As the GM Meetings began Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, several agents around baseball have recently speculated that Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is considering leaving his current agent, the infamous Scott Boras. However, on Monday, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported that Harvey is, in fact, not considering an agent change and will remain with Boras. Harvey confirmed his intention to remain with Boras long term, telling Rosenthal, “I will be with him for my entire career.”
Boras, founder and owner of the Newport Beach, California-based agency Boras Corporation, is regarded by many as the most prominent and powerful agent in baseball. Boras represents numerous Major League players, with notable clients including Bryce Harper, Troy Tulowitzki, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Max Scherzer. Boras also represents Mets outfielder Michael Conforto, who impressed in 2015, his first year in the Majors. Boras is known for holding out for and securing the most lucrative possible contracts for his clients, frequently clashing with teams’ ownership groups and front offices to do it.
Boras’ has negotiated some notable and controversial contracts with the Mets in the past. In 2005, Boras negotiated a seven year, $119 million deal for outfielder Carlos Beltran. In 2009, the Mets signed the Boras-represented Oliver Perez to a three year, $36 million contract, after Perez’s inconsistent performances as a Met in the seasons prior.
This year, Boras had two memorable run-ins with the Mets. One involved Harvey, who, in 2015, was pitching in his first season since returning from Tommy John surgery in late 2013. In early September, after Harvey had amassed 166 1/3 innings pitched on the season, Boras told CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman that he and noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews had agreed that Harvey’s innings would be limited to 180 on the season. Mets’ General Manager Sandy Alderson disputed Boras’ claim and stated that, while they were being mindful of Harvey’s innings, there was never a hard-limit agreed upon between Harvey and the team. Harvey eventually addressed the issue and added to the controversy when he defended Boras and told reporters that he had always considered 180 innings to be his limit. The timing of Boras’ innings-limit assertion put the Mets in a very difficult spot. At the time, the Mets were attempting to hold off the Nationals to win the National League East and were planning to use Harvey to start potential playoff games. The Mets eventually skipped a couple of Harvey’s remaining regular season starts, and limited his postseason starts to four. Harvey finished this year with 216 innings pitched between the regular season and playoffs.
The other Boras-related incident occurred a little more than a month before near the trade deadline when the Mets attempted to acquire one of Boras’ clients, outfielder Carlos Gomez, from the Milwaukee Brewers. During a game against the San Diego Padres, numerous outlets had reported that the Brewers and Mets were finalizing a deal that would send Gomez to New York and Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler to Milwaukee. This was the infamous game in which Flores, after learning of the reported deal, cried on the field in one of the signature moments of this past season. The deal eventually fell through, with Alderson expressing concerns over Gomez’s hip when the team reviewed Gomez’s medical records, a common procedure done prior to finalizing trades. Boras insisted that Gomez was healthy and laid the blame entirely on the Mets.
Getting back to Harvey, he is eligible for free agency in 2019. This year, he will enter his first season as an arbitration-eligible player and should get a significant raise from the approximately $600,000 he earned in 2015. Harvey’s future with the Mets has been hotly debated, partially because of his affiliation with Boras. To retain Harvey past 2019, Boras will likely command a very lucrative contract for his client. The Mets will eventually need to choose whether it will be paying what it would take to lock up Harvey or possibly explore trading him before he reaches free agency. For now, they have the luxury of time, and Sandy Alderson shot down any talk of trading Harvey or his other three young starters.
