Boras-o-Meter

[HoustonGM]

All I have to say is if it wasnt for agents like him, owners would pocket all the cash when its the players that make the money for the owner. Boras gets the deals that the players are entitled to.

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. I don't know how much more I can stress that.

[ragecage]

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. I don't know how much more I can stress that.

Not bad for a stupid truck driver huh?

[filihok]

And if the owners got the money...well...let's back up...

IF the players DIDN'T get the money then teams...scratch that...then organizations wouldn't pay as much as salary. That means they would make more in profit. Profit usually goes to one of two places. Into the owners' pockets OR back into the business.

When it goes to the player you can be assured that it doesn't go back into the business

Or they could charge less for a ticket and a hot dog

[HoustonGM]

I'm not entirely following that.

[Arctic Blast]

Scott Boras works FOR the player...not the other way around. He does what THE PLAYER wants as an employee OF THE PLAYER. He lets himself be tarred and feathred because it keeps the same from happening to the players he represents. Half the time he throws out ridiculous offers knowing full well they won't EVER see that kind of cash from a team. Then, when the player signs for less (even though they never would have seen the numbers he was throwing out) the local media can do story after story about how great it is that the player was willing to sign for less than his agent was demanding.

You want to blame someone for bad contracts given to Boras clients? Blame the GM's and owners who he completely out-negotiates every time.

[gRYFYN1]

I'm not entirely following that.

What he's getting as is:

Are box seats to a Yankee's game $250 each because the team has a 200m payroll ?

Well one doesn't happen without the other -- but i don't think one happens because of the other either.

They both happen happen because the fan pays it, not becasue Boras forces teams to pay more.

[ohms_law]

And the networks. Don't forget about television (and now Internet) revenue.
...which, again, comes back tot he fans. The eyeballs give the networks the ability to pay the league wagons full of money.

[HoustonGM]

What he's getting as is:

Are box seats to a Yankee's game $250 each because the team has a 200m payroll ?

No.

Well one doesn't happen without the other -- but i don't think one happens because of the other either.

The players have high salaries because the teams make a lot of money because the fans pay for it.

They both happen happen because the fan pays it, not becasue Boras forces teams to pay more.

Exactly.

Baseball Between the Numbers has a chapter dedicated exactly to this issue, titled "Do High Salaries Lead to High Ticket Prices"? Quote from the conclusion:

So if you're angry about those $30 nosebleed tickets, better to blame Ronald Reagan or the nation's ongoing love affair with garlic fries and cupholders than player salaries.

[RedsoxRockies]

So THAT is where Clay's signature is from

[JayC]

Scott Boras works FOR the player...not the other way around. He does what THE PLAYER wants as an employee OF THE PLAYER. He lets himself be tarred and feathred because it keeps the same from happening to the players he represents.

Yep, that's a good point. Boras gets paid to be the bad guy, and his clients can feign ignorance of it all... "I just want to play baseball, Scott handles all that." But obviously they consult, and the players could drop him anytime if they thought he was doing them more harm than good.

Hiring an agent is a lot like hiring a defense lawyer, or maybe more accurately a divorce lawyer. You probably don't want a nice guy. As the quote often attributed to Harry Truman goes: ""He's a *******, but he's our *******."

You want to blame someone for bad contracts given to Boras clients? Blame the GM's and owners who he completely out-negotiates every time.

There is truth to that, but to give management a little of the benefit of the doubt, they are at a disadvantage. The can't communicate with other, that would be "collusion" banned by the Basic Agreement with the MLBPA. So, a skillful agent can play one against the other more easily than they can each defend against that kind of tactic.

[filihok]

The Boras Blog

http://borasblog.typepad.com/borasblog/