Bora$ Wins Again
Alex Rodriguez now knows what it feels like to be upstaged. Barry Bonds’ indictment drowned out the news reports that A-Rod was about to re-sign with the Yankees. Since A-Rod’s contract status has been the most hotly discussed topic in an otherwise rather tepid hot-stove season, surely the news of his impending nuptials with New York would have garnered more airtime, no?
Maybe not. As Nick was among the first to point out, maybe A-Rod heading back to New York was more of a foregone conclusion than it at first seemed.
As late as Tuesday, media reports were circling that the players’ union, dismayed over the lack of interest in A-Rod, was growing concerned about possible collusion against him by the owners. But this just shows how paranoid the players’ union is. There is only one team in baseball that can afford a 10 year, $275 million deal. Even with some deep pockets at other clubs, no one can match the Yankees in a bidding war.
Alex, we are supposed to believe, was angry at the way Boras mishandled the situation, announcing his client’s free agency during Game 4 of the World Series. Alex, we have been told, was hurt by the backlash against him and wanted to remain a Yankee all along. So Alex, the media reports said, approached the Steinbrenners with his tail between his legs, his agent nowhere to be seen, and asked for forgiveness…and 10 years, 300 million dollars. Boras, for his part, finally met his match.
I’m skeptical. If there is one thing A-Rod has shown so far, it’s that he has little media savvy and, despite his most desperate efforts, no control over his image. And if there’s one thing we know about Scott Boras, it’s that he’s an evil genius who doesn’t care how he makes his millions. If Scott Boras had the choice between a hypothetical 8 year, $200 million deal from, say, the Dodgers and a 10 year, $275 million deal with the Yankees, and the only thing he had to do to get his percentage of the extra $75 mill was fabricate a little bad blood between his client, the most disdained player in baseball, and himself, the most despised agent in baseball, do you think he’d even hesitate? Besides, the I’m-mad-at-my-agent-let’s-just-talk-without-him schtick is a tactic the two have used before. And in the past, he’s described his job as to “create the theater of who the player is.”
Did Boras miscalculate when he leaked the news of his client’s free agency during the World Series? Undoubtedly. Was Boras mistaken in the market out for A-Rod? Almost certainly. When push came to shove, the only team to even make Rodriguez a formal offer was…the Toledo Mud Hens. But did Boras cost his client money? I don’t think so. Even with the money they were getting from the Rangers, the contract extension the Yankees were preparing for A-Rod came to 8 years, $230 million. At the worst, Boras hurt his client’s reputation (which his machinations, as described above, have now already started to repair). Even if A-Rod hadn’t opted out, the Yankees probably would have been willing to give A-Rod another couple of years and a few more tens of millions of dollars. So at worst, from A-Rod’s perspective, the past three weeks have all been a pointless sideshow. And at best, this pointless and probably painful sideshow has netted him some extra millions. While the Yankees probably would have gone up to $275 million even without the opt-out drama, that extra bit of leverage is, in my view, what allowed Boras to squeeze out an extra $25 million in performance bonuses. That brings the total potential value of the contract to the nice, round number of $300 million dollars. Which, of course, is just what Boras originally set out to get. Beyond the A-Rod/Yankees drama, there’s another winner here: the Texas Rangers, who are finally free of the albatross of the $252 million deal they signed with A-Rod all those years ago. What might they do with their extra $21.3 million? Might they sign a free-agent pitcher? Might that be Kenny Rogers, who just happens to be another Boras client? It wouldn’t be the first time Boras has been accused of orchestrating events to suit multiple clients at the same time.
Boras might look like the loser of this contest in this news cycle, but make no mistake: long term, he has won. Again. In the world of Scott Boras, everything has a price. And to get his client the 10 year, $300 million dollar deal he wanted, all Boras had to do was kick some dirt on his own reputation. That’s a trade you have to make.
October 27th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I don’t think Dice-K would be throwing at the his head in retaliation and not in this situation. Most likely the thin air kept his breaking ball from breaking.
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October 27th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
It looked like Manny was tagged out on the thigh before he slapped the plate even though the ump didn’t see it. Right call in spite of the fact he didn’t see the play correctly. Dice-K manages to pick up 2 to help make up for it though. Will Hurdle realize it’s time to get Fogg out of there before the series is over?
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October 27th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Manny was out. Replays show the catcher clearly tagged Ramirez on the thigh. The only question is, why didn’t Manny hit the plate with his feet, instead of with his hand?
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October 27th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Sarah, you clearly don’t watch enough National League games! The pitchers always wear their warm-up jackets on the basepaths when the weather is cold so that their pitching arm won’t stiffen up…
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October 27th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I’m not sure about Manny being out. On the radio they are saying that Torrealba tagged him on the thigh with his glove, but that the ball was actually in his throwing hand at the time.
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October 27th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Nick, I noticed that, too. It looked like the catcher was doing something in between holding the ball with both hands and holding it with his bare hand.
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October 27th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Manny was tagged out on his thigh when he slid into the plate, my HD tells me so. The umpire did not see that and made no call. After Manny stood up Torrealba did tag him with the glove and the ball was in his throwing hand. The umpire called him out at that point. The ump actually missed the call even though it was the correct call.
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October 27th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Sarah, Red Sox fans have been known to dress up on occasion.
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October 27th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Melissa, it looked to me from other camera angles (I’m also watching on HD) that Torrealba’s glove was right behind Manny, but perhaps not actually touching him.
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October 27th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
From the camera on the 1st base side of the plate I could see Manny’s pants indent where Torrealba was swiping at him. For sure the umpire was out of position to make the call. The ump did not see Manny slap the plate with his hand because he waited to call him out after he stood up and was tagged with a glove that didn’t have the ball in it. Another fact that the ump didn’t notice. Hopefully the call has no bearing on the outcome of the game. On a different note I have seen NL pitchers wear jackets to the plate before. I wish Dice-K would have borrowed Youk’s Parka and worn it to the plate. Also great job with the live blog extravaganza.
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October 27th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Hmmm, strange call all around. Melissa, I’m with you on hoping it doesn’t affect the outcome of the game. Though it seems Bud Selig may make another push to use instant-replay in reversing calls this offseason! Intriguing.
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October 27th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Okay, I’ve watched this replay several times. Manny was clearly safe. Melissa is correct that Torrealba’s glove clearly did graze Manny’s thigh before Manny touched the plate with his hand. But the ball wasn’t in Torrealba’s glove at the time! It was in his right hand! Which never touched Manny in any way. So Manny was safe.
But I blame Manny. It could have been a much less bang-bang play. First, Manny kept tugging at his helmet between second and third, and then he made a ridiculously wide turn around third because he ridiculously ran on a perfectly straight line between second and third rather than arcing out a bit to make a tighter turn at third.
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October 27th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
MLB shouldn’t be injecting the delay of instant replay when they are already trying to find ways to speed up the game. Then again I wouldn’t expect Bud and his cronies to consider the fact that it would have an impact on the pace of the game. Many times replay doesn’t necessarily clear up disputed plays, take the play tonight for instance. Personally I think the less Selig tinkers with the game the better off we all are.
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October 28th, 2007 at 12:46 am
I’m okay w/ instant replay if the league also does the following:
1. starts playoff games at 7, not 8:30.
2. cracks down on batters stepping out of the box after every pitch.
3. shortens the time between innings (I know this will never happen).
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October 28th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Why is Fox showing this game as a save for Papelbon?
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October 28th, 2007 at 1:09 am
One of two possibilities:
1. The save is the stupidest, most elastic pitching stat there is, and the tying run was like two away from the on-deck circle or someting;
2. Fox is dumb.
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October 28th, 2007 at 1:27 am
Sarah,
I have to agree with you on both counts. Thanks for the great running commentary, well played.
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October 28th, 2007 at 1:44 am
Nick,
I just watched the post-game replays and I would disagree that the ball wasn’t in the glove on the swipe play at the plate. Torrealba was holding the ball in his right hand but he put it in the glove as he dove towards the plate and applied the tag. It’s a valid tag when he is holding the ball if he is holding it inside the glove which it appears to me that he was. I completely agree that it shouldn’t have been close if not for poor base running. I also wonder why Manny didn’t slide over the plate with his foot first as the tag was high on the leg.
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October 28th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Thanks, Melissa! I think Manny was trying to avoid the tag and then swipe the plate, rather than bash through Torrealba and hope he dropped the ball. Nonetheless, I have to wonder again at DeMarlo Hale. This is the second time I’ve seen Manny criticized for a play at the plate this postseason (at least this one was close, he was out by 8 feet last time), but I think there should be at least a few fingers pointed at the third base coach. He’s got to know who his baserunner is; he’s got to know Manny and what Manny is capable of.
Having rewatched the video, I think it’s inconclusive. It looks like, even if the glove did touch Manny, there’s a good chance that the glove was empty. But at least it wasn’t a decisive run either way.
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October 28th, 2007 at 11:57 am
The best part of the game was surely when the guy from Earth, Wind and Fire sung “God Bless America” and when he got to “From the mountains” the crowd cheered and when he sang “to the prairies” they booed.
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October 28th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
1. Had to check last night that the pregame music is not, in fact, the West Wing. It’s not. Fooled me.
2. Thank you for the additional Random Facts about Mike Lowell. This must continue.
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October 28th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Rich, of course the random facts about Mike Lowell must continue. Because if we were to stop, Mike Lowell might become angry.
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October 29th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Mike Lowell has never been caught ridin’ dirty.
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November 16th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Here’s the thing. Let’s say that Boras actually “lost” in this instance. But in losing, he still gets $13.75m out of it. Not a bad consolation prize.
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November 16th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Do you actually believe the Yankees offered him more now than they would have if Boras had negotiated before opting out? The Yankees would have been able to add on $21 million of Rangers’ money before the opt out. It doesn’t make sense that they would now offer him that money out of their own pocket when the market for A-Rod was not competitive. Boras and A-Rod had more leverage before they opted out and would have had access to an additional $21 million. Once they opted out and the open market wasn’t offering what they thought it would A-Rod returned to the Yankees. It would appear that Boras actually miscalculated A-Rod’s worth on the open market and over-played his hand.
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November 20th, 2007 at 10:04 am
I am always more inclined to believe human incompetence than conspiratorial machinations.
Especially since Rogers fired him.
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