Comments on: Jered Weaver went against agent Scott Boras’ advice in signing five-year, $85 million extension

By: Detroit Michael

Detroit Michael — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:50:19 +0000

If Fielder doesn’t sign with the Brewers, it’s because Fielder made that decision. The Weaver contract shows that agents give advice, clients decide.

By: jebsta16

jebsta16 — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:04:03 +0000

Scot Boras is a jerk. I don’t like his tactics. He is the reason Prince won’t sign with the Brewers but ultimately I think he will and is just using free agency as a negotiation tool. He is Drew Rosenhaus of Baseball.

By: kiwicricket

kiwicricket — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:03:06 +0000

Once again you make a good point, then utterly ruin it. Again.

I completely agree with the Ad’s and other rubbish pilfering it’s way into a game. But do you really think they are cramming these ad’s in there in order to pay the salaries of the players???

ORRRRRRRRRRRR…….The players are paid in accordance to the extraordinary revenues generated by the game/advertising/television etc ????

Why don’t you watch some lower level Independent ball or something. Those guys make 40K per year just like the teachers you harp on about.

So the guys with the Elite talent, who 10s of millions of people pay to see should make 200K, but the multi-billionaire owners should make even more billions off the back of these guys??? Riiiiiight.
Buffet and those types would F-ing shoot themselves if they had Alex Rodriquez’s money.

You live in a dream world buddy. It’s not the baseball players(or ours) fault you are stuck in a 50K a year job you are frustrated with, or have too much education or brains for.

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:38:46 +0000

Last night I tuned into the Yankee radio network and there were 37 commercials per inning. Why? In order to generate advertising revenue to pay these ridiculous salaries and retirement benefits. Weaver is getting 17 million a year or probably more than 1 million a win and about $70,000 an inning which is about double what a school teacher makes all year. Hey do you make $70,000 a year? If you don’t, you can bitch and moan about what baseball has become. A 10 year veteran gets $195,000 a year retirement pay at 62.
Am I the only one to see this absurdity? Baseball has created an elite, and none of the people who pay through the nose or have to endure these ridiculous announcers hawking these commercials should stand for it. $200,000 a year is a fabulous salary. Plus they get food, room, transportation and the ability to play a wonderful game. Boras just sits back and takes his 10% off the top. Hell he gets 10 times more than any of the players he represents.
By the way the average baseball player gets $3,000,000 a year. And if you figure what the gross baseball salaries are, the total is over $2,500,000,000 a year. That is 2.5 BILLION DOLLARS. Hey if anyone of you can get $3,000,000 I can give you a list of diversified stocks that will pay you an average 6% dividend per year. That is $180,000. Now isn’t that a nice retirement kitty, you can have right now? And dividend income is taxed at 15% per year. No wonder Alex Rodriquez was chumming with Warren Buffet at Yankee Stadium

By: Sportsdrenched

Sportsdrenched — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:35:00 +0000

“But Why hire someone you aren’t going to listen to?”

Not sure of Weaver’s educational background. But, If I were in Weaver’s position I would know that what I don’t know regarding contract law, and negotiating can hurt me. I would also assume an agent is in charge of endorsement deals and other revenue streams outside the contract with my team.

That’s why I would hire Scott Boras if I were an MLB player. I can take his advise and said advise might be things I had not considered, but in the end it’s my decision on what to do.

By: youngyankee

youngyankee — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:24:09 +0000

’cause Jered didn’t hire Boras to be his bitch.

By: youngyankee

youngyankee — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:22:13 +0000

so he’s NOT gonna be a yankee?!

1 in hand is worth 2 in the bush. ups to Jered for showing a lot of class.

By: clydeserra

clydeserra — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:40:47 +0000

Yes, feel good story. Good quote about the family. But Why hire someone you aren’t going to listen to?

By: jimbo2599

jimbo2599 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:01:19 +0000

love weaver in all of this he showed there is still some class acts in baseball

By: paperlions

paperlions — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:58:08 +0000

Also nice would be if owners charged reasonable prices for tickets and concessions and if owners didn’t extort local tax payers for 100s of millions of dollars to build homes for their teams as well as in tax breaks. Far more players take less money and consider family/loyalty/fans/etc when making financial decisions than owners.

By: FC

FC — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:57:40 +0000

It’s a tricky balance Baseball may be a business, but let’s not kid ourselves, if Business was all that mattered every team would be the Pittsburgh Pirates before between the 1990′s and 2010. I mean how much cash have those owners pocketed through revenue sharing anyway? The hostage comment is admittedly melodramatic but I’m speaking from the point of view of the fan who wants his team to do better with the players it brought up the system signed long term for reasonable price. From the point of vew of the team, if it can do it great if not, well they’ll just fill the hole in some other fashion.

By: Detroit Michael

Detroit Michael — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:36:13 +0000

Good for Weaver. Of course agents give advice but clients make final decisions.

However, also good for players who make informed decisions to not sign with their existing teams, essentially exchanging another year of injury risk for higher expected dollars when their big contract is signed eventually. Free agency should be about letting long-service players make decisions and sometimes that’s about maximizing earnings and sometimes it isn’t.

By: IdahoMariner

IdahoMariner — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:25:13 +0000

I agree with you about having to give Weaver back some points (not all) after the throwing at the head incident…and the general temper that he has been showing lately.
And I admire that he seems to have his head on his shoulders about money and his family and where he would like to be. I would love to see more good players stay with the teams that brought them up. Because it’s more fun as a fan if you can keep rooting for the guy you saw come all the way through, especially if he’s a good guy.
I don’t have any concern, though, for the teams. Hold them “hostage” — to most of them, it really is just a business, and they would happily trade any player any day if they thought it would result in a net improvement to the bottom line. they are making plenty of money. how they choose to spend it is up to them, and they won’t actually spend it if they don’t think it will help them. They can always, always say no. Or not. The mistake is in making it emotional. Because it’s not, not for the team. That’s why the Angels love that Weaver wants to stay with them, because he is making an emotional decision that will benefit them financially. On the upside, it’s benefitting him, too. So everybody wins.

By: cur68

cur68 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:24:56 +0000

Agree. He did the right thing IMO. After all, a blown pitching arm is potentially just a game away. This way, no more worry about risk, gets to the of season (probably) without the extra pressure and hey, lets not forget, that's $85 million we talkin' 'bout. I hope Prince Fielder is paying attention here.

By: Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward

Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:57:52 +0000

Very cool.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:46:32 +0000

Totally agree. Also, credit has to go to the environment that Arte Moreno has created there.

By: happster

happster — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:32:40 +0000

Wow, this is a breath of fresh air.

By: icanspeel

icanspeel — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:27:16 +0000

This was the best line from the article “If $85 [million] is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of families then I’m pretty stupid.”

By: yankeesgameday

yankeesgameday — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:24:14 +0000

+1 to common sense.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:07:51 +0000

I’m glad there is still one baseball player in a hundred who cares more about comfort and security than getting the biggest payday.

And of course let’s not kid ourselves and start patting Scott Bor-ass on the back. This information all had to come out so that Bor-ass can tell his clients and prospective clients that this sh!tty deal wasn’t his idea and that he advised Weaver to wait and go for the big cash. 5 years and $85 million? That’s chump change for a guy like Bor-ass.

By: FC

FC — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:01:44 +0000

You know I may have to give Weaver back the points I took off of him for the throwing at the head incident. How nice it would be if ALL ball-players behaved like this: reasonable contracts and fair value instead of holding the club (which gave you your MLB chance!) hostage with the threat of going elsewhere if they can’t match another club’s big dollars.

This isn’t the first time a client has gone against Bora’s advice. Madson did the same thing when he signed the 3 year contract with Philly. Which is why I’ve been thinking that Madson staying in Philly is not as far-fetched as some of the fan base believe. They just saw Werth hire Boras last year and leave Philly for the biggest contact. They assume Madson will do the same, this is not necessarily the case.

By: trevorb06

trevorb06 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:00:47 +0000

Good for Weaver. An agent doesn’t control your contract future, he’s there to give a player advice and negotiate for the player. Boras did a great job here working with his client to fulfill the wants and needs of his client in Weaver. Everybody wins here, Weaver, the Angels, Boras and Weaver’s unborn great grand children as well.

By: phrontiersman

phrontiersman — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:53:33 +0000

I’m really pretty impressed with Weaver in all this. More than just the whole “leaving money on the table” thing, he really seemed to be taking the best interests of both his team and family into account here, instead of just himself. Saying some smart things, too.