Let’s face it, management would love to take the boots to Boras and the current state of the economy is giving them an opening. Oh sure, Mark Teixeira got his money but it was from the Yankees. There are two economies right now in MLB: the New York Yankees and everyone else and what goes on in one has no relation to the other.
Teixeira was the shiniest bauble in the marketplace insofar as position players went and the Bronx Bombers had an opening and the money to spend. Chances are good a different agent probably could have gotten close to that from the Yanks so it was hardly a coup for the Earl of Avarice.
As to the rest of his clients--Boras’s favourite tactic of waiting out the market could really backfire this season since as the economy worsens and roster spots are filled by the Pat Burrell’s, the Raul Ibanez’s, the Milton Bradley’s the number of wealthy bidders goes down.
Right now only one club has made an offer and that offer wasn’t viewed as a “serious” one by Dearth Insidious.
Of course, there is always Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez and I’m willing to bet that the one that signs first gets the better of the two deals while the Ollie-Come-Lately probably gets a one year deal with an option and hoping that the economy improves.
Getting back to Ramirez--nobody trusts his agent. He makes his claims, floats rumours, plants stories all in hope of getting somebody anybody to bite so he can get a bidding war going between they and the Dodgers. After last year’s Andruw Jones debacle Ned Colletti and Frank McCourt are unlikely to bid against themselves so Boras knows he needs to find a second bidder to get a better deal than what was offered earlier.
I’m willing to bet that a handful of teams would love Ramirez’s bat in the middle of their lineup and would be willing to guarantee three years (especially an AL club) but are loath to deal with Boras since they have no idea whether or not he is being truthful in negotiations.
If I was Manny Ramirez “Ooooo look! A dog with a puffy tail! Tee hee hee hee!!”
O.K. let’s try that again; were I in Manny Ramirez’s situation I would publicly fire Boras (yes, I would enjoy that and I won’t pretend that I wouldn’t) and take matters into my own hands, drop it, roll around on it before getting back into my hands and decide precisely what I want. While I’m certain he would like a pile of money guaranteed over several years (who wouldn’t?) I’m willing to guess that there are other things that matter to him as well. That being the case, he should reflect on what is attainable among those desires and see if a team is willing to give it to him.
I feel pretty confident he could get three years and $50+ million if money is his primary consideration if he spoke to a team without you-know-who in tow. If he’s looking for payback at the Red Sox obviously what I would love to see him do is pick up J.P. Ricciardi and go visit the suits at Rogers Communication and tell them flat out he wants to be a Blue Jay and is willing to accept a creative contract (with things like a ton of deferred money and bonuses based on attendance although I am not certain that is allowed by the collective bargaining agreement--I do know Bill Veeck used to do it for Bobby Feller) in order to make it happen.
I will now pause while all of you enjoy a good laugh at my expense for being so incredibly and pathetically delusional--as well you should.
O.K. you can stop now.
That's enough!
I mean it!
Now you're just being nasty.
Hyperventilated did we? Serves you right for carrying on like that. You probably wet yourself too didn't you? Well, don't look to me for sympathy.
If winning another ring is something he wants to go for then if he’s willing to take a little less then the possibilities are endless--especially if he’s willing to sign a one-year deal and hope the market is better in 2010.
Regardless, while Scott Boras is more than capable of making me eat crow-a-la-king I think it is pretty obvious that they badly misread the market. Nobody expected the economy to tank as badly as it has and even fewer folks could have predicted clubs suddenly becoming more aware of things like defense, base running and other factors; having said that, it should have been seen as inevitable since contracts started to regularly top $20 million per annum. Sooner or later teams would begin to wonder if a well-rounded youngster in their own system making the major league minimum couldn’t provide almost as much overall value (run production/run prevention/base running/health, read: games played) as a one-dimensional slugger well into his 30’s with creaky joints that will put runs on the board but offsets that with poor fielding and mediocre base running that is hoping for $15-$20 million a year until long after he becomes unable to justify those salary levels.
It’s the same thing with pitchers; getting back to the Jays--the best indicators of pitching performance are H/9, BB/9 and K/9. We’ll again compare A.J. Burnett (slated to make $16.5 million per year for the next five years) with David Purcey (probably close to the major league minimum and not eligible for arbitration until 2011) from the time Purcey was given a full time job in the rotation:
Pitcher H/9 BB/9 K/9
A.J. Burnett 8.6 3.5 9.4
David Purcey 9.4 2.8 8.6
Both average about the same amount of baserunners per nine innings and Purcey can be expected to improve and is likely to be a good bet to throw more innings in 2009 than Burnett. Is what A.J. brings to the table worth $16 million more than the big lefty will next season?
This is the environment Boramirez is attempting to land a four year/$100 million contract in; if he signs with an NL team will his declining bat (ages 37-40) coupled with the runs given up with his poor defense and mediocre base running give more value than a lesser (though improving) hitter than can flash some leather and be a heads up base runner making the major league minimum? Or for that matter--what will arbitration-eligibles Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier give the Dodgers in total package (not to mention games played) over the next three years before free agency compared with what a declining Manny Ramirez is looking for? Chances are good that both men will make far less combined in 2009 than Ramirez but what will give more bang for the buck?
Silly question.
Yes, Manny sells tickets but only as long as he hits and nobody knows how much longer that will be. However, clubs are looking for on field value over box office value right now. Right now, Manny’s biggest liabilities in team’s minds and the marketplace in general are his age, his defense and his agent.
He can only eliminate one of those--he might be better off doing just that.
Best Regards
John
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