Comments on: Arte Moreno is not a Scott Boras fan

By: nyyankeefanforever

nyyankeefanforever — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:43:45 +0000

The worst thing to ever happen to baseball is cheap owners who pocket the profits without investing any of it back into the product on the field and try to blackmail their fan bases into upping their taxes to pay for stadiums designed to allow them to skim even more of their hard-earned dollars. I’ve never seen any team owner at any level who lost his shirt or millionaire lifestyle owning a sports franchise.

Like them or hate them, but the Borases and Steinbrenners of the world aren’t the bad guys. They’re just playing the game by the same rules as everyone else, and are just better at it than the rest.

By: Richard In Big D

Richard In Big D — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:42:39 +0000

Reflex, if Tom Hicks was pocketing an extra $25 mil a year, how did he get so broke that the big dumbass couldn’t afford to by baseballs for his team? In retrospect, that signing was the beginning of the end for Hicks. And if you’re interested, I know where you can buy a first place hockey team on the cheap…

By: glsmithassociates

glsmithassociates — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:11:49 +0000

Reflex your point is well taken and I agree with some of the logic. But we’re not talking about one or two players in all of baseball. We’re talking about the new standard and what it represents. The only way the Yankees can support the overhead is because of the TV rights. Yet your example of the Rangers is the classic example of what happens more often then not. The Rangers went broke !! They shed A-Rod becasue they were losing money and the team could not afford the supporting cast to round out the team in order to win. My point is that guys like Werth, Wells, Texera, etc do not have the draw to support the cost. And really $126 million for a slightly above average player like Werth has not logic. The Nat’s are trying to buy attention for a new stadium, that’s all !! IMO not good for the game !! I would love to see a salary cap and make teams competitive again. And isn’t a guy making $10 million a year enough of a reward for playing a kids game ?? After all he’s not saving the world or anything now is he ?? I guess we agree to disagree.

By: dondbaseball

dondbaseball — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:39:07 +0000

No you’re not but your constant harping and criticism does make you look small. We all know when Chass and Pearlman and Heyman are wrong, so sometimes you don’t need to go overboard on the ridicule. In fairness to Moreno because he does get involved in multi-million dollar negotiations with Boras, he has been used by him numerous times and lied to especially in the case of Teixeira negotiations. I believe the MLB gag order this year was due to Boras and his press contacts (Heyman) leaking the “numerous” teams interested component in past years that has driven the majority of the GMs nuts due to the extent Boras spins it more than other agents do. Just my opinion. This doesn’t mean I won’t stop reading your blog numerous times a day. Thanks.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:33:56 +0000

Once again, you have no clue how 89% of executives feel about that man. That’s all I’m saying. You’re just letting everyone know how YOU feel about him.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:32:34 +0000

That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m glad you’re clear.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:31:32 +0000

They had a strained relationship before this. These types of comments can’t be productive and can only be counter productive. Regardless of how professional someone is.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:25:11 +0000

I’m not involved in multi-million dollar negotiations with those guys.

By: dondbaseball

dondbaseball — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:24:09 +0000

“but please, spare me the drama team executives. It just makes you look like you’re not ready for prime time.”
Really Craig? This coming from a guy who always ridicules Jon Heyman, Murray Chass, Ken Rosenthal and Jeff Pearlman? Something about the kettle calling the pot black comes to mind…

By: Reflex

Reflex — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:18:09 +0000

Multiple studies have demonstrated that player salaries have no appreciable impact on ticket prices. Yes that seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. However when you think about it it makes sense. Star players also bring in new marketing opportunities, and as such their salaries are greatly offset by merchandise sales and other revenue opportunities. From what I heard the biggest reason the M’s would never deal Ichiro is that he makes them many, many times his salary simply due to the explosion of Mariner’s merchandise sales in Japan. The same goes for a Pujols, A-Rod or other stars.

Hell, the $252 million A-Rod deal in Texas made lots of headlines about player greed, stupid owners and unscrupulous agents. What was less reported was that very soon after the deal was signed the Rangers offset it with a $250 million television deal, which had been predicated on them making the A-Rod signing. This caused a bit of unrest when the Rangers traded A-Rod a few years later as the tv execs felt they had been double crossed. And in some ways they had. So had the fans, A-Rod was essentially a free superstar for them, that never impacted ticket prices or team expenses due to the tv deal. Instead the owner got to pocket an additional $25 mil a year without having to pay the superstar.

By: clydeserra

clydeserra — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:51:23 +0000

Or maybe Boras can act like a professional and not let idiotic comments for the owner interfere with his duty to his client.

By: glsmithassociates

glsmithassociates — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:32:07 +0000

So Alex, just so I’m clear, what your saying is that the cost of overhead has nothing to do with the cost of goods or the price at the gate, is this what your saying ?? Because if it is then I can see why Arte is a billionaire and your not !! You can’t run a business for very long spending more then what you make, just ask General Motors !! Don’t be fooled, the cost of seats, hot dogs and everything else is a direct result of what it cost to field a team.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:40:54 +0000

He’s a jag off. Maybe I exaggerated a little bit. So only 89% of the executives and owners hate his stinking guts. My bad.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:38:17 +0000

Player salaries have nothing to do with ticket prices. It’s supply/demand.

Boras might be hard to deal with, but he is by no means the worst thing to ever happen to baseball.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:34:03 +0000

I think you may be letting your personal feelings about Mr. Boras get in the way. How do you know how 90% of baseball executives feel about him? It could be the other way around, 90% of executives could think he is a swell guy, but a ruthless negotiator.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:00:35 +0000

Comments like that from Mr. Moreno aren’t going to make his negotiations with Jared Weaver/Boras on a long term contract go any easier.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:58:15 +0000

I agree that Moreno just might think Scott Bor-ass is a dick, which is how 90% of the baseball executives and owners think. Define “properly” when dealing with Bor-ass? Does that mean listen to him lie about mystery teams and about how his client is the next Roberto Clemente? He is a total jerk and if I were a baseball owner I would never deal with him. Of course, if I were a baseball player, he’d be my agent.

By: glsmithassociates

glsmithassociates — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:37:13 +0000

Scott Boras is the worst thing to ever happen to baseball !! He takes the rights of the few and makes the rest of us have pay for it. No player of a kids game is worth the stupid money Boras represents. It is the direct reason why the majority of fans today can not afford to take their family to a game. And in my opinion it’s also the reason why so many players today fail in life, because the money drives them to the dark side.

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:19:56 +0000

His job is to get the best deal for his clients. He is great at it. Owners hate to share their revenue. Therefore, he isn’t their favorite. Just “business”, man.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:13:21 +0000

Boras could also just be a dick of a person, and Arte may not like him for that reason alone. I’m with you though, deal with Boras properly when he has a client you want like everyone else.