From the Windup: Jealousy, Hypocrisy Abound in Scott Boras Hatred

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

Among the general population of sports fans, Scott Boras is a very unpopular individual. He's referred to as greedy, a snake, and "Bor-ass" (what a clever way to use his name in a derogatory fashion, huh?), among other things. Teams threaten to never deal with him again. Fans claim he's ruining baseball and is everything wrong with professional sports. And on and on -- just check out the reader comments on this Jeff Fletcher piece.

You know what I call him? The best agent in the history of sports.

Now, I might not exactly be a fan of how Boras conducts his business in every case. That hardly matters, though. His job isn't to make baseball fans happy. His job is to best represent the interests of his clients, and he does that better than any other agent. The fans who whine about how much money he makes for his clients are jealous hypocrites.

Why jealous? There is money in baseball -- likely much more money than the fields in which we are all presently employed. I hear people complain about them making more than teachers, for example. My response is pretty simple: When tens of thousands of people pay to watch someone teach -- and hundreds of thousands of people tune in to watch that lesson on TV -- 162 times a year, the teachers can make as much money as baseball players. Until then, welcome to capitalism.

Why hypocrites? I love FanHouse, and I love working here. If someone else came around and offered me twice as much money, though, am I seriously gonna turn that down to "stay loyal?" I mean, obviously I'd ask my bosses to match the offer because I do feel some sense of loyalty. If they couldn't, though, I'd leave -- and they'd understand. The same goes for accountants, construction workers, bartenders, truck drivers, salesmen and pretty much any other job you can name. If you can make more money for a different company doing the exact same thing you do now, are you seriously not going to take it? Please.

Enter Scott Boras. When a baseball player becomes a free agent, Boras' job is to do what his client wants. In most cases, the client wants the most amount of money possible. Again, please stop complaining about greed and how it's ruining your life. All employees in America should fight to make as much money as they can to provide for themselves and/or their families. This is not a socialist society. What if you knew you were better at your job than someone making 15 percent more than you? Would you just stand idly by and let it happen -- "Oh well, that's life" -- or try to find ways to get a raise? In sports, this is what Boras does. He presents the market in a manner that garners the best possible deal for his clients.

Now, there are complaints about Boras' introductory figures, but those are always laughable and part of the negotiating process. A-Rod was never gonna get $500 million. Stephen Strasburg isn't going to get $50 million. Boras initially claimed it would take $100 million to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka -- after the posting fee -- and the Red Sox signed him for just over half of that. The asking price for Manny Ramirez this past offseason came down severely. These guys all -- except Strasburg -- eventually signed for much less than Boras' initial asking price. It's the simple art of negotiation. You don't go into your boss and ask for a 3 percent raise after 10 years on the job without a raise, because he or she will just say, "OK, sounds good," and go on with their day. You shoot high and end up meeting in the middle. It's only common sense.

Another complaint about Boras is the implication that he's self-serving and only trying to make himself more money. First of all, God forbid anyone try to make himself money. He should be doing pro bono work, right? Watching all this money he's making his clients and just pushing it away. He should just do it for the love of being an agent. Again, please, how hypocritical. If you made Mark Teixeira $50 million more than any other agent could have, would you not want a piece of that? Secondly, he does what his clients -- who are, by the way, adults fully capable of expressing their desires -- want him to do. He works for them and they can fire him at any moment.

Joe Oliver, for example, fired Boras after his salary severely dwindled in a span of three years. That's his right and it's the right of every client when it comes to their agent. Boras obviously failed Oliver due to his falling salary at a time when his play wasn't drastically tailing off. It's a rare black mark on the otherwise lofty Boras resume. Could I offer up the thought that maybe he wasn't paying enough attention to Oliver in lieu of other, more lucrative, clients? If so, can you blame him? Donald Trump doesn't dabble in low-income housing. Large insurance companies don't waste their time with clients who don't make them money. This is business, not charity, and time is money. On the flip side, Boras doesn't manipulate his clients for personal gain, because he works for them.

Robb Nen was offered a contract extension to stay with the San Francisco Giants in 2001. He took it. His agent was Boras. Nen was a 31-year-old closer just coming off a league-leading 45-save season. He could have easily jacked up his price on the open market, and -- being the good agent he was -- you know Boras told him this. Still, he wanted to remain in San Francisco, and Boras didn't stand in his way. Greg Maddux could have made a lot more money in his career had he accepted a move to the American League or expanded his list of acceptable teams. The Yankees offered Maddux much more money than the Braves in 1992 following a Cy Young-winning season, for example. Maddux always weighed his options and did what he wanted, while Boras never blinked.

"Greg, above all, wanted to win," said Boras. "The Braves offered him the most substantial degree of assurity of taking the World Series."

In the end, he works for his clients and does what they want.

Thus, let us not sit here and act like Boras is manipulating innocent children. His clients sign with him for a reason and they have a plethora of other options. They sign with Boras because they want the best agent who will get them the best deal possible. For some people (Nen and Maddux), that might mean accepting less money to play where they want. For others (pretty much everyone else), they just want more money. Unless you've ever turned down a massive amount of money to do the same job for a different company, you aren't in a position to judge, lest you be a hypocrite when presented with the option for more money down the road.

The threats of teams to never deal with Boras again are always empty ones. Everyone talks to him. His clients represent many of the best players in the league. If anyone wants to cut themselves off of access to a good chunk of the best talent, they won't be able to field the most competitive on-field product. Having all 30 teams decide to do so will never, ever happen. The Scott Boras Corporation will continue to thrive due to his unparalled skill in the field.

Some call Boras a snake, but I call him great at his job. I'm perfectly fine with agreeing to disagree, but I'll tell you one thing: It's much more problematic to our society that people would rather sit around whining about a hard-working, successful person than trying to be better at their own jobs.