In an interesting turn of events, it now appears that Alex Rodriguez will re-sign with the New York Yankees.
The interesting aspect of the pending 10-year, $275 million contract is that the negotiations have apparently been conducted without the active participation of A-Rod’s agent, Scott Boras.
According to a detailed article in today’s “Wall Street Journal,” Rodriguez (and his wife) desperately wanted to stay in New York City, but A-Rod felt that option had been effectively been burned after he had declared free agency, with the strong urging of Boras. (The WSJ story can be found here; subscription required.)
A-Rod apparently shared this frustration (and love for NYC and the Yankees) with his friend, investing genius Warren Buffett, who advised the slugger to approach the Yankees without Boras’ involvement. Apparently, A-Rod did exactly that, reaching out to a Goldman Sachs personal wealth manager, who in turn reached out to a Goldman exec who had worked directly with the Yankees organization.
Even if an A-Rod/Yankees agreement is reached, it will still need the blessing of Boras. And why wouldn’t Boras agree to such a deal? He still gets his commission on any A-Rod deal.
Hmmmmm, let me see . . . an agent is supposed to represent clients to the best of his/her abilities, correct? Correct.
As part of such representation, an agent is supposed to negotiate with the client’s best interests in mind, correct? Correct.
And that usually means getting greater and greater financial consideration for a client, correct? Correct.
And if part of how an agent can create greater perceived value for his/her client is by creating a publicty firestorm for said client, shouldn’t the agent do that? Yes.
So why is Major League Baseball surprised (let alone upset) that agent Scott Boras chose the middle of Game 4 of the 2007 World Series to announce that Alex Rodriguez would opt out of the final three years of his contract with the New York Yankees?
Seriously? Are you joking? Get a life MLB.
Professional baseball is just that — a profession, a business, and Boras was only doing exactly what he’s supposed to do which is represent his client’s interests in the best way possible. And in this instance, that meant using the worldwide platform of Game 4 of the World Series to proclaim that A-Rod was back on the market.
Announcing Rodriguez’ impending departure from the Yanks a day earlier or later would NOT have had the same impact.
Would it have shown greater class to wait a day after the Series ended? Sure. But just because it would have been classier — or better for baseball (or Series’ winner the Boston Red Sox) — the MLB and BoSox are not Boras’ clients. Rodriguez is.
Strategically, the timing of the announcement was a PR winner.
