Is Scott Boras again getting a bad rap?

Question

He's a sports agent, whose sole responsibility is to find well-paid employment for his players. He does this better than anyone else, which is why he has such an impressive client list. Nobody forces general managers into those enormous contracts.

Boras takes only a 5% commission on negotiated contracts, the lowest in the business. He also bases contract demands on statistics, which makes him an innovator. So, why is he being labeled as ruining baseball when he simply does his job? Would you not want someone like this - a former minor league player himself, and hard bargainer - working for you if you were an athlete?

Answer 1

I think he is definitely getting a raw deal by fans. He is not Satan reincarnated; he is a shrewd BUSINESSMAN, the type of person that anyone would want on their side in negotiations. "He gets too much money for his players"...he gets what the owners are willing to pay, you have to ask for a lot to get a lot. MLB brought in 5.8 billion dollars this past year, I think that the players are entittled to some of that. Overestimating and saying that the "Average" team salary is 110 million that would only add up to 3.5 billion...that leaves 2.3 BILLION dollars in the hands of 32 owners....or 72 million dollars per owner, excess in their hands. That is JUST the MLB revenue, that does not include the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves....excess money from their individual ownership of TV and other small ventures on their own. Boras is just doing what a smart business person does, sells their product. If he were so horrible then all the players would not flock to him; he gets them EXACTLY what they ask for. The real evil in all of this is the owners, they are so greedy that they can not help themselves when they sit at a negotiation table!

Answer 2

He is obviously not a traditionalist. He is strictly a businessman who understands the free enterprise system and knows how to maximize it to his benefit as well as his clients. Five percent seems reasonable, even generous on his part. However five percent of the "Boras bottom line" is substantial to say the least.

When I say that Boras is not a traditionalist I mean exactly that! Baseball holds it's historical significance more than any other sport and the days of loyalty between owner and player has gone by the way side.

Free agency has caused this unique dilemma and people like A-Rod as well as Scott Boras can thank one Curt Flood for the gold mind mentality.

Scott Boras is merely a tool used by the top line players to achieve financial independence. To blame him for doing his job is ludicrous. True, he could care less about the game or it's traditions but that's not the problem. The real problem is the owners who rape the fans by paying the players just about anything they want. Why? Because the fan base is so big that collectively, that's where all the money comes from. The owners know it and so do the players. Oh yes, and so does Scott Boras.

Answer 3

He deserves exactly what he gets. You are wrong in saying his sole responsiblity is "to find well-paid employment for his players." His responsibility is to work on behalf of his client's best interests, not to get the absolute top dolllar regardless.

Often times he has made bad calls on turning down contracts and has ended up costing his clients quite a bit of money. See Kenny Rogers 2003.

His clients almost never resign with their former club, even when they like where they were. Instead of getting a fair contract from their existing club, he goes and gets a few more bucks somewhere else.

He has issues with the way things are managed in baseball. Some say he still has a chip on his shoulder about never having made it to the Majors.

He does whatever he can to get around rules, See Jason Varitek and the reason the draft is no longer called the amatuer draft."

He has always seemed to serve his own agenda more than his clients. Unfortunately, too many people including many players see the number right of the dollar sign as the only judge of an agent. I'd disagree.

I think his actions have had a negative impact on the game, in terms of escalating costs to the fans, disparity amongst larger and smaller market teams, and increased player movement amongst teams.

In terms of his latest action with ARod, I can't blame him much there. I think in this case he is likely acting exactly how his client would want. ARod is probably more of a self-serving, greedy scumbag than Boras. They are a perfect pair.

Answer 4

the entire situation is a mess.
to completely understand this quagmire that baseball - and the fans - are now in, one must research the notorious reserve clause, where owners treated - and paid - players like indentured servants. This is how a cheapskate like Charles Comiskey all but caused his team to throw the 1919 World Series (the Chicago Black Sox). Proper research will demonstrate that Comiskey really screwed over his players - not honoring bonuses or offering incentives of more pay if Cicotte won a certain number of games that season and then benching him when he was one short of that total.
The movement for free agency was born to shed the chains of the reserve clause and after multiple attempts, the players were successful.
Be assured that owners did not agree willingly and blackballed many players who crusaded for the rights to free agency instead of being owned by one team until - if - that team chose to trade them elsewhere. With the reserve clause, players had no rights. They were literally owned by the team. Either report to the team that owned them or do not play, period.
So - didn't baseball owners do this to themselves with their past history of greed and indentured servitude?
Scott Boras, though unsavory as he seems, may simply be a product of this historical imbalance.

Answer 5

Part of the problem is that some players let themselves be led aroung on a leash by Boras. If a player wants to play on a certain team, it's Boras' (or any other agent) job to make that happen. The player is not required to follow the biggest paycheck.

Answer 6

If you are pushing for $300+million ...5% is a pretty good pay check. He is one of the problems with pro athletics but not the sole problem. The owners are just as at fault that they will pay these primadonas these outrageous salaries.

That hard barginer is making pro sports no longer affordable for the people who are ultimily paying these enormous contracts....... the fans..... I would guess with in 5-10 years pro sports are going to price out about 90% of the fans...

Answer 7

I would bet that more than half the baseball fans around the country don't even know who Scott Boras is. And those others that have heard his name have only done so because of the A-Rod activity going on now. In fact, I would also bet that most fans are not able to name two or three other players he represents and don't know anything at all about him. You may be the only one that knew he was a minor league player at one time. Other than A-Rod most fans could care less what he did for other players and their sole reason for not liking him is because he represents A-Rod. So to answer your question, it is "guilt by association" and he is getting a bad rap.

Answer 8

Scott borus is an idiot. He is insane for thinking A rod is worth 350 mill.

also, him AND a rod knew what they were doing when there was 5 outs to go in the world serious game 4 and a rod decided he wanted to announce he opted out of his contract. boras had something to do with that, and that was a real shady thing to do to shift the attention to him and not the red sox. he said he was going to wait till 10 days after the series to announce what his decision would be. he must not know how to count.

Answer 9

who cares about what "rap" the agent is getting?..he's played a big part in ruining the game for any team that cannot
raise a competent level of revenues from cable Tv.

in his stewardship...it's allowed the sport to be all about money..the Yanks and the Red Sox...that makes ESPN happy..

the rest of us..there are plenty of other things to pay attention to..Baseball is now like watching paint dry

Answer 10

I agree with you Craig. There can be no one complaining about him when it is the owners who say yes to a salary. I wish I had him in my corner when it comes time for a raise at work!