Scott Boras compares the Marlins to a pawn shop after cost-cutting moves
Super-agent Scott Boras held his yearly press conference at Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings on Wednesday, and it was exactly the spectacle we’ve come to expect. Boras, surrounding by reporters, usually spouts off about some of the game’s most pressing issues, often centering around the players he’s representing.
But Boras took a different route this year. Instead of immediately talking up Jake Arrieta or Eric Hosmer or any other one of his clients, he started things off with the Miami Marlins. Boras doesn’t like the direction the team has taken this offseason.
Scott Boras on Marlins: “We’ve seen one of our major league jewelry stores become a pawn shop.” And we’re off…
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) December 13, 2017
Yep. There it is. That’s peak Boras, all right.
The agent is known for not holding back and using some descriptive phrases and analogies during his annual address at the Winter Meetings. Honestly, this is pretty tame to some of the stuff he was saying a month ago. Who can forget when he called J.D. Martinez the “King Kong of Slug?” Or said Arrieta was like a “big squirrel with a lot of nuts in his trees?”
Boras’ Marlins comment may not be as creative as some of his past turns of phrase, but perhaps he was going for accuracy here. The Marlins’ new ownership group has made it clear they are ready and willing to cut payroll.
They proved as much already by shipping out both Dee Gordon and Giancarlo Stanton, but they aren’t done yet. The team also parted ways with outfielder Marcell Ozuna on Wednesday, sending him to the St. Louis Cardinals. There were rumors that the Marlins were considering trading Christian Yelich as well, though those seem to have died down following the Ozuna deal.
His stance shouldn’t come as a major surprise. Boras’ job is to get players paid, so he should oppose any team willingly trying to reduce payroll.
In the end, though, none of this is bad for Boras. The sooner his players are able to get out of Miami, the sooner they might get paid.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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