MLB pins blame on one person for lack of big deals
After a few blockbuster trades in December — most of which involved the Miami Marlins moving high-priced stars — this season’s Hot Stove League has been lukewarm.
There have been very few free agent signings and one of the reasons, according Major League Baseball officials, is super agent Scott Boras.
“There are a variety of factors that could explain the operation of the market. We can say that without a doubt collusion is not one of them. It’s difficult to pinpoint a single cause, but it certainly is relevant that an agent who has a long track record of going late into the market controls many of the top players,” MLB officials said in a statement to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan.
That agent would be Boras, who represents the top free agents in the market — Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, Diamondbacks outfielder J.D. Martinez, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, and Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas.
A month ago, I started calling people asking about collusion. I wound up finding something much different: a threat to the entire economic model of baseball as we know it. Here is the real story of the frozen free agent market and why it is so important: https://t.co/VKS6iYlBzs pic.twitter.com/CLyrcF3WhB
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 16, 2018
Of the top 50 free agents this offseason, 26 have signed deals, according to CBS Sports. But among the top 10, only shortstop Zack Cosart, who signed with the Angels, has inked a contract. (This does not include Japan’s Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Angels.)
While Boras is known to be patient with his players until the absolute best deal reveals itself, waiting this late into January is not typical for him.
“Of all the agents in the game, Boras is the likeliest to loiter in the market until the best deal reveals itself,” Passan wrote. “That fact does not capture the reality of his nine-figure free-agent contracts. He has negotiated 13. Eight came before January. And not once has he taken multiple high-end free agents into a new year, let alone four.”
As Boras told Yahoo Sports, “I wouldn’t blame the baker if the flour doesn’t show up.”
The free agent market refuses to move. These are some of the reasons why (by Tom Verducci) https://t.co/TTBvc0qVJP
— SI MLB (@si_mlb) January 18, 2018
MLB teams made a combined $981 million in profits in 2016, according to Forbes. So what’s holding up “the flour” as Boras put it?
There may be larger issues at work.
Maybe they made record profits because they are being smarter with their money and not overspending where it’s not warranted.
While there are some good players in this free agent class, there aren’t any great players, which may be why teams are hesitant to throw nine figures at someone — especially for players like Arrieta and Martinez, who are in their 30s and looking for long-term deals.
scott boras generally doesn't discuss offers or non offers, but he did say the report of a $100M five-year offer by boston for jd martinez is "not accurate." (me: that does seem off/improbable as an offer since cespedes got $27.5M per year)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 18, 2018
“Agents are logging discussions with teams and the union hunting for patterns to explain why clubs, whose franchise values have exploded from $18.1 billion to $46.1 billion over the last five years, will propose top players contracts with average annual values in excess of $20 million or deals for more than three years but are loath to offer both,” Passan wrote.
He then quoted on agent as suggesting collusion is again at work. “It’s way too uniform,” the unnamed agent said. “The book has been printed. It’s out there.”
Its not collusion, but rather a shift in the way teams view free-agent spending.
“What’s clear is the free-agent impasse represents a reckoning long in the making – one that marries shifting power in labor relations, the emergence of analytics and cookie-cutter front offices, and the willingness of teams to treat competitiveness as an option, not a priority,” Passan wrote. “Combined, they pose the greatest threat to a quarter century of labor peace and have people at the highest level of the sport asking whether a game-changing overhaul in how baseball operates isn’t just necessary but inevitable.”
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