6
2011
Are Scott Boras’ Clients Worth The Money?
An article by 
The infamous name Scott Boras has always been attached to making teams reach far deeper into their pockets to acquire what seems to be some of baseball’s finest talents. Although after the ink dries on the contracts and franchises are financially bound to a particular player for an ungodly amount of years and money, in many cases, the performance on the field tends not to live up to the figure on the paycheck.
Just look at his 100 million dollar men: Kevin Brown, Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Barry Zito, Mark Teixeira, Matt Holliday and Jayson Werth. Of those contracts, Brown, Zito and so far Werth have been busts for their respective clubs. Beltran was borderline given his two injury plagued seasons and underwhelming 2005 campaign. A-Rod has lived up to his contract to an extent, but with injuries mounting at age 35 and under contract for the next 6 years and $143 million, it could quickly become one of the worst deals in history. The only two $100-million dollar Boras clients to label as a good deal on both sides would be Teixeira and Holliday. You could make the argument that a number of these seven players have done well, but the obscene amount of money committed makes it difficult to say that they performed to the level they are being paid.
Of the 31 contracts I could find that have been negotiated by Boras to surpass the $30 million mark, only about 12 of them I would label as a bust. Now that is a pretty average figure, but what I found very interesting was that from 1992 to the 2006 offseason, all but two of the fifteen $30+ million dollar contracts were busts. From the winter of 2006 on, 11 of the 16 contracts have been bad contracts for the respective franchises. Is this just a matter of desperate clubs haphazardly throwing money at less-than deserving players? Or maybe Boras talking up his clients a bit too much? It could be a bit of both.
Instead of one or two large contracts being inked through Boras per year, in recent years he has negotiated 3 to 4, apparently resulting in some quantity over quality. So to answer the original question, ten to fifteen years ago Boras’ clients were worth the money, but nowadays, the players he represents seem to come with a legitimate risk. That coupled with the large amount ballclubs have to dish out to acquire his players, and the stakes become that much more higher.
With many high-end players represented by Boras such as Prince Fielder, Ryan Madson, Edwin Jackson and Carlos Pena hitting the open market this winter, it should be interesting to see if this trend continues.
It is Boras’ job to make teams want to pay top dollar for his clients, but maybe he’s just a little too good at it.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
13 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- BadBadLeroyBrown: on Reds vs Mets: Niese On The Mound, Murphy Leading Off, Duda Batting Cleanup: JUST 5??? OK 1. Miguel Cabrera 2. Adrian Beltre 3....
- BadBadLeroyBrown: on Reds vs Mets: Niese On The Mound, Murphy Leading Off, Duda Batting Cleanup: I guess the word accountability mean nothing...
- Jimmy T.: on Reds vs Mets: Niese On The Mound, Murphy Leading Off, Duda Batting Cleanup: “I don’t answer to fans.” -- Terry...
- RandomGuy: on Featured Post: Keep Daniel Murphy In The Leadoff Spot: And stop assuming everyone hates you, or...
- RandomGuy: on Featured Post: Keep Daniel Murphy In The Leadoff Spot: Your question simply has nothing to do...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5376 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
He’s not getting the clients he used to get before and A-Rod had a bit to do with that!
First losing out on us to go to Texas and then the whole opt out fiasco where he finally negotiated the deal without Boras to get it done because Boras was playing games at the time!
The best way to deal with Boras is make your offer and tell him take it or leave it cause it expires in 15 Minutes!
Or ask him what the number is to sign right now or your not interested.
Then he can’t use it as a negotiating number against someone else.
Oh yeah, I feel really bad for Boras losing clients! First A-Rod, now Carlos Beltran ditching him. Poor man, how will he EVER feed his family! LOL
I think I could live comfortably for years (if not the rest of my life) just on the commission he got off A-Rod’s $250 million deal with the Rangers. But say this for the man, if you’re a client with skills, he WILL make you filthy rich (along with himself of course). Even if you don’t have skills he’ll make you filthy rich (see Werth, Jayson and Zito, Barry).
werth has skills, just not 126 million$ of it
Carlos can’t say he did not make a fortune with Boras. as bad of a person that Scott is . Carlos could of ditched him before he could of said hey your fired i am not signing for 7 years at 119.5 with the Mets As a Mets fan we know not one player can put you over the top . Regardless who your agent is or was . It takes 15-20 players on your roster to help put you over the top some teams it takes all 25 like St Louis. Puljois can’t win anything all by himself no matter how great he is.
I think it was a myth that Boras got much bigger deals than other agents would for the same players.
Boras just (at least for a while) had the top players. And those are the FAs that get huge contracts. And of course, have the best chance to bust big time with that type of deal.
GMs really aren’t so stupid that they don’t already know everything about a player, so that his presentations suddenly make them think a guy is way better than he really it.
now negotiating skills (getting Gms to pay more than they “know” a guy is worth) is a different story!
That is why I trade Pelfrey if possible. Boras will make him look like the second coming of Tom Seaver when he should be Ollie Perez or Craig Swan. And no, I am NOT comparing him to Seaver. Pelfrey is not worth the money Boras will ask the Mets for when he becomes a free agent, 200 innnings or not. I do not think Anderson WILL resign him at Boras money though.
I hate the idea of defending Boras but once a player is signed its the players job to try to live up to the contract not Boras all he can do is negotiate the contracts and put them in the best light. alot of luck must go into it. But Boras is a jerk but hey if i was a talented player i would use him he is among the best at what he does.
A 30 million dollar player in 1992 is very different from a 30 million dollar player in 2011. A 30 mil player in 1992 is a superstar; a 30 mil player now is a solidly above average player. It’s apples and oranges.
I tend to think the bad contracts reflect more on poor GMs than on Boras being a magician – he’s just a smart guy who works to get his guys the biggest money deals (although not necessarily in the best position for them to succeed). The worst of the 100mil deals are obviously Brown and Zito, but he didn’t put a gun to the Yankees or Giants head and make them give crazy money to declining pitchers.
I know what your saying and not totally disagring but if a owner is stupid enough to agree then he Boras is doing his job . I said i do not like Boras and some of his tatitcs are over the top but do you think he is pointing a gun at anybodys head. its up to the owner to say get lossed if 30 owners tell him where to go then what can he do. You can listen then say that is too rich for our blood and if you can find a taker so be it.
A contract for $30 Million in 1992 has a totally different value than a $30 Million contract in 2011, so the basis of your evaluation of those contracts must change accordingly. If you are comparing a 1992 contract to todays and calling it a good deal, remember in 1992 that was a lot more money and not many contracts of that amount were given out, so that might be equivalent to a $70 Million contract today. Now re-evaluate.
The real question is are Boras clients more or less likely to “succeed” compared to other agents $30m+ players. Is it just that all big dollar contracts are inherently risky or is there actually something about Boras clients that don’t apply to other agents.
Actually, the question is ife the teams that sign the clients more or less likely to succeed.
this is not a fight just a discussion. How does one measure Success or failure i hate A-Rod but forget that he won a world series that is the Yankees goal but when Beltran signed the Mets were terrible he and Pedro help build the 2006 team to make the playoffs. So how does one measure success. Zito also a client of Boras has a world championship under his belt . So i ask kindly what is success or failure. Each of his clients should kiss his backside especially Oliver Perez who got 36 million for doing nothing for his money.