It’s All in the Boras
Reporters are always in search of a good quote. It is, in many ways, the lifeblood of what they do for a living. A good quote adds validity to their story but if it is colorful enough it also adds personality. For the latter reason, one man in baseball has become the King of Quotes. Every year Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings take place and after many years the scrum of reporters looking for a quote from Scott Boras has now supplanted any actual free agency activity that takes place.
To be fair to the reporters who live for what Boras has to say, he’s not just a good quote, he’s the best. His quotes range from introspective and honest to outlandish and absurd. They add flavor and personality to any story. Plus, because of his standing as the preeminent agent in professional baseball, a quote from Boras always adds a touch of credibility to any story. That reporters make a bigger deal out of putting a recorder in front of Boras’ face than they do on reporting the minor (at least these days) moves that make up the Winter Meeting’s isn’t surprising.
What those reporters often miss is that Boras is more than just an outlandish quote or someone getting his players the money he believes they deserve. More important than either of those elements of his person is the role he has taken on as someone willing to stand up to the whims and wishes of MLB ownership. Boras has become a roadblock for the owners in their attempts at complete control over MLB. Instead of his more ridiculous boating or fishing analogies, the Boras quotes people need to pay attention to are ones like this,
“I don’t think high school players should be drafted unless clubs are required to pay the guys over $5 million. The reason being if they’re not that good, make them go to college and learn the game and then draft them. But if you draft a high school player you have to guarantee his future. And if the player is not that good the team won’t take the risk. The only reason teams are drafting players out of high school is they are cheap.”
When Boras says something like the above quote it is to get more money for the player/s he represents. That can be the case and Boras’ aims can also serve a much large purpose. Whether intentional or not the way Boras conducts business is always with labor at the forefront. He pushes for his players to be taken care of and his efforts ensure that other players enjoy the fruit he cultivates.
What you need to ask yourself is this; do the MLB owners like Scott Boras? The answer to that question is no, which leads to the more important question; why is it that they don’t like him? The answer to that is as simple as the day is long; they are cheap. MLB owners hate that Boras forces them to pay the players anything close to the amount of money they deserve. They absolutely loathe that Boras looks at a league that generated $10+ billion in profit in 2019 and says, “Hey, that’s great, now pay the players for the profits they helped to generate.” I mean, Boras would use an analogy about a steak, a dull knife, and a waiter with a green fish in his pocket to make that point, but the point would still remain.
Look, I get it, Boras isn’t some kind of labor crusader. He’s not intentionally trying to better the cause of labor. He’s a businessman trying to make more money and he makes more money by getting better deals for his clients. It just so happens that his efforts to make more money for himself better the lives of MLB players across the board. That he offers outlandish quotes is a big part of his personality, but by focusing on the outlandish you are ignoring the reality of what Boras continues to accomplish in the fight against the tyrannical efforts of MLB ownership. You can’t have a good steak without any sizzle, you need a dull knife and a green fish too. With Boras, you get all of those things while the owners have to move the needle towards labor a little bit more; a true win-win.
