The dust has cleared on the Stephen Strasburg signing and thankfully so, because the only thing worse than Scott Boras waxing self-righteous about the injustice of the baseball draft is Scott Boras justifiably waxing self-righteous about the baseball draft.
Baseball's amateur draft (like its football, basketball and hockey counterparts) is collusion among legal monopolists focused on reducing labor costs. I can't blame any agent for trying to bust up a system that deprives his clients of millions of dollars.
When foreign players make their services available, MLB teams bid the ranch for them, so we know what valuable properties like Strasburg are worth to them. The draft is a mechanism for limiting risk and preventing the Strasburgs from commanding those fees.
But you won't find me bemoaning the fate of prospects who can't rake in the millions before they've even made a Double-A lineup. Players who demonstrate that they are worth the money eventually get it. It's hard to cry "indentured servitude" about employees whose apprenticeships only return a half-million dollars per annum.
Principle is not the reason that Strasburg "settled" for $15.1 million. He pushed his negotiations as far as he could and cashed in at the moment his leverage was about to crater. Had he not signed in '09, there's no guarantee that anyone would give him what he wanted in '10...or ever. In that time, his arm could go limp or some Venezuelan in an independent league could clang a fastball back off his cranium and -- poof! -- there goes Mr. Payday, out the door with Ms. Health Insurance.
Principle may be Scott Boras's bag, knowing that a talent like Strasburg could command double in a real free market. Boras has future clients and a long time horizon to consider, but Stephen Strasburg does not. That's why the Nationals brass are correctly considering the fattest contract for a drafted player to have been a victory for them: they got their man and didn't have to break up the cartel.
b
Showing posts with label Scott Boras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Boras. Show all posts
22 August 2009
28 February 2009
Dodging A Headache
A sufficient number of baseball observers have scratched their heads publicly over Manny Ramirez's rejection of the Dodgers' two-year, $45 million offer, that I'll refrain from piling on.
Scott Boras has always been able to find a bigger sucker when it seemed his client had already pushed the market far beyond his value, so far be it for me to criticize him and his client for demuring at an offer that overstates his value, in my view.
Manny, now another year older, is not going to hit this year or next anywhere near as well as he did for half a season in L.A. It's just a fact of human physiology that he's more likely to get hurt, experience a decline in his skills and become a serious albatross on defense.
What really intrigues me is why the Dodgers even continue to discuss it with him. It's clear that no other club wants to adopt this particular can of worm larvae. Manny would make most sense on an AL club with dreams of contention and a DH need -- the Angels jump to mind -- and none of them has been reported ringing Boras' cell.
Manny's lack of enthusiasm for Spring Training is well-known. He may very well be stalling as much for a few extra vacation weeks as for a bigger contract. But Boras had better be careful lest some new competition enter the baseball labor market.
With Barry Bonds' trial now delayed past the end of the '09 season, any team willing to take on a migraine who can rake now has another option. Bonds probably can't play 150 games, as Manny can, and his personality issues affect clubhouse relationships, while Manny's only sho9rt-circuit management sleep patterns. But a team balking at paying $50 million over two years for Manny might be willing to drop $2 million for one year of Bonds.
I'm not proposing that the Dodgers head that way. Adding Manny, even at 90% of his average performance, would make them the favorite in the weak NL West. But I think they'd be crazy to add one thin dime to their offer.
Scott Boras has always been able to find a bigger sucker when it seemed his client had already pushed the market far beyond his value, so far be it for me to criticize him and his client for demuring at an offer that overstates his value, in my view.
Manny, now another year older, is not going to hit this year or next anywhere near as well as he did for half a season in L.A. It's just a fact of human physiology that he's more likely to get hurt, experience a decline in his skills and become a serious albatross on defense.
What really intrigues me is why the Dodgers even continue to discuss it with him. It's clear that no other club wants to adopt this particular can of worm larvae. Manny would make most sense on an AL club with dreams of contention and a DH need -- the Angels jump to mind -- and none of them has been reported ringing Boras' cell.
Manny's lack of enthusiasm for Spring Training is well-known. He may very well be stalling as much for a few extra vacation weeks as for a bigger contract. But Boras had better be careful lest some new competition enter the baseball labor market.
With Barry Bonds' trial now delayed past the end of the '09 season, any team willing to take on a migraine who can rake now has another option. Bonds probably can't play 150 games, as Manny can, and his personality issues affect clubhouse relationships, while Manny's only sho9rt-circuit management sleep patterns. But a team balking at paying $50 million over two years for Manny might be willing to drop $2 million for one year of Bonds.
I'm not proposing that the Dodgers head that way. Adding Manny, even at 90% of his average performance, would make them the favorite in the weak NL West. But I think they'd be crazy to add one thin dime to their offer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)