Boras in a Bind
For one of the few times in his career, Scott Boras is in a bind. He holds little to no power in negotiations with the Red Sox as they try to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka. Boras cannot negotiate with other teams, and the Red Sox have already put up $51 million for Matsuzaka without actually paying him a penny.
Boras recently said Matsuzaka is worth $100 million. Funny thing, the Red Sox actually agree. Except the Red Sox believe the $51 million they put up to have the ability to negotiate with Matsuzaka should be considered part of that $100 million. Boras believes he’s worth a salary of $100 million regardless of the posting fee. Boras thinks Matsuzaka is worth as much as or more than Barry Zito, who has shown incredible durability and won a Cy Young Award already. That’s a stretch.
The Red Sox have all the leverage. If they can’t sign him, he simply goes back to Japan and has to wait another year and go through another posting process. It’s not like the Red Sox could potentially lose him to the Yankees, and they know that. The Red Sox would be smart to hold strong and stick to their guns. Offer Matsuzaka four or five years in the $10 million to $12 million range (that’s more than fair for someone with no MLB experience) and not budge.
Boras is not used to being in this position. Usually he has multiple teams bidding on his clients. Now he has only one team. A deadline is looming – the deal must be done by Thursday. Boras has little leverage in the negotiations and no other teams to run up the bidding (like Zito and rumors of $100 million over six years from the Texas Rangers). His player desperately wants to play in the Majors. If he doesn’t sign, it’s going to be an embarrassment to Boras, and he’ll probably be fired as Matsuzaka hops on a plane back to Japan. Boras has his back against the wall and, in the next few hours, he is going to get a take-it-or-leave-it offer from the Red Sox.
Really, he has no choice but to accept because taking a deal for less than what he thinks his client is worth is surely better than watching him go back to Japan to pitch for another year while searching for a new agent to handle the process next year.
Boras recently said Matsuzaka is worth $100 million. Funny thing, the Red Sox actually agree. Except the Red Sox believe the $51 million they put up to have the ability to negotiate with Matsuzaka should be considered part of that $100 million. Boras believes he’s worth a salary of $100 million regardless of the posting fee. Boras thinks Matsuzaka is worth as much as or more than Barry Zito, who has shown incredible durability and won a Cy Young Award already. That’s a stretch.
The Red Sox have all the leverage. If they can’t sign him, he simply goes back to Japan and has to wait another year and go through another posting process. It’s not like the Red Sox could potentially lose him to the Yankees, and they know that. The Red Sox would be smart to hold strong and stick to their guns. Offer Matsuzaka four or five years in the $10 million to $12 million range (that’s more than fair for someone with no MLB experience) and not budge.
Boras is not used to being in this position. Usually he has multiple teams bidding on his clients. Now he has only one team. A deadline is looming – the deal must be done by Thursday. Boras has little leverage in the negotiations and no other teams to run up the bidding (like Zito and rumors of $100 million over six years from the Texas Rangers). His player desperately wants to play in the Majors. If he doesn’t sign, it’s going to be an embarrassment to Boras, and he’ll probably be fired as Matsuzaka hops on a plane back to Japan. Boras has his back against the wall and, in the next few hours, he is going to get a take-it-or-leave-it offer from the Red Sox.
Really, he has no choice but to accept because taking a deal for less than what he thinks his client is worth is surely better than watching him go back to Japan to pitch for another year while searching for a new agent to handle the process next year.
posted by Steve Bernard @ 8:56 PM
13 Comments:
At 9:38 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
It wouldn't be an embarassment to Boras at all. He strengthens his reputation. Let's not paint Matsusaka as an innocent who just wants to play ball. He hired Boras. Matsui didn't. Ichiro didn't. He hired him for the same reason others do, to get maximum dollars.
If Dice-K goes back to Japan, he plays another year and gets reposted. This time, the Lions make even more money, and Boras and Dice-K come back to the table with free agency only a year away, thus more leverage.
The truth is though, though, we don't know who has leverage, because it ultimately comes down to if Matsusaka is willing to go back to Japan. If he is, Boras has all the leverage in the world.
The Sox hamstrung themeselves by outbidding the nearest competitior by 20 million.
At 9:47 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
Good article, guys.
At 9:50 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
For one of the few times in his career, Scott Boras is in a bind. He holds little to no power in negotiations with the Red Sox as they try to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Are people really this stupid?
Like jason said, as long as Matsuzaka is willing to walk away from Boston, Boras has got all the leverage. ALL OF IT.
And is it a surprise to anyone that the Boston front office once again are being a bunch of drama queens? Can't they do a single deal quietly? Does every negotiation have to be played out in the media? Do their spin doctors have to be so obvious as well?
At 9:53 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
Something is not quite kosher about this whole affair. My view is that it all boils down to Matsuzaka's internalization of cultural norms and what the voices in his head tell him. "Wing gappa hun ing geepa gupa won ah yin." If that's what the voices tell him, that's what he'll do.
At 9:55 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
I don't understand how Matsuzaka has all the leverage here.
At 9:57 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
Man, it's that time of the morning. I'll report back when I'm finished.
At 9:58 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
Obviously this is all going according to Theo's plan. First - you outbid yourself by $20 million. Second - engage in hostile negotiations while trying to engage in criminal activity vis a vis the posting process. Third - spend this much money on an Asian pitcher in the first place. For heck's sake, hasn't anyone noticed most of them can't pitch? They squint too much and with Varitek getting smaller every day, all Dice-K is gonna see behind the plate is Billy Barty with a goatee.
Love the blog, by the way.
At 10:06 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
I love how all RSN has suddently morphed into cultural anthropologists specializing in the Japanese code of honor.
At 10:12 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
It's difficult to tell who has the leverage, but Matsuzaka is not a proven commodity. He might be good in Japan, but he might not be here.
At 10:50 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
Since he has to get re-posted next year, I don't think Dice-K has a lot of leverage. But what it really comes down to is that everyone involved wants this deal to get done... it will find a way to get done.
Also, this whole posting system has to get changed. I'm under the impression that it is a Japanese creation and therefore we have little say in it, but its just stupid.
My prediction on how this all plays out is that that Sox let him walk, and at the last minute or even after the last minute Selig finds some way to let the negotations continue because its in the best interest of the game and that all the parties involve agree to it...
At 11:13 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
The Sox have been nothing if not aboveboard throughout this process. They have comported themselves as model citizens and paragons of probity. They have made an historic offer of considerable magnitude. They have waived basic principles of negotiation by bidding against themselves. They flew to the West Coast in John Henry's civil war era flying machine to show a loyal nation of followers how much they have their interests at heart. There are five women with whom I have had anal sex in my entire career, and one in Miami with whom I hope to engage in sodomy.
At 11:51 AM EST,
Anonymous said…
Well, I can see that things have gone awry. We can discuss anyway.
You say that Boston has all the leverage because Matsuzaka's only option is to go back to Japan.
Have you seen Boston's pitching staff lately? Their number 1 starter is a 40-some-odd year old fat man who has shifted his focus from baseball to video games. And eating. Their number 2 starter was a reliever last year, and has never been a full-time starter in the majors. Their number 3 starter gave up somewhere in the realm of 400 home runs last year, and threw nothing but fastballs after the all-star break, lest he develop more blisters. Their number 4 starter is an aging knuckleballer who was hurt much of last year. And their number 5 starter? I don't even know. Clement? Will he even pitch this year? If so, he'll pitch badly. What else do they have? Kyle Snyder? David Pauley? How about Devern Hansack or Kason Gabbard?
Read those last two names again. Devern Hansack? Kason Gabbard? Are there two dumber names that have ever been given to anyone ever? These two stupid names give Scott Boras all the leverage in the world, because he knows there's no way Boston will let nobodies with terrible names like Kason and Devern start for them next year.
Seriously, Kason?
At 3:40 PM EST,
Anonymous said…
We have discovered yet one more absolute: That baseball conversation will follow me like mice to the Pied Piper, even to the most unpopulated regions of the blogosphere. Once again, my demand is to be added to the front page credentials, along with Misters Bernard and Wolfcastle.
Comply, and your blog will proceed with the momentum of 1000 locomotives. Deny, and the empty echoes you hear while you type these fallacies will haunt you and your reader for an eternity.
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