Boras Blog

Off Topic: Acta's Jaw

I am going to need jaw implants.  Manny Acta was made not just one, but TWO managerial offers this off-season! At any given time you are three times more likely to be a US Senator than a MLB manager (actually, that doesnt even account for the possibility of foreign managers in MLB, which couldnt be matched in the Senate) - I mean, you would assume that qualifications for these impossibly rare spots would have to be impeccable.  Or, candidates must have a good jaw.

Acta, a career .241 hitter in the minor leagues (.299 slug.  BB and SB numbers unavailable), parlayed his on-field success into a minor league managerial position.  He managed eight seasons for Houston's farm system, not advancing above high-A level, and compiled a sub-.500 winning percentage over a larger sample of 851 games. His minor league record was 419-432.  But that jaw...

After a few coaching assignments, Acta was allowed to destroy the soul of the fledgling Nationals fan base, to the tune of 158-252, a .385 winning percentage, or, you can say that the Nationals opponents had a .615 winning percentage.  And this was no expansion team roster.  Zimmerman, Dunn, Willingham, Nick Johnson, Dukes & Milledge were all rostered on opening day this year.  Sure, the roster was not perfectly assembled, but this team under-performed its ability by any measure.  More troubling, however, was the way Acta destroyed the confidence of his bullpen, and particularly the young Joel Hanrahan who was jerked in and out of the closer spot after every success or setback, no matter how minor.  In his press conferences, in his interviews, talking to the media, Acta sounded as cool as ice.  The message was that things would turn around, there is no need to panick, these are growing pains.  But on the field, his actions looked far different.  Willingham was benched for Kearnes who was benched for Milledge who was sent to the minors.  The closer carousel spun and spun around.  starters were pulled too soon.  Pitchers pitched scared.  The team lost games at an astonishing pace, and anyone watching could tell you the team was being managed into the ground.

Joe Torre was a horrible manager early on and obviously found religion and payroll later on.  I suppose it is possible.  But with so few spots available, I would expect there to be a little more substance for a candidate to be able to get these chances.  I suspect that the substance is in his jaw.

Bus Drivin' Bernazard

Updated 1:24 pm est

The Daily News is reporting that ousted former Mets player development lunatic Tony Bernazard is close to signing on as a recruiter for Scott Boras.

I can get that sometimes genius comes with a volatile personality.  In fact, from my personal experiences, it very often does.  But here is the thing: Bernazard's on-the-job player development performance has been horrible.  This is no genius, not by a long shot. So, for all of the Mets troubles - for driving Delgado away (round one), for Bus Drivin' Bernazard, for shirtless fights, for Adam Rubin Lobby Job, for all the punch-lines and PR scrambles and all the rest of the bagage that came along, the Mets got Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez and... Parnell?  Murphy?  Nothing.  They got nothing for their trouble.  Bernazard was a failure on every level, and I can only wonder how good he must sound in a conference room that he has even been able to get himself the opportunities that he has.

Bernazard's front office career began with the player's union, and I wonder if he developed a personal relationship with Boras in that capacity, because I cant imagine any other reason for Boras to put himself out there for this guy.

Shaz-Bagl

Ranaudo, Van Pelt & this Blog

keith Law at ESPN reports that Anthony Ranaudo, potentially the top pitcher available in the 2010 draft, has signed on with Boras as his advisor.  So while things are looking pretty good at Scott Boras Corp, Boras' inability to get Van Pelt in a snuggie brings the success of 2009 into question. (Note to espn: YouTube can be your friend, how about posting your commercials?).

The obvious trend in media these days is specialization.  Gone are the days of the daily newspaper with all of your local, world, entertainment and thought provoking information.  When we get our news now, we go directly to the specialty sites that most interest us or reflect our very precise point of view.  So when I decided to write a blog about baseball, I figured there was no point in writing just another blog about baseball.  Scott Boras is fascinating, polarizing and more effective at his job than Albert Pujols is at his.  So, this blog was born out of the convergence of my search for a specialized topic and my interest in this one.

The topic, of course, does not lend itself to the daily news cycle.

This off-season doesnt project to be the most exciting one on record, but there will be some interesting story-lines to follow (look, who knew coming into this year that Willie Bloomquist's deal would be one of the most controversial?).  I will be posting as often as interesting stories, perspectives and ideas come to me, of course, but I cant yet project what the frequency of posts will be.  I also want to open the blog up as a forum for anyone else who has interest in contributing, so feel free to send in any posts you think would be appropriate for this site.

A Day's Work, Part Two

We seemed to have missed first rounder Grant Green (#13 Oak) in our tally below.  Green signed at the deadline for $2.75m.  That brings the total to $36,675,000 for Boras' first rounders this year - and that is guaranteed money only.  5% of that comes in below $2m, which, to be honest, is an underwhelming figure.  I cant imagine what goes in to signing these guys - the traveling, the courting.. Must be a painful and expensive process.  Add in overhead and salaries.. whooda thunk it is a low-margin business?

The USA Today put together an interesting profile of the frenzy leading up to the deadline signings, which as it turns out seems like it was far more calm the frenzied.  An interesting nugget:

 "When we started our negotiations, we started in the low 20s over a longer period of years. We never, ever approached anything like $50 million-some dollars. I think people thought that because I had mentioned foreign players, and we represent Dice-K [Daisuke Matsusaka of the Boston Red Sox.]."

A Day's Work

As you read about the Strasburg deal, seeing it described as a "resonable deal", "fair compromise", etc., consider how Boras was able to completely reset the standards for a free agent contract.  Before the hype machine, before the talk of $50m demands, before the talk of international free agency and the liklihood of missing a year... think back a few months and consider what $15m guaranteed actually means.  Its a phenominal contract.  The best ever.  Outdone, perhaps, by  Dustin Ackley's $7.5m guaranteed.

A summary of the first rounders:

Stephen Strasburg (#1, Nats) - Four-year major league deal, $7.5 million bonus, $7.6 million in salaries ($15.1 m guaranteed).

Dustin Ackley (#2, Mariners) - Five-year major league deal, $6 million bonus, $1.5 million in guaranteed salaries, another $2.5 million possible in salaries depending on how quick he reaches the majors ($7.5m guaranteed).

Donavan Tate (#3, Padres) - $6.25m over five years, permission to play football as well.

Turner (#9, Tigers) - Major league contract with a $4.7 million bonus (over six years) and a guaranteed value of $5.5 million. Incentives up to $7 million.

Washington (#30, TB) - Did not sign.  Keeping them honest, I suppose.

MLB Trade Rumors is the place to go for more draft coverage and to see the rest of the first round contracts.

The Best Just Isnt Good Enough

Big day ahead, to be sure.  First round picks #1 Strasburg (Nats), #2 Ackley (Mariners), #3 Tate (Padres), #9 Turner (Tigers) & #30 Washington (Rays) are ALL going down to the wire.  Jeez, you think Boras is going to get to take a bathroom break today?  I would think he would have gotten one or two of these out of the way just to relieve capacity constraints on the organization.  I have a friend who works for a large online flower store, tells me that everyone from the CEO down delivers flowers on Valentine's day.  So, I have to wonder if the mail room clerks will be negotiating million dollar deals as we approach midnight.

By all accounts, the Nats have offered a deal surpassing Mark Prior's $10.5m deal from 2001.  So the question is, is the biggest contract ever extended through the draft a good enough deal?  Boras points out that revenues in baseball have doubled since the Prior deal, so you have to make that adjustment.  He also points to free agent signings - can you imagine the frenzy if a 21 year old came out of Cuba throwing the gas that Strasburg does?  Surely such a player would command the $50m Boras has reportedly asked for.

The Biz of Baseball does a nice job breaking down Strasburg's projected value and comes away with a 6/30 deal.  Ok, I think Boras would live with that.  I am not sure the Nats would, though.  If the Nats dig in at the $15m range, I dont think the fans will blame them for not completing the deal, and I dont think Boras will take it.  So, while most assume that a deal will go down tonight, I am not so sure.

Finally, the always amusing Kenny Powers - uh, sorry, I mean Rob Dibble, had this to say:

Kid, if you want respect you have to earn it, if you want to be hated as much as your agent Scott Boras, hold out and go pitch in independent league baseball.

The choice is really up to you -- hold out and put your progress towards the big leagues, push back time towards arbitration, and oh yea, risk getting hurt in some independent league game, or how about building on being the richest amateur draft pick to date in the history of MLB.