Scott Boras is the best part of the baseball's offseason so far
Baseball’s Hot Stove season is Scott Boras season. You know Boras as baseball’s most powerful agent and the most aggressive advocate for his clients. If you didn’t already, you’ve got to give Boras credit for his gift of gab.
Boras is famous for propping up his clients, producing comprehensive data points and reports about why MLB teams should give his clients ALL THE MONEY. He’s repping some of this winter’s biggest free agents — including J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer and Jake Arrieta — so Boras is on the campaign trail giving them the treatment for which he’s famous.
And lately? The dude is simply on fire with his quotes. Over the weekend, he called J.D. Martinez “The King Kong of Slug,” which is a great one. And Wednesday at MLB’s General Meetings in Orlando, he was on a roll again.
Here’s what he said about Arrieta:
Scott Boras just referred to Jake Arrieta as a “big squirrel with a lot of nuts in his trees.” Don’t ask why.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 15, 2017
Yes! We are *here* for this kind of Boras. More J.D. Martinez? Sure.
Scott Boras compared JD Martinez’s defensive metrics to getting an oil change. You have to check them every year.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) November 15, 2017
Ohhh, do Hosmer next, Scott!
Scott Boras says teams have to spend to live in Playoffville. He described Eric Hosmer as Federal Express for Playoffville. He delivers.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) November 15, 2017
Oh, Playoffville is a thing. And Boras has some tips for getting there — or not getting there, as the case may be.
In order to move to Playoffville, Scott Boras says, you have to pay the property tax.
I️ believe this is a metaphor, but you can never be too sure.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) November 15, 2017
Boras was asked about #Mets and other teams seemingly spending below their means. “This is not about the ability to pay. It’s about the choice to pay. They’re not living in the gated community of Playoff-Ville.”
— David Lennon (@DPLennon) November 15, 2017
That last one isn’t just about the Mets either. Boras scolded the Marlins for having new ownership come in and immediately want to cut payroll instead of trying to win. He didn’t call out the Marlins by name, but it’s the only ownership change in MLB this season. Here’s what Boras said, via USA Today:
“When you’re looking at building a market and you have an All-Star outfield with all the dynamics,’’ Boras said, “and you have a club being purchased at $1.2 billion, what happens is that you got a marketplace saying the new owners are coming in here and saying they’re making the franchise better. We’re excited. And then where we are now creating a plan where we are not going to win five or six years.
“We’re going to basically reduce our payroll. We’re going to rid our team of our substantial stars. We’re going to set up this five, six year plan. We basically have a system in baseball where we have sales of franchises, and we have a reduction.
“Basically the idea is to reduce the debt service to pay for the franchise by reducing all major league payroll, not being competitive, basically using the argument that we’re going to build a successful team through development.
“That has nothing to do with the fans. It has nothing to do with winning. It has nothing to do with anything other than a financial plan that suits ownership without consideration of the impact it has on Major League Baseball.”
At this point in the offseason, when the deals are scarce and the negotiations are just beginning, it’s good to know we have Scott Boras around to entertain us so wonderfully.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
