Scott Boras

Scott Boras (born November 2, 1952 in Sacramento, California, USA) is a prominent sports agent for professional baseball players. He is the president of Scott Boras Corporation, which has its headquarters in Newport Beach, California. He has represented many of the highest-paid players in baseball and brokered a number of high-publicity deals, including those of Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Career

Boras runs the Scott Boras Corporation, where he employs former major leaguers as scouts in Asia and Latin America. He has continued to negotiate deals for many of Major League Baseball's high-profile players in recent years, including Barry Zito, Carlos Beltran, and Manny Ramirez. .

One deal Boras worked out was between Kevin Millwood and Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro in 2005. This contract included performance clauses that would reduce his client's salary if he missed playing time due to arm problems, a common component of baseball contracts. Johnny Damon left the Boston Red Sox and signed with the New York Yankees. Boras negotiated a four-year, $52 million deal for Damon. Jason Varitek, a catcher for the Boston Red Sox, received a 4-year, $40 million contract courtesy of Boras's negotiations in December 2004. Boras delivered another high-priced free agent to Boston in November 2006 when J.D. Drew signed a $70 million contract with Boston, a deal which was finalized on January 25, 2007. On December 28, 2006 it was announced that Boras client Barry Zito had signed a 7 year, $126 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. At the time, this was the largest deal for a pitcher. CC Sabathia's $161 million contract with the Yankees in 2008 eclipsed Zito's mark.

Criticism

Boras is widely regarded as a tough negotiator. He has secured lucrative contracts for his clients that exceed their perceived market value. This has led critics to dub Boras "baseball's most hated man" and "The Baseball Anti-Christ". His critics claim that Boras' contracts hurt the game because some teams are unwilling to pay for high priced free agents, though he could argue that securing the most lucrative contract possible is his primary job as an agent.

Boras is sometimes credited with changing the dynamics of the amateur draft. He has been known to advise his clients to turn down a deal (and continue with either college-ball or semi-pro ball) if the signing bonus was below an amount acceptable to them. Some teams have avoided drafting Boras's clients in baseball's amateur draft for this reason, in particular the Chicago White Sox , whose owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, has a feud with Boras.

During Game 4 of the 2007 World Series, Boras announced that Alex Rodriguez had opted out of his contract with the New York Yankees. Boras was criticized harshly by the media, baseball fans and Major League Baseball officials for upstaging the World Series with the timing of this announcement.

Scott Boras clients

Because of his reputation as a tough negotiator, Boras's name is not attached to his clients' marketing. He set up a separate company, Impact Marketing, to handle all of their endorsements, appearances and autograph signings. His client list is estimated to be about 65.

Although Alex Rodriguez did not formally sever ties with Boras, Rodriguez later negotiated a new contract with the New York Yankees-- doing so without Boras-- after originally opting out of the final three years of a 10-year, $252 million contract. Some news sources say Boras gave Rodriguez "bad advice" in encouraging him to opt out and that Boras had demanded a $350 million offer from the Yankees "just to talk" about Rodriguez staying with the team. Rodriguez instead chose to employ a managing director of Goldman Sachs to negotiate a deal with the Yankees. The Yankees had refused to speak with Rodriguez had Boras been involved.

On December 17,2007, Variety reported that Alex Rodriguez fired Scott Boras, and hired former record company executive Guy Oseary as his agent.

Left-handed Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers announced on November 16, 2007 that he had fired Boras as his agent and would deal directly with teams when negotiating his contract for the 2008 season.

On December 5,2007 Boras client Andruw Jones agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, worth $36.2 million. He continued to struggle, hitting below .200 for most of the season. Additionally, he had only 10 hits in 116 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Due to his lack of production, Jones was dropped to eighth in the Dodger line-up. This was the first time since 1998 that Jones had hit eighth in any line-up.

On December 12,2008 Boras client Jeremy Guthrie fired Boras. He hired a pair of agents, Casey Close and Brodie Van Wagenen, citing that he felt the two were a "better fit for me and my career."

External links

• "The Extortionist" - The New Yorker, October 29, 2007
• "The Boras Factor" - May 2007 feature in LA Weekly
• BaseballLibrary.com: Scott Boras
• "Scott Boras, Motherhood, and Apple Pie" - feature on Slate
• Agent Scott Boras is changing the business of baseball - from U.S. News and World Report
• Official website of Boras' agency