Dan Drezner drew my attention to this Herald Q&A with the warm and cuddly Scott Boras. In particular, Drezner pointed out the following:
Q. It seems like you’ve been very high profile with the Red Sox the last couple of years. Does it seem to you like you do a lot of business with Boston or is it just cyclical?
A. I would say we do and we don’t. I’m still very surprised the Red Sox did not sign Johnny Damon. That was the one thing I thought for sure that would happen, because I felt it was something that was good for Johnny at the time and good for the team. I reflect back on that negotiation and wonder if there was just more I could do but we really made our best efforts about sharing information. We had four or five face-to-face personal meetings, the calls to ownership, I did the best I could to do that. But with Varitek being there, representing Derek Lowe, and Johnny and now the additions of J.D. and Dice-K, we have some solid communication. Players that we didn’t sign there end up doing well and players that we did sign there end up doing well. So, for me, what I cared about was, I kept saying to them, we felt that these players would continue to have very good years in their careers. Boston agreed with us on a couple of fronts, and disagreed with us on others.
(Emphasis added to point out what a total snake Boras is.)
That, as Drezner, along with astute readers of this blog and of Feeding the Monster (available at Amazon for just $17.16. Cheap! And don’t forget, free, signed, personalized bookplates are still available!) know, is a giant load of steaming crap. Boras not only did not do everything he could to keep Damon in Boston (fun with double negatives!), he did almost everything he could to ensure that Damon left Boston. Lies and the lying liars, indeed.
I am glad to see that Boras has stopped flogging “D-Mat” as Matsuzaka’s nickname, and gone with the “Dice-K” flow. Much better. Emphasizes his real name, makes a pitching reference. Lots of product and paraphernalia tie-ins as well. Everybody wins!
I’m a little confused as to why Scott Boras would consent to do such an interview in the first place… what does he have to gain? I think he’s pretty set for money and doesn’t seem like the type that needs his ego stroked.
I liked how he described negotiation as providing “information” rather than taking an adversarial approach (a la Lucchino) I suppose one man’s “information” is another man’s lies. Seth, is this why you call Boras a “snake”?
Which leads me to question… when writing the section of FTM on these Damon negotiations, who were your sources? Did you interview Scott Boras or Johnny Damon specifically about this topic to get their side of the story? Or were members of the Red Sox FO and/or ownership your only source? Would they have been a little biased and perhaps try to use you to put a pro-Sox spin on this story?
The only cited source I can see that you provide is the often quoted: “… high-ranking official in Major League Baseball’s central office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said…” This guy must be pretty busy talking to sportswriters all day as everybody (including your Arch-nemesis, MChass) seems to use him as a source.
I’m not disputing that the negotiations that are portrayed in FTM are accurate according to one side’s interpretation, but in hindsight I now question what agenda the writer may have had when he now calls one of the main players a “snake”. This doesn’t lead readers to believe that an impartial, unbiased account of the deal is described in the book.
In the long-term (ie. four years), I still think Boras did the Red Sox a favor by taking Damon away to the Yankees although the Red Sox “pink-hat fans” may have been heartbroken.
Dude, I was there for the whole year. I have the documents, emails, etc. I had access to them in real time. It’s not a case of my getting a story fed to me after the fact. There’s a good argument to be made as to why the Sox would not want this out there: for one thing, it looks like they got played; it also makes them look disorganized; finally, it has (had) the potential to make things tricky for them in the future. But if, after reading the book, you think my reporting and Murray Chass’s reporting are comperable…well, I dunno what to say.
– Seth
So let me get this straight, lsing Johnny D was good for the Sox and Boras isn’t a snake? Give me your number V06 I have a bridge that needs a new owner.
Dude… it’s your blog so I apologize if you’re offended by my impertainent questions. I bought three copies of your book and have read it cover-to-cover 2x… I loved it… L-O-V-E-
D… loved it almost as much as pussy. Sorry if I don’t always chug down the FTM koolaid without a question or two.
“But if, after reading the book, you think my reporting and Murray Chass’s reporting are (sic) comperable…well, I dunno what to say.”
Yeah, that was an uncalled for low blow and I sincerely, totally apologize for it, but I tire of seeing anon high-ranking sources being cited in sports journalism. That was a poke unworthy of even the lowest, meanest of SOSH members. Please accept my apologetic man-hug and friendly slap on the shoulder. Furthermore, I publically (as well as pubically) acknowledge that Chass is as evil a man as Boras.
Seth, my intent was not to be an asshole although my current wife tells me I often act like one. I simply wished to discover what your primary sources were for this particular topic in an effort to better reconcile two conflicting viewpoints. So these real-time documents, emails, etc. eliminate any need to directly question Boras and Damon what their version of the negotiation was?
Fair enough… I believe you, Seth. If both you and Steve “Boston Dirt Dog” Silva say Scott Boras is a villian, who am I to question that Boras is the Devil incarnate?
I don’t dispute that Boras is a snake, but if he is then Johnny D is also a snake. What type of snake do you think Boras is … a python or a viper snake?
And another thing… how are we, as Red Sox fans, to reconcile the fact that the Boras-devilsnake also represents our last remaining Dirt Dog, Jason “Captain America” Varitek? This does not compute. Are we to believe that Tek is playing Albert Speer to Boras’ Hitler? “One seldom recognizes the devil when he is putting his hand on your shoulder.”
Sorry tmurph13 unless you throw in a complimentary Bo Sox pink-hat with that bridge, I’m not interested at any price.
Pink hat and a Scott Boras autographed case of Asahi with D Mat on the label. Offer is good until 2:30 GMT today.
I’m sure Boras has some redeeming quality that his family can identify. Maybe he helps old ladies accross busy streets, maybe he’s an organ donor, maybe he walks puppy dogs for the local animal shelter on Sundays. Who knows? His public persona is of a cold calculating money grubbing tool. I don’t like him. I always assumed that he could give a rats ass about how I or any other baseball fan viewed him.
He’s supposed to be a cold calculating money grubbing tool. Players are young by any measure of life except for major sports (30 years old is a kid in most other walks of life). I suspect that they know very little of the world outside of the narrowly focused life experience of professional athletics. Most will need someone like Boras when they are facing off with the Billionaires that pay them. Those guys didn’t get to be Billionaires by paying people out of sentiment, so bully for Boras and his ilk.
BUT
Don’t insult me Scott Boras by arranging for a puff piece Q&A that then tries to rewrite history and make you look like a reasonable and empathetic entity. That is chickenshit.
The world needs snakes I just object them to being dressed up as teddy bears.
Not for nothig, but you guys are really over reacting. And for a professional writer, it doesn’t make you look good having an axe to grind, Seth - fanboy or not.
What’s so hard to understand about Boras trying to get the best deal for his client? The rest of the Q&A clearly shows the lengths he goes through to do so, and how his clients (Varitek included from way back) truly appreciate him for it.
Damon got a much better deal than the Sox ever offered. That’s the end of the story. It really doesn’t matter if he lied or not. His job is to get his client the best deal possible. If they aren’t looking for that there are other agents out there.
As for Varitek, he did the same. And Varitek was vastly overpaid last year and there’s a very good chance he will be this year.
In both cases the Sox determined the market value and made a choice. That’s what businessmen do. And Boras is the best at his job. It’s a game of poker and he consistently wins his hands.
The thing that’s puzzling to me about the theory that Boras wanted Damon out of Boston is this: what’s his motive? How would he or Damon be better off by not giving Boston the chance to top the Yankees offer? If Boras has a personal grudge against the Red Sox why do they keep signing other Boras clients? The only explanation given of why Boras would have done this is that he’s a snake. That would be pretty weak if he was being prosecuted in court.
There’s a significant discussion of this in the book…
In the meantime, to cut down on the invective (and going around in circles), let’s cut off comments on this topic unless there’s a new take on it. (”Seth you’re an asshole” does not count as a new take.) (And HFXBOB, this isn’t directed at you.)
– Seth