The Rachel Luba Conundrum
The baseball world is filled with unsavory characters. Some of them are obvious, others fly under the radar. Occasionally there are those who manage to be unsavory in a fashion that makes me wonder why I still love baseball so much. It’s not often that the unsavory person in question is a sports agent, but there’s a first time for everything. Rachel Luba exists after all, and she has proven herself to be as unsavory as they come.
The role that sports agents play is often a quiet one. I have little doubt that many of their rank is less than desirable. They exist in the world of baseball that is all dollars and cents. That in and of itself lends them to being involved in the side of the sport that isn’t exactly ripe with great character. Most stay on the sidelines and keep the spotlight away from themselves. Scott Boras is the exception to this rule. He’s a case all unto himself as his self-aggrandizing ways have actually turned out to be a boon for labor on more than one occasion. Boras remains the exception though, most agents want to get their clients their money and stay out of the spotlight.
That’s not the case with Luba, who is a newer agent but has decided that the spotlight must shine on her at all times. By itself, this wouldn’t bother me but she has done so while representing two high-profile antagonists, Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig. Bauer is a noted transphobe and misogynist, while Puig has been accused of sexual assault. One would think that when your clients are fairly reprehensible as human beings that you as their agent would sit back and attempt to allow their baseball results to do the talking for them.
That has not been Luba’s approach as she has used social media to argue with reporters, team representatives, and fans about the merits of her clients. She’s done this in a way that hasn’t actually provided any substance to any defense of either of her clients, but rather has been from a “we say these things aren’t true and you’re an idiot if you believe them” approach. The truth of the matter is that the way she has conducted this part of her business would not be enough for me to take issue with Luba. Sure, it’s scummy and self-serving but plenty of people in baseball are scummy and self-serving.
What raised my ire about Luba was the way in which she has used her position as a woman in a male-dominated field to deflect from criticisms of her actions or those of her clients.
She has, on numerous occasions, used her status as a woman to try and limit critiques of her actions. This shouldn’t sit well with any person who believes that the culture of baseball needs to be changed to be more inclusive of women.
It is disingenuous for Luba to try to use the fact that she is a woman as a shield from criticism when it is readily available knowledge that women in sports face legitimate unearned backlash from men all the time. The facts of the matter are that so far Luba seems to be bad at her job and that has nothing to do with her being a woman.
Luba got Bauer a record-setting contract and she may find a team willing to sign Puig despite his sexual assault allegations. Those things can happen and the way she has created an “I’m a woman” shield around her actions can still be sickening. There are strong role models for young girls in the baseball world these days and they are not Rachel Luba. If you claim to be someone who supports women and supports changing the way baseball operates to grant women the more equal footing they deserve then you can’t also support someone like Rachel Luba.
