, then say that attempts to get a comment from Boras were not returned. Is it really so hahd to read between the lines?

    Reply

  3. tinisoli

    17 years ago

    Seth, the very title of your post suggests that these Sox-generated stories are indeed affecting public opinion. Here’s how this has played out in the last week:
    1. Sox put it out there that Boras isn’t talking to them, that he may not even be talking to his client, a deal may not be struck despite all logic suggesting otherwise, and so on. Oh, and by the way, Schilling is learning Japanese, and everyone in the Sox organization is really excited to work with this kid.
    2. Panic ensues. Red Sox Nation and the blogosphere starts up with the usual BorASS rants, invoking the names Johnny Damon and ARod. Shaughnessy, who praised the Sox for posting $51.1 million a month ago, pens another column that effectively lights the torches of the anti-Theo vigilante mob that longs for championships but only if it costs less than whatever the Yankees spend.
    3. Rinse, repeat.

    As for this all demonstrating that Boras “really doesn’t care,” what do you mean? He should’ve just had Daisuke sign on the dotted line for whatever the Sox first offered? He should care more about pleasing Sox fans than serving his client? If Daisuke does indeed walk away from the Sox offer, and Boras somehow does convince all of Japan that the Red Sox simply didn’t want their hero bad enough (a la Johnny Damon), then we can start griping about how Boras is the grinch who stole Francona’s Christmas. Until then, let’s just continue to hope that what seems to be a bluff is indeed a bluff.

    It’s upsetting that Olney and others seem to be implying that because Daisuke is Japanese that he may not even know that the Sox made him an offer. Even if Boras kept the offer away from his client, surely the hundreds of reporters who are covering this story in Japan would’ve somehow gotten word to Daisuke that the Sox had in fact already made him an offer for many millions of dollars. Last I heard, Japan had the internet, cell phones, pagers, Blackberries, and other modes of communication. Unless Daisuke is marooned on Chichijima and dropping acid, I think it’s safe to assume that he’s aware of what’s going on.

    Reply

  4. HFXBOB

    17 years ago

    If Boras can get away with lying and/or not properly informing his client, it raises the question: is there any sort of legal or professional code whatsoever that applies to a player agent?

    Reply

  5. MarshallDog

    17 years ago

    I’m saying Boras “doesn’t care” because he won’t even negotiate with the Sox. The Sox obviously want to sign Matsuzaka, but how can they when Boras won’t give them a counter-offer? Should the Sox just continue to raise their offer until Boras says yes?

    tinisoli, how can you suggest that all logic is pointing towards Matsuzaka signing with the Sox? Scott Boras doesn’t deal with that kind of logic! This is an agent that hates the draft because it forbids young prospects from selling themselves to the highest bidder. Knowing Boras’ logic, he doesn’t give a damn about marketing opportunities, and would rather see Matsuzaka reach free agency in two years and get the Sox and Yankees into a bidding war. Of course he doesn’t care that Matsuzaka could blow out his arm during that time and get nothing in two years.

    I’m quite certain Matsuzaka has access to the internet and newspapers, but I’m also certain that Boras makes sure his client only believes what his agent tells him. Allowing Matsuzaka to be influenced by the media would be foolished, because obviously the US media wants to see him pitch in the majors this season.

    I do hope that negotiations aren’t as bad as they are reported, and that Boras will come to his senses and actually try negotiating with the Sox.

    Reply

  6. Trouthead

    17 years ago

    How do you tell if Boras is lying? His lips are moving.

    Maybe it is time for the Sox to once again, make the final offer and if it is accepted then great, if not then it is time to move on. I have a hard time with bidding against ones self.

    Reply

  7. carnett

    17 years ago

    My greatest fear in this whole situation is that Boras is using these negotions as a president to change the posting process. If Dice-K is not signed I know the Sox will file a greivance with MLB about Boras’s ethics. Then Boras will counter with a greivance with the whole process. Making the soxs look like fools to the whole baseball world.

    All and all I still have faith the sox will get a deal done. When else will an opportunity to get a front line starter at 26 present itself? If Gil Meche gets 11mil a year Dice-K will get paid!

    Reply

  8. tinisoli

    17 years ago

    MarshallDog-

    Whatever objections Boras may have to the posting process, I think it is highly unlikely that his client will allow himself to be used as a martyr for Boras’ cause. It may irk Matsuzaka that the posting process may limit his contract to Meche-like $$, but the process is what it is, and his options appear to be very limited. He either plays for the Sox for 3-5 years at a very nice salary, or he goes back to Seibu and hopes that he gets the chance to really cash in two years from now. The latter choice seems fraught with risk, and there’s also the not-so-small matter of disappointing a hundred million Japanese fans who want him to do for the majors what he did for the Japanese team in the WBC.
    As for Boras refusing to negotiate, he’s just stalling. He’ll probably give the Sox a last-minute counterproposal when his leverage is at its peak, and that’ll be that. Yeah, maybe he’ll ask for the moon and the Sox will say no and Matsu will then have to make a tough decision. But even then I really don’t see how the decision is that tough, given his other option. If he were a little younger, and had less innings logged on that arm of his, maybe Boras’ “wait ’til ’08” idea would have more merit.

    Reply

  9. Centerfield13

    17 years ago

    In the initial stories about the whole Dice-K affair, wasn’t there something about a provision for not negotiating in good faith? If that’s the case, why aren’t the Sox taking this up with the commissioner’s office?

    Reply

  10. Ogie Oglethorpe

    17 years ago

    Reply

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