Via the Boston Herald -
In the fallout from those [Teixeira] talks, which resulted in an e-mail from perturbed Red Sox principal owner John Henry to the media, Boras’ reputation was also besmirched by an editorial on the Boston Globe’s op-ed page on Dec. 20, three days before the negotiations ended. The editorial applauded the Red Sox’ decision to walk away from the “con” perpetuated by the “devious” Boras, who had “rooked” the Red Sox in the past. The piece drew a parallel between the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and victims of past Boras negotiations. The editorial failed to mention that the Globe’s owner, the New York Times [NYT] (even though it is trying to sell it) owns 17 percent of the Red Sox, a pertinent disclaimer in this case given the ownership’s direct involvement in the Teixeira talks.
Boras has frequently pointed out that no matter how often he gets vilified by nameless front-office sources for allegedly concocting phantom offers or shopping around concrete offers, the only thing that has been proven is his ability to continue to haul in massive contracts. It is a safe bet that being compared to a swindler like Madoff did not go over well with Boras.
The Sox, meanwhile, are, at least for now, done with Boras. One well-placed source said the club will never deal with him again unless it can be guaranteed that talks are being conducted honestly. We would take that threat a little more seriously if Boras’ clientele list were to shrink dramatically, but since that is not realistic, we will take it as a sign of just how badly the club felt it got stung by lies from Boras. They are in a “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” mode right now, with the Teixeira talks feeling like the last straw to them.
This is funny. Two years ago, the Red Sox were fine in terms of dealing with Scott Boras in an underhanded manner – because it benefited them (on the J.D. Drew deal). And, now, they’re belly-aching about the way Boras does business. Too bad, eh?
10 Responses to “Red Sox Done Dealing With Boras?”
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January 11th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
How did they possibly deal “underhanded” with Boras in the Drew situation? If the allegations, which were never remotely proven, were actually true, then they informed Boras that Drew should in fact opt out because they guaranteed a significant increase in salary/length of contract.
And that would benefit Boras, since he gets his agent’s cut of each year’s salary.
Its a remarkably stupid claim you are making, Steve.
As for this article, its highly unlikely to be accurate. They are still talking to him about Varitek, and in the end, I think they’ll get him back on favorable terms, if they decide to hang on to their pitchers and not pay extortionate prices for young catchers filled with potential.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
From what I had heard, Boras supposedly talked to Boston BEFORE Drew opted out. That is patently underhanded BECAUSE Drew was still under contract.
It is not a stupid claim but probably a true claim. Then again coming from someone who had called the host (Steve is not a homer BTW) for being a homer and attacking me and BEING WRONG and UNAPOLEGETIC in the process what would one expect?
As for Boras, it would be a better world for the teams if Boras didn’t exist and in some cases even for the players. The Boston brass will nickel and dime Varitek despite the fact that he has been a great captain for the team and was integral to the 2 World Series championships. At this point, they could use Varitek to take another catcher under his wing and have an empty hole in the lineup all at the same time. Epstein and Co are very smart people and it will be interesting to see how they dictate the terms to Boras and Tek as opposed to the other way around.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Lets see what Boras did so far with the Red Sox management in Tex’s case.
According to Tex himself he made his decision two weeks before Christmas that he wanted to be a Yankee. He said that he always liked the Yankees since he was a young kid. His wife wanted him to be a yankee. She didnt like Boston. She wanted to be closer to her family. All this is a nice story and good for her that she wanted him to be a Yankee. The problem is the Red Sox owner and Theo had no idea. They thought that they were close to sign Tex they flew to Texas thinking that they were going to land him only to find out that Boras wanted more money No word from Boras or Tex that he had no plans of ever going to Red Sox. How you would feel Steve if somebody did this to you? Waste 4 hours of your time and money? You bet the Red Sox want nothing to do with Boras. They are not even talking to Boras about Tek. They are so upset with the way he lied to them and played with them that they are not going to deal with him this year or any year. They will sign Bay to an extension before the summer is over and they are not going to go after Holliday next year. Boras made a very big mistake by treating them like that and he will lose money. You know what? I would do the same thing.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
~~How did they possibly deal “underhanded” with Boras in the Drew situation? ~~
Dude, if you don’t know, then I can’t help you…because you’re choosing to ignore all the reports already out there that suggest the Drew deal was cooked.
January 11th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
As much as I do not like Boras, he is motivated by his first-hand knowledge of the supreme greed and arrogance of the MLB owners. And since Fay Vincent, there has not been a true ‘commissioner’ to keep the owners somewhat accountable.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:03 am
The Red Sox seem to be players on almost every high profile free agent (as do the Yankees). Boras represents a good portion of those players. Does that mean the Red Sox are going to put themselves at a disadvantage by refusing to deal with him? I highly doubt it. Take it further and play devils advocate. Lets say a current Red Sox player decides to sign with Boras…lets say Youklis. Does that mean that they won’t extend him because of his agent? If that’s the path they took, they’d be incredibly stupid. I’m sure their smarting from the Tex situation, but cooler heads will eventually prevail. Refusing to deal with Boras would, most likely, end up being a “cutting off your nose to spite your face” type situation.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:09 am
OK, now I get your point – Boras acted “underhanded” with the Dodgers in the Drew situation, which helped the Red Sox, so how can the Sox be hypocritical and get upset when he acts underhanded with them during the Teixeira “negotiation”.
There’s only one big problem:
Boras was never accused of acting underhanded with the Dodgers. It was Drew, who implied or flat out stated he wouldn’t go anywhere, who was criticized, and it was the Red Sox who were accused of letting Drew or Boras know that there would be a big contract waiting if he left L.A.
Those are the two parties which supposedly acted poorly. Not Boras. Boras was Boras all along. He didn’t catch flak over that decision to opt out. Drew caught flak, and then the Red Sox did.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Toally agree with bfriley76. The Sox have every right to be angry and I would too, but they certainly won’t stop dealing with Boras for good.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Dude, if you don’t know, then I can’t help you…because you’re choosing to ignore all the reports already out there that suggest the Drew deal was cooked. Quote from Steve
Steve, there are some people who have drips from NESN and WEEI going directly into their system at all times. Some people either suffer from extreme hubris to use the word stupid when that same person looks stupid making the claim.Especially when that person is either suffering from the arrogance of youth OR the immaturity of an aged fanboy. It has widely been reported that Boras and Drew both played the Dodgers. Drew claimed he wanted to stay there in LA and in the meanwhile Boras had been talking to the Red Sox. Was it underhanded? Extremely! This story was well reported,BUT on the Stanilist Red Pox network where Henry and Co are as pure as snow. Please with some people , especially Benedict Arnolds who refuse to accept the truth AND make silly immature and baseless accusations against people even though the Benedict Arnold/Quisling had been wrong. Said people ARE persona non grata to me, pure and simple.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Also, we have to take into consideration that we have cases of other players opting out of their contract, Rodriguez & Burnett, so I don’t think Boras should be blamed for Drew opting out of his contract. At the end of the day, it’s the player’s decision, not the agent.