Pirates take on Boras to sign Pedro Alvarez

cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

With the Pirates under new management this year, they didn't back away from selecting a Scott Boras client in the draft. In years past, there is no way the Pirates would have risked selecting Pedro Alvarez from Vanderbilt because of his agent. However, with new management (Robert Nutting as majority owner, Frank Coonelly as team president and Neal Huntington as GM) and the new rule that allows teams that don't sign first or second round picks by August 15 to receive a pick at the same slot plus one the following year the Pirates weren't frightened of Boras.

As expected, negotiations for Alvarez's contract went down to the deadline with Boras wanting a huge signing bonus and a major league contract. The Pirates never changed their position of a six million dollar signing bonus and a minor league contract (there are some reports that suggest that the Pirates started at five million and then increased it). Right before the midnight deadline, Alvarez said that he accepted the offer and the deal was announced the next day.

However, he was never introduced to the media and fans with the Pirates claiming that there were travel problems. As it turns out, the Pirates were simply attempting to shield him from the wrath of the fans as Boras was working behind the scenes to get the deal overturned. So that leads us to the current situation, where the players union is going to an arbitrator against MLB for how it handled the contract agreement of Alvarez.

In the following posts, I'll try to find as many articles as I can on the subject to give the picture of this significant and potentially groundbreaking case. While Boras is making this about Alvarez, the heart of the players union complaint is MLB deciding that the deadline for contract negotiations can be arbitrarily extended.

cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

Dejan Kovacevic is the Pirates beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and he has been all over this story from the beginning.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08243/908243-63.stm

This is the line drawn in the sand between Major League Baseball and its players union on the Pirates' disputed contract agreement with Pedro Alvarez:

When each side is heard Sept. 10 by arbitrator Shyam Das, the union will focus on the Pirates' dealing with their first-round draft pick and his agent, Scott Boras, maintaining that the team sought and received an extension to negotiate beyond the midnight Aug. 15 deadline and, within that, that the Pirates were granted a special favor. The union also will build a case that Alvarez's verbal acceptance of a $6 million signing bonus came after the deadline.

MLB will make the case that at least one more extension was granted, the one for the Kansas City Royals to negotiate with first baseman Eric Hosmer, their first-round pick and another Boras client. That way, MLB can argue that commissioner Bud Selig exercised his discretion in those cases, as he has with others, and that no special favor was granted to the Pirates.

In a clear attempt to buttress that argument, MLB, in an extraordinary move, ordered the Royals to take Hosmer out of action with their rookie-level affiliate in Idaho Falls, pending the resolution of the Sept. 10 arbitration hearing. That was disclosed yesterday, but Hosmer also was held out of Idaho Falls' game Thursday.

"Eric Hosmer will be held out until after the case is heard," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said by phone from New York.

Kansas City was thrust into this scenario when Pirates president Frank Coonelly, in his statement Wednesday about the team placing Alvarez on the restricted list, mentioned that the Royals' agreement with Hosmer - also $6 million - was completed after the Pirates' agreement.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore yesterday acknowledged to Kansas City reporters having read Coonelly's statement but did not address which agreement might have been reached first.

"What I need to say is we agreed during the appropriate time frame and the terms were submitted in the appropriate time limit," Moore said. "That's all I can say about it."

Moore added that Hosmer is "very pleased" with his contract.

Hosmer does not lose any money for the moment, as teams are not obligated to pay signing bonuses until 90 days after the signing of a contract.

The Pirates and Boras declined to comment on the Alvarez matter yesterday, and that policy apparently will hold firm until after the case.

Here is a breakdown of each side appears to be building its case on the following issues:
1. The Royals

According to a source on the MLB side, MLB's argument will be that the Royals' agreement was finalized after midnight, though it was not clear what position will be taken as to whether they or the Pirates came first. The Kansas City Star reported last night that Royals officials had the agreement done before midnight but were put on hold by the commissioner's office, which was dealing with the Pirates at the time.

According to a source on the union side, the union will not raise the timing of the Royals' agreement at all.
2. The deadline

The union, in concentrating on the Pirates and Alvarez, will stress the minutiae of the events at the midnight deadline. That will include phone records showing a call from Boras' cell to the Pirates at 12:02 a.m., and it will be the union's contention that this was the call that resulted in Alvarez saying, "I accept," to validate his contract agreement.

The Pirates' stance has been that this critical call from Boras' office came at 11:58 p.m. and that "I accept" were among Alvarez's first words. But they have acknowledged that some aspects of completing the agreement formally with the commissioner's office came roughly a minute or two after the deadline.

Part of MLB's case will be that multiple calls were made in that span, and that the 11:58 call was the one in which Alvarez accepted.
3. The special favor

The union's case could contend that the Pirates were granted a special favor because of the relationship between Coonelly and Rob Manfred, MLB's chief labor counsel. Before taking his current post, Coonelly served 10 years in the commissioner's office, much of it working closely with Manfred.

That is a charge, the source on the MLB side said, that the MLB is prepared to dispute vigorously.
4. Seeking permission

The union will question why the Pirates did not seek permission from the union after the midnight deadline - on top of the permission granted by the commissioner's office - and will argue that such permission was necessary because baseball's labor pact of 2006 explicitly forbids agreements beyond midnight.

MLB will argue that the commissioner has latitude in such matters and, furthermore, that, because minor league contracts are involved, that the entire case should be excluded from the arbitration process.

What remains undetermined is what action the union will seek from Das. It is known that Boras would welcome reopening Alvarez's agreement in pursuit of a larger bonus, but such a ruling is without precedent.

MLB's preferred course of action will be simple: Toss out the grievance because it is "meritless," as Coonelly and Manfred phrased it Wednesday in independent releases. In the event of a ruling favorable to the union, MLB will seek to have judgment applied solely to future cases.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08242/907865-63.stm

Analysis: Alvarez case a personality clash?
Boras' history with Pirates, Coonelly set stage for mess
Friday, August 29, 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For all the ticking clocks, terse exchanges and now a full-blown drama between Major League Baseball and its players' union, it might be easy to lose sight of perhaps the most pivotal aspect of the Pirates' Pedro Alvarez saga:

Why did they bother?

Why did the Pirates get into a process they knew could descend into this type of mess, given all teams' history of difficult negotiations with Scott Boras, Alvarez's high-profile agent?

And why did Boras engage the Pirates, whose history had been to avoid him at all costs?

For the most accurate picture, it is first necessary to rewind to the draft of 2007 ...

Boras represented the player many scouts considered the best of the class, Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters, and placed him in what he calls a "special" category. That, as all general managers know, means the asking price for a signing bonus can approach eight figures.

Most teams contacted Boras to inquire about Wieters, but not the Pirates, who had the No. 4 overall pick. So, Boras, according to a source in his agency, phoned Dave Littlefield, the general manager at the time, to find out why. The team's response was that it did not view Wieters as a top-five talent, in part because of his throwing. Boras was incredulous that Wieters' throwing -- widely viewed as fine, anyway -- could be prioritized over his switch-hitting, power-hitting abilities, and the conversation soon ended.

Wieters, of course, dropped to No. 5 for Baltimore, and the Orioles never blinked in getting him to sign for $6 million.

How much of that scene could be blamed on the Pirates' talent evaluation -- Boras was not the only agent to have such an experience with previous management -- and how much could be placed on a reluctance to negotiate with Boras, no one can say for sure.

But this much is known: Boras' presence lingered.

Pirates owner Bob Nutting was embarrassed by the vocal fan protest that followed the Wieters episode, and that contributed to his firing of Littlefield two months later. Even when Nutting hired team president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington in September, the Boras/Wieters issue remained the focus of media questioning.

This was especially true for Coonelly because he previously worked for nearly a decade as general labor counsel in MLB commissioner Bud Selig's office. Part of his duty was to advise teams on spending in the draft, urging them to adhere to signing bonuses recommended by the commissioner.

It is there that Coonelly and Boras developed a history of a professional - maybe even personal - rivalry.

Boras has found his fame and fortune by operating outside the box in a tireless attempt to stretch his clients' rights -- and wallets -- through the MLB system. And he has done so with a palpable immunity to the criticism he hears or reads from others. To be sure, from MLB headquarters to general managers to other agents, it is difficult to find one who does not have some beef with how he operates.

One example of a Boras strategy ...

Under the labor pact in place until 2007, a drafted player was ineligible to be signed once he went to college. Not when he committed to go, but when he actually attended a class. Otherwise, teams had a full year to continue scouting that player through what was called the draft-and-follow.

Most players signed close to the deadline after the draft-and-follow period, but Boras would create his own as he pleased: He would contact teams on random days to tell them a client would be attending his first class the following morning.

It was Coonelly's job to monitor strategies like that, inform all 30 teams of how they work and, above all, advise them to stand firm. If those teams would concede, Coonelly then would become the "Enforcer," as some baseball executives dubbed him, and give them an earful. As a result, there were many sharply worded conversations between Coonelly and Boras, as well.

Throw that into the mix, and it is easy to see why many in the baseball community had eyes on the Pirates with this draft, not only to see if Coonelly would spend above MLB's recommendations, but also if he would dare to take Alvarez.

Boras, too, seemed to anticipate it a few months back when he told Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman of Coonelly's new role, "When you're in the winning business versus the institutional business, those are two different worlds. I hope all teams apply their best efforts to take the best player available to them."

Might Boras have relished such a confrontation?

Might Coonelly have?

Actions before the draft show neither side was about to blink ...

Boras remained leery of the Pirates, partly because of the Wieters draft, partly because he never had met Nutting. The way Boras' unique agency operates, and given the scope of his illustrious clientele, owners and other team executives often come to him for introductions.

Still, when it became clear that the Pirates were eyeing Alvarez with the No. 2 overall pick -- how could they not after the Wieters fiasco? -- Boras never crossed them off his list.

He did the usual canvassing, including the usual big-spenders at the lower end of the first round who wait for prospects such as Alvarez to fall to them when Boras out-prices those at the top. But Boras did not have to call the Pirates because it was Huntington who approached him to relay their genuine interest.

Boras responded by granting two pre-draft, face-to-face meetings between Huntington, Pirates scouting director Greg Smith and Alvarez. Such meetings, the Boras source said, never take place unless Boras views the team as a serious suitor.

The Pirates decided Huntington would have the sole voice in negotiations, and that probably was no accident: Coonelly is more outwardly intense than the easygoing Huntington and, given his history with Boras, a clash might have taken place in the first exchange.

Boras and Huntington negotiated regularly, each satisfied with the other's approach even if their numbers were miles apart: Boras sought as much as $9.5 million, and Huntington's only offer until the Aug. 15 deadline was $5 million. But they never stopped communicating and, as late as Aug. 13, Boras granted Huntington a full hour on the phone with Alvarez.

The other constant was that Boras and Coonelly, by all accounts, did not speak. Nor did their personalities have much chance to shine through. Coonelly took a couple slight jabs at Boras by expressing some "frustration." Boras was unable to address the negotiations at all because, officially, he was no more than an adviser to Alvarez, a student at Vanderbilt University.

But, when the MLB Players Association filed its grievance Wednesday contending that some contract agreements were reached beyond the midnight Aug. 15 deadline - including that of Alvarez - all that these two likely kept pent up came bursting out ...

Coonelly issued an extraordinary 575-word press release that charged Boras with trying to squeeze more money out of the Pirates, with not doing what is best for his client, and it stopped just short of openly advocating that Alvarez finds a new agent by praising Alvarez for "independent thinking" for agreeing to the terms Aug. 15.

Boras responded pointedly: "I think it's time for the Pirates and Mr. Coonelly to come clean with the fans of Pittsburgh and let everyone know about their dealings with Pedro Alvarez."

"You don't see a statement like that every day," an American League team official said yesterday of Coonelly's release. "But that tells you a lot about those two. There is no love lost there at all."

There is this, too: Roughly an hour after the deadline, Boras informed the union that he was dissatisfied with the Alvarez agreement being reached past the deadline. But he is not known to have made any such complaint about Kansas City's deal with another of his clients, first baseman Eric Hosmer, even though the Pirates maintain Hosmer's deal - also $6 million -- came after Alvarez. (Royals general manager Dayton Moore yesterday said their deal happened within "an appropriate time frame.")

Why did Boras apparently single out the Pirates?

And how much of all this, in both directions, has been born of a personal challenge for two powerful, strong-willed figures in the game?

More chapters remain.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

Because of everything going on, the Royals are also impacted.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3560734&name=olney_buster

This is Buster Olney via insider, so I can only quote a very small amount

Major League Baseball has been extending deadlines and bending rules for years, presumably with the complicit knowledge of the union and the players' representatives and presumably without some round of collective bargaining. Heck, it was just a few years ago when the commissioner extended the 72-hour negotiation window in order to give Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez more time to work out a complicated financial situation with the Red Sox, as the Rangers and Boston discussed the A-Rod/Manny deal that wound up falling apart.
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Reportedly, Boras asked the Pirates for $8.5 million as part of his final request. And reportedly, when presented with a $6 million offer from Pittsburgh, Alvarez verbally accepted the offer -- and now Boras is saying that Alvarez's verbal agreement shouldn't be enforceable because it happened after the deadline.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

Another insider piece from ESPN senior writer Rob Neyer

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3557256&name=Neyer_Rob

I think what's happening is pretty simple. Boras and the union think they might have found a sort of loophole -- Boras' specialty -- and so they might as well run it up the flagpole and see if the arbitrator salutes. If he does, it could mean hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of extra dollars in Alvarez's pockets. If he doesn't, neither the union nor Boras nor Alvarez has lost anything except time. Oh, and perhaps a bit of goodwill? Naaahhhh.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

From the Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/774033.html

First baseman Eric Hosmer and the Royals are now officially snagged in the ongoing dispute between the Pittsburgh Pirates and third baseman Pedro Alvarez.

The commissioner’s office told the Royals that Hosmer was not allowed to play until the grievance filed by the players’ union on behalf of Alvarez is settled.

“There’s not a whole lot we can do about it,” said J.J. Picollo, the Royals’ assistant general manager for scouting and player development.

“It’s a grievance filed by the players’ association. The commissioner’s office has to react the way they see fit. They thought the best thing to do would be to not have Eric play until the validity of his contract is looked at.”

The commissioner’s office issued a statement confirming its directive: “We have asked the Royals to not play Eric Hosmer until the situation regarding certain player signings has been resolved.”

Hosmer played three games at rookie-advanced Idaho Falls before the edict. He declined comment.

The union contends that the commissioner’s office exceeded its authority by making a unilateral ruling to allow the Pirates to conclude negotiations with Alvarez, the second overall pick in the June draft, after the 11:59 p.m. Eastern time deadline on Aug. 15.

The Pirates issued a statement claiming their negotiations were concluded in a “timely manner” and asserted that the deal had been approved by the commissioner’s office before the Royals’ deal with Hosmer, the third overall pick.

Scott Boras represents both players. He disputed the Pirates’ deal with Alvarez, which included a $6 million bonus, but has not contested the Royals’ $6 million deal with Hosmer.

A union official, speaking anonymously, said that the grievance would focus primarily on Alvarez and that the Royals’ deal with Hosmer is not in dispute.

Arbitrator Shyam Das is expected to hear the grievance Sept. 10 in New York.

Officials with the Royals and the union contend the club had its deal in place with Hosmer before the deadline, but general manager Dayton Moore was put on hold when he contacted the commissioner’s office because of issues surrounding the Pirates’ deal with Alvarez.

“What I need to say,” Moore said, “is we agreed during the appropriate time frame, and the terms were submitted in the appropriate time limit. That’s all I can say about it.”

Hosmer worked out last Friday with the Royals at Kauffman Stadium and had four hits in 11 at-bats at Idaho Falls before the injunction.

“I know Eric Hosmer is very pleased with his contract,” Moore said, “and very pleased to be part of this organization.”
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

Peter Gammons chimes in

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3559033&searchName=gammons_peter

Baseball's draft system doesn't work, and now is the time for Selig to see what this could do to the Pirates and why it's time to care about what the draft is supposed to do for great fans in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. It's all fine and good to boast that baseball revenues have increased from $1.3 billion to close to $7 billion from 1995 to 2008, but the fact remains that in that time period the Pirates haven't been so much as a .500 team.

If I'm a Pirates fan, I am not angry at a bright, tough general manager. I am mad at the system Bud Selig and Don Fehr both neglected and misunderstood. I am mad that Scott Boras can weave the flawed system into his personal tapestry, and I am mad that a good human being might be out $6 million because of the long history of other people's wars.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

From Pittsburgh's other paper, the Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_585259.html

Only the Pirates.

Tell me that wasn't your first thought Wednesday when the Pedro Alvarez bombshell landed.

It happened in the middle of a less-than-riveting Buccos-Cubs fray at PNC Park, where the atmosphere made a Duquesne basketball game look like Mardis Gras.

At the Pirates' request, Major League Baseball placed Alvarez - the team's first-round draft pick -- on the "restricted list," making him off-limits to other teams.

Pirates president Frank Coonelly said this happened because Alvarez's agent, Scott Boras, claimed the terms of his client's contract were agreed upon after the Aug. 15 midnight deadline, thus rendering the deal invalid.

Furthermore, the written statement from Coonelly said, "Boras informed us that Pedro will not report to the club unless we renegotiate his contract and agree to pay him more than the $6 million signing bonus to which he agreed."

Incredible. Alvarez is effectively a holdout after agreeing to terms of a contract that included the largest signing bonus in Pirates history and one of the largest signing bonuses in baseball history.

What's next for this star-crossed franchise - instant replay wipes out the Mazeroski home run?

MLB firmly backs the Alvarez contract even though it was approved a few minutes after the midnight deadline.

"There is a deadline, but certain circumstances can arise that allow administrative relief from that deadline," MLB spokesman Patrick Courtney said.

The players' union contends a deadline can only be extended with its approval, which would make for a lot of phone calls at 11:58 p.m.

In any case, the union plans to file a grievance.

Boras told espn.com: "It's time for the Pirates and Mr. Coonelly to come clean with Pittsburgh fans regarding their dealings with Pedro Alvarez."

The whole dispute seems so silly - we're talking about a few minutes here - that it makes you wonder how much of it is related to Boras' long-time, acrimonious relationship with Coonelly.

For years, these were the two main combatants on the fierce battleground of first-round signing bonuses.

Part of Coonelly's job as MLB's senior VP was to minimize bonuses. He would assign a figure for each pick and strongly encourage teams not to exceed his recommendation.

Boras sought not just to exceed the recommendations but to obliterate them. He often did.

The two, wrote SI.com's Jon Heyman, "had several knock-down, drag-out battles in major-league arbitration hearings."

Now, they've taken their differences to a different stage.

The Alvarez offer was worth $2.5 million more than MLB's recommendation for the No. 2 overall pick but $200,000 less than what Buster Posey, the No. 5 pick, received from the San Francisco Giants.

Might that be what's eating at Boras?

If the union wins its grievance and the Pirates wind up without Alvarez, the public-relations fallout would be unprecedented. Don't think Boras doesn't know it.

If this simply is about Boras trying to make life miserable for Coonelly, Alvarez is nothing but a pawn. And every day the dispute drags on is another day he could be working his way toward the majors.

Alvarez is the one getting hurt here.

Coonelly credited Alvarez for assuming "control of the negotiations" near the deadline but expressed disappointment that Alvarez "would allow his agent to pursue this claim on his behalf."

Indeed, maybe it's time for Alvarez to make like Penguins star Evgeni Malkin and take control of his life.

At age 21, maybe it's time to become a man.

In Malkin's case, that meant abandoning his Russian hockey team at an airport in Finland two years ago and secretly fleeing to the United States to pursue his dream of playing in the NHL.

In Alvarez's case, it means securing his family's future with that $6 million bonus. It could mean abandoning Boras and urging the union to drop its grievance, though it might be too late for that.

Alvarez comes from a humble background in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan. If he goes back to Vanderbilt for his senior year, there is no guarantee he'd ever be the No. 2 pick again. No guarantee he'd ever see another $6 million bonus.

He'd be a fool to continue this pursuit.

He might be sorry he ever let it get this far.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

Vanderbilt's baseball coach says Alvarez likely couldn't play next season in college

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08242/907914-63.stm

Regardless of how the Pedro Alvarez mess plays out, it looks like his options for playing meaningful baseball this fall or winter are becoming increasingly limited.

Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt University's baseball coach, said last night that, even if Alvarez's contract were voided through the Major League Baseball Players Association grievance and he were to try to return for a senior year, he likely will not regain his eligibility from the NCAA. The reason, Corbin said, is the heavy involvement of Scott Boras as his agent.

Other agents in the industry concurred, citing NCAA bylaw 12.3, which stipulates that a student-athlete "may not agree verbally or in writing to be represented by an athlete agent ... for the purpose of marketing the student-athlete's ability or reputation."

Alvarez and Boras were together Aug. 15 for the verbal agreement of a $6 million bonus, and Boras has spoken publicly on Alvarez's behalf.

Vanderbilt will not know definitively if Alvarez is eligible unless he applies to the NCAA, and there is no indication that will happen. Alvarez has not communicated with anyone at the school since before Aug. 15.

That includes Corbin, but Corbin spoke passionately on Alvarez's behalf, clearly moved by some criticism he has read out of Pittsburgh.

"This is a good kid," Corbin said. "I am telling you, this is a good kid! That's the real perspective on this. I know him. My family knows him. He has time for everyone. No ego at all. ... You know, there are two sides to every story, and somewhere in the middle is the truth. I know that, with the fan base in Pittsburgh, there are some people disappointed right now. But they don't know the kid like I do."

If Alvarez's contract is voided, the most likely choice would be to play independent minor league baseball for a year.

If he joins the Pirates, the Florida Instructional League is most likely. After that, they still could send Alvarez to the Arizona Fall League or Hawaiian Winter League at any time, but management would prefer to see Alvarez report soon - grievance or not - to get such an assignment.

It is believed that Boras has advised Alvarez not to speak publicly -- apparently not with the Pirates, either -- until after the arbitration hearing.
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cpawfan · Aug 30, 2008

Re: Pirates take on Boras

A good read from Baseball Prospectus
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8012

While the Pedro Alvarez story is still sending shockwaves through the industry, many people are talking about this as if it's a new scenario, but we're hardly in uncharted territory. From Tim Belcher's holdout in 1983, to the incredible inflation created by the representation of top talents Ben McDonald, Todd Van Poppel, and Brien Taylor from 1989-91, the structure of the modern draft has Scott Boras' fingerprints all over it. Even filing a grievance against baseball is nothing new, as Boras has commonly used it as a tool to gain leverage (and therefore money) for his clients. Here's a quick overview of five of Boras' biggest draft moments that actually resulted in Major League Baseball's involvement.

2000: If A Kid Is Eligible And Nobody Is There To Hear Him, Does He Make A Sound?

At the time, Landon Powell was one of the top high school talents in the country. Always looking for an angle, Boras came up with an idea for his client, who had just finished his junior year at Apex High school in North Carolina: get your GED. Great advice for anyone certainly, but the goal here was to enter Powell's name into the draft pool—and to not tell anyone. So Powell passed his tests, and Boras filed the paperwork to make his player eligible. That's really all they did, using the rule (and not inappropriately), that any player who had graduated high school or received his GED was eligible for draft. So while Powell had eligibility for the draft, nobody really knew that, and the 2000 Draft was completed without his name being called. Boras then accurately stated that his client was in the draft pool and had not been selected; therefore he was a non-drafted free agent and eligible to negotiate with all 30 teams. The commissioner's office then stepped in put a freeze on the Powell situation, giving them 90 days to reach some kind of conclusion. They had no legal leg to stand on, and the delay gave them only until early August, greatly limiting the signing window. Even though Powell was ruled a free agent, the messiness of the situation had many teams unwilling to step into the fray, despite their desire to sign the talent. He would not sign, and he returned to high school.

Fallout:

* Powell would end up playing four years at South Carolina, and was a first-round pick by the Athletics in 2005, by which time Powell had left Boras for agent Mark Pieper of SFX.
* MLB amended the rules to require players that have dropped out of high school to wait for one year, and to get a GED after their 18th birthday in order to become draft-eligible.
* The GED route is now quite common in college baseball, as a number of top prospects, including catcher Robert Stock (Southern California), got their GEDs in order to begin their college careers one year early and have that one-year jump on the draft.

1997: Return To Sender, Address Unknown

Coming off of the biggest fiasco is draft history (which we'll get to in a moment), teams tightened down their processes the following year, but that didn't prevent Boras from trying to have his client declared a free agent—not once, but twice. J.D. Drew is one of the best college players in the history of the game, and was coming off of college baseball's first-ever 30-30 season at Florida State. Knowing what 1996's loophole free agents had received, Drew told every interested party that he would require a $10 million deal to sign. That was enough to scare away the Tigers, who wasted the first overall pick on Rice closer Matt Anderson, but with the second overall pick the Phillies took Drew. They were calling his bluff, and had no intention of giving Drew an eight-figure deal, but they believed that he'd sign anyway. Knowing that the negotiations were going nowhere from the start, Boras immediately went about trying to have his client declared a free agent. He began by claiming that the Phillies did not properly tend an offer before the early deadline because they had sent it to the wrong address. The Phillies sent a standard offer to the address listed on Drew's eligibility card, which was the address of the Drew family home in Georgia. Boras claimed that it was not his client's address, and therefore the offer was invalid.

The Phillies then made multiple attempts to both find and send contracts to Drew's Florida addresses, only to encounter more problems, including one refusal to sign for delivery by a man believed to be an assistant coach at Florida State. Boras would lose this grievance, with an arbitrator ruling that the Phillies had sent the deal to an address that Drew had registered, and the fact that it was the wrong address was Drew's own fault, and not any fault of the Phillies. Even before that ruling was reached, Boras had signed his client to a deal with the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League. He then filed a second grievance, saying that his client had signed a professional contract, and that by doing so, he was no longer beholden to an amateur draft—insisting that once Philadelphia's signing window had closed a week before the 1998 draft, his client would be a free agent. By baseball's own definition, an amateur was someone who had not signed a professional contract. After Boras filed this grievance, MLB altered the rule to add that those playing professionally in the independent leagues were still subject to the draft. In the end, Boras nearly got what we wanted, but it was a hollow victory. An arbitrator ruled that although baseball was in the wrong, especially in changing the rules following the grievance, that he did not have the authority to make a decision on Drew's draft status since he was not a union member. The arbitrator ruled that the decision should be made by MLB's executive council, who of course ruled against Drew. Keep that authority precedent in mind when trying to think through the Alvarez situation. The union carefully worded their statement to clarify that the grievance was not filed for any one player.

Fallout:

* Drew would be drafted by the Cardinals the following year, and signed for a deal which included a total package of nearly $9 million, more than triple the highest offer that he had received from the Phillies.
* Despite not getting what he wanted, Boras proved that year-long hold outs and playing in the independent leagues often led to more money for his clients, including the last two to pull off the gambit, Luke Hochevar and Max Scherzer. This negotiation tactic was one of the primary reasons for the establishment of the August 15th signing deadline in 2007.

1996: An Obscure Rule Turns Into Big Money

This is by far Boras' biggest win, when he took on the rules of the draft, stomped them into the ground, and earned his client at least $25 million in extra money. As with most drafts, Boras entered the year representing a great number of top talents. As with most drafts, those players were taken early in the first round, and as with most years, Boras had little if any communication with the drafting team within the first two weeks of the selection. A little more than two weeks after the draft, Boras had his clients, and others, declared as free agents. The CBA at the time contained a clause that required teams to either tender an offer to players within 15 days, or relinquish their rights to them, but the rule was buried so deep within the agreement that many teams did not even know of its existence. Boras initially filed a grievance for a single player, left-hander Bobby Seay, and baseball lost that grievance in late September, as they really had no case—the rule was the rule. Four players in all were granted free agency: second overall pick Travis Lee (Twins), fifth overall pick John Patterson (Expos), seventh overall pick Matt White (Giants), and Seay, the 12th overall pick by the White Sox. Now eligible to negotiate with all 30 teams, bidding on the quartet proceeded to go through the roof, and the four signed packages totaling nearly $30 million, with White, seen as one of the best high school arms in recent memory, topping out at $10.2 million from the nascent Devil Rays franchise.

Fallout:

* MLB closed the loophole going into the following year.
* Boras proved without a shadow of a doubt that the draft greatly deflates player values. Getting to the current matter, if he could somehow get Alvarez declared a free agent, a poll of industry insiders estimated that the bidding would reach the $17-22 million mark, or nearly four times the $6 million deal he had agreed to.

1994: Varitek-nicalities

Ask any college baseball historian who the best catcher is in the history of the game was, and any argument begins (and probably ends) with Varitek. Coming out of Georgia Tech in 1993 wasn't the best of timing, however. With bonuses nearly quadrupling over the last four years and with Scott Boras as Varitek's advisor, teams were terrified to take him until the Twins finally selected Tek with the 21st overall pick. The two sides were nowhere close to an agreement, and Varitek returned to college for his senior year, where he set numerous career records and established a new ACC record with 76 walks in 1994. The Mariners drafted him the following year with the 14th overall pick, and assuming that they had all of the leverage now that Varitek was a senior, they offered him even less than Minnesota's final offer had been from the year before. However, Boras had his client sign an independent league contract, and filed a grievance that, as a professional player, Varitek was no longer subject to the draft and would become a free agent. There was no conclusion to this hearing, as the Mariners upped their offer more than fifty percent (to $650,000) and signed Varitek, which ended the grievance process.

Fallout

* Varitek's extra year at college and his extended holdout resulted in his not making his professional debut until he was 23, and he did not reach the majors until age 25. Without question, his delayed entry to baseball cost him a few of years of his career.
* Without a ruling, MLB failed to take the proper steps to avoid another Varitek-like situation, leaving the same hole open for Boras to jump through with J.D. Drew three years later.
* Boras proved that the leverage issues that the teams assumed to be true with seniors did not apply to his clients.

1993: He's An Advisor, He's A Family Friend, I Barely Know The Guy!

It was the spring of Alex Rodriguez. Not only was he the best high school player in the country, he was the best high school player that some scouts had ever seen—and his agent was Scott Boras. The Mariners selected him with the first overall pick, and Boras, just two years removed from getting a record-shattering $1.55 million bonus for Brien Taylor, asked for $2.5 million and a major league deal, a figure (and clause) that were all but unheard of at the time. The two sides were well apart, and classes were beginning soon at the University of Miami, where Rodriguez would play should he not sign. (Once a player attends classes, he is unsignable, so the university's class schedule dictated the deadline.) What happened next is of some debate. Days before the fall semester was to begin, the Mariners began negotiating directly with Rodriguez' family and a man named Joe Arriola, who, depending on who you listen to, was either now acting as Rodriguez' advisor, or was simply a family acquaintance. The two sides worked out a deal for $1.3 million, and Rodriguez began his pro career the following spring. Boras then stepped in and filed a grievance on numerous grounds, stating that the team took advantage of Rodriguez by circumventing his representation, and that the deal as Rodriguez understood it was different from what he had signed in the end. Both of those issues could come up again in the Alvarez hearing.

Fallout:

* The grievance was continuously delayed, as Rodriguez was playing and happy with his deal (much like Eric Hosmer was before getting pulled of the field at the order of the commissioner's office yesterday afternoon). In 1996, Rodriguez and Boras agreed to drop the filing when he signed a multi-year extension. Thus (again bringing us to the current mess), the issues have no ruling to use as precedent.
* While Boras remains Rodriguez's agent, the two still have a distant relationship, with Rodriguez doing much of the negotiations with the Yankees on his own, using Boras almost solely as an attorney/advisor.

These five cases certainly prove one thing: Scott Boras sees the draft as his own playground, and he'll go to any length to preserve his kingdom. The frightening thing for Major League Baseball is that even when he loses, he still wins.

With that, the history lesson is over; there will be a test on this material later.

Next week: In what ways the player's union might have a slam-dunk case, though finding relief could prove to be difficult.
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cpawfan · Sep 8, 2008

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08252/910287-63.stm

A minor update as this case appears to be getting more complicated

The Pedro Alvarez case could take even longer to settle.

The matter is seen by some as too complex for the one hearing scheduled for Wednesday in New York, and there already has been discussion that arbitrator Shyam Das will need more than one hearing in the grievance filed by the Major League Baseball Players Association against commissioner Bud Selig's office, alleging that extensions were granted by Selig for teams to negotiate deals -- including the Pirates and Alvarez -- past the Aug. 15 deadline.

If another hearing is deemed necessary, it might not be until well after the season that a ruling is issued. Two reasons for that: One, Das has a busy docket, and Wednesday was one of his few open dates this month. Two, Das is expected to need two to three weeks after cases are made to make his ruling.
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cpawfan · Sep 9, 2008

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08253/910716-63.stm

The Pirates will not be the focus of the first arbitration hearing between the Major League Baseball Players Association and commissioner Bud Selig's office. Rather, only MLB officials are expected to testify, as the union has its say in front of arbitrator Shyam Das in New York.

The union has charged that more than one contract agreement with a draft pick was reached after the Aug. 15 deadline, including the one between the Pirates and first-rounder Pedro Alvarez.

No one from the Pirates or the Alvarez side is expected to be part of the first hearing, of which there will be more than one, possibly several
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cpawfan · Sep 9, 2008

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08254/910790-63.stm

The first step of the Pirates' dispute with Pedro Alvarez will not involve either party.

Neither the team nor anyone in the Alvarez camp will be in New York today for the opening arbitration hearing of the Major League Baseball Players Association's grievance against commissioner Bud Selig's office alleging that contract agreements with more than one draft pick -- including the Pirates and Alvarez -- were reached after the midnight Aug. 15 deadline.

Instead, arbitrator Shyam Das is expected to hear the union make its case by interviewing MLB officials involved in the deadline, including chief legal counsel Rob Manfred.

The next hearing will come on a still-unspecified date near the end of the month, and the Pirates' top baseball officials -- team president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington -- are expected to be summoned to that one. But there has been no indication it will be the last.

The union has submitted a lengthy list of witnesses to call today alone, and there could be more. Beyond that, MLB still must make its case, other briefs can be filed, and Das probably will need 2-3 weeks after the final hearing to render his decision.

Put together, it all could take months.

"We hope it's not more than two hearing days," Coonelly said yesterday. "But we'll see."

MLB will seek to have the case rejected on the grounds that arbitration hearings cannot involve players such as Alvarez who are not part of the union. If the case proceeds, it will content that Selig's office was within its jurisdiction to approve extensions beyond the midnight deadline.

The union will argue, beginning today, that MLB has no such right to approve extensions unilaterally. The only exceptions, it will be argued, have come when the union has granted permission. That did not happen in the Pirates' case.

The union also will contend at some point that Coonelly, a 10-year man in MLB's legal department before joining the Pirates a year ago, received a special favor from Manfred to get an exception for Alvarez. Coonelly has publicly rejected that notion.

Coonelly reitrated his stance that Selig's office was correct in approving Alvarez's contract.

"I'd really hate to speculate how a case will go or how an arbitrator will decide," Coonelly said. "But, again, we feel confident that the commissioner's office acted appropriately and that our contract with Pedro will be held to be valid."

If Das rules for the union, according to multiple sources with knowledge of precedent, the most likely outcome will be that MLB must clarify and follow the rules in future cases. If Das decides to nullify Alvarez's agreement for a $6 million bonus, Alvarez likely will go back into the draft next year and the Pirates would get their compensatory pick at No. 3 overall.

If Das rules in favor of MLB, Alvarez will remain the Pirates' property with the agreement intact.

Either way, Das' ruling is binding.

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington expressed concern about the potential length of the matter.

"Obviously, the longer this goes, the less we can do with him as a player between now and next spring," Huntington said. "We're hoping it can get resolved quickly, that we can get him into a Pirates uniform and have him for the Instructional League."
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Dumpy · Sep 10, 2008

thanks for continually updating this; I am finding it good reading, especially the baseball prospectus article.

cpawfan · Sep 10, 2008

Dumpy said: ↑

thanks for continually updating this; I am finding it good reading, especially the baseball prospectus article.
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I'm glad you're enjoying it Dumpy. I find it fascinating and am very glad to see the Pirates finally have a backbone. Such as the 2007 draft where Littlefield took Daniel Moskos over Boras client Matt Wieters. Oh yeah, Baseball America named him 2008 Minor League Player of Year

cpawfan · Sep 10, 2008

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3576082

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote about Boras, Alvarez and the Pirates

If and when Pedro Alvarez signs with the Pirates, he will automatically become the most hated player among fans since Dave Parker allowed himself to get woefully out of shape in the early 1980s and became the target of battery throwers in the outfield seats at Three Rivers Stadium.
-- John Perrotto, Beaver County (Pa.) Times

The Pirates tell me Pedro Alvarez is a good player and a good kid. I'll take their word about his potential as a big-time slugging third baseman. But that good-kid business? I'm not buying it. Not now, anyway. Alvarez looks like a louse to me. A coward, too.
-- Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Well, so much for the honeymoon period.

All was jubilant three weeks ago when the Pirates announced that they'd beaten the midnight Aug. 15 deadline and signed Alvarez, the second pick in Major League Baseball's June draft, to a contract with a $6 million bonus. The arrival of the former Vanderbilt star symbolized a new direction for the franchise and a welcome change from years of low-cost, "signability" picks and competitive inertia.

The Pirates thought they'd landed a savior. What they got, instead, was a box seat at the Scott Boras Olympics.

Alvarez's introduction to pro ball is currently on hold because of a grievance filed by the Players Association, which contends that Major League Baseball violated the rules by allowing the Pirates to sign Alvarez after the deadline. Shyam Das, a baseball arbitrator, will hear the arguments Wednesday and choose from an array of options. Depending on your source of information, the remedies could range from a wrist slap and an admonishment of "don't do that again" for MLB to outright free agency for Alvarez.

As Alvarez awaits his fate, the soap opera surrounding the proceedings makes the case seem like an afterthought. Pirates president Frank Coonelly raised the stakes in an unusually harsh press release, in which he charged Boras, Alvarez's advisor, with trying to re-do the deal and squeeze more money out of the club.

"Regrettably, we are not surprised that Mr. Boras would attempt to raise a meritless legal claim in an effort to compel us to renegotiate Pedro's contract to one more to his liking," the club said.

There's plenty of animosity to go around. Coonelly spent almost a decade as a lawyer in the commissioner's office before joining the Pirates, and MLB is sensitive to the perception that it might have done a favor for a former employee. Meanwhile, the Pirates' statement clearly fingers Boras, baseball's most successful agent and biggest lightning rod, as the architect of this fiasco. That's a sure public relations winner in blue-collar Pittsburgh.

"You can understand why Frank wants to paint this as Frank Coonelly versus Scott Boras, round 296," said a baseball source close to the Alvarez situation.

Yet Boras isn't the only one crying foul over the Pirates' behavior. Michael Weiner, general counsel for the union, responded to Coonelly's release by charging the Pirates' president with "inaccurate" statements. Boras has since urged Coonelly to "come clean with the fans of Pittsburgh" over the team's alleged attempts to squeeze through an agreement after the official deadline.

Alvarez isn't the only player snagged in this web. Aaron Crow, a University of Missouri pitcher advised by the Randy and Alan Hendricks group, did not sign a contract but reportedly engaged in talks with the Washington Nationals after the deadline. Eric Hosmer, a high school first baseman out of Florida, agreed to a $6 million deal with the Kansas City Royals, but has been pulled off the field with his short-season team in Idaho Falls until the grievance is resolved.

Hosmer also is advised by Boras, who has declined to discuss the specifics of the case, but insists that his final discussions with the Royals came well in advance of the midnight deadline.

While the lawyers prepare their arguments, Alvarez is being demonized before he ever boots a groundball or strikes out with the bases loaded. He's emerging (to his potential detriment) as western Pennsylvania's answer to J.D. Drew, who engaged in a prolonged and nasty dispute with the Phillies a decade ago and is still booed mercilessly each time he sets foot in Philadelphia.

To many in the industry, Alvarez's plight embodies the potential downside of Boras representation. Boras is known for blazing trails, exploiting loopholes, setting records and making history in draft negotiations, and some relationships are strained in the process. Yet as Boras asserted in an interview with ESPN.com, "99 percent" of his draft dealings with clubs go "smoothly." He points to Mark Teixeira, Mike Pelfrey and numerous other recent picks who have signed lucrative deals with negligible drama.

So where does Pedro Alvarez fit in the equation? Is he a talented player just seeking fair market value, or a pawn used to further Boras' agenda? Is he an earnest kid who panicked and agreed to an illegal contract under duress, or did he verbally agree to a deal and then go back on his word? Within the confines of front offices, the latter is a cardinal sin. As one agent put it, "It's so egregious to renege on a deal. That's like spitting in somebody's face."

Those who know him best say Alvarez is mischaracterized as a villain. Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin has come to Alvarez's defense in several media interviews. Ryan Flaherty, a former Vanderbilt teammate who signed with the Chicago Cubs in June as the 41st pick in the draft, is one of Alvarez's closest friends. The two plan to work out together this fall at Vanderbilt, where Flaherty will return to get his degree. In the interim, Flaherty is happy to serve as a character witness for his buddy.

"You'd never know Pedro was a star if you hung around with him," Flaherty said. "He just likes to be part of the team. He doesn't want to be the guy who's out there in the spotlight.

"He likes to play more than anybody I played with in my college career, and this is holding him back from doing that. I know that's the part that's killing him inside, more than the money or anything else -- that he isn't able to play."

It's worth noting, at the outset, that the grievance is not a case of Boras' saying "jump" and the Players Association responding, "How high?" Union officials strongly believe that the action had to be filed to uphold a collectively bargained provision in the labor deal, and they're confident they'll prevail before Das.

While the Players Association thinks Das can choose from a host of remedies, the Pirates counter that the range of options is limited.

"The short answer is that there is no chance Pedro could be declared a free agent," Coonelly said in an e-mail. "So, either the contract stands and Pedro starts his career in Pittsburgh late and with a lot of questions to answer or he goes back in the draft next year and does not get the deal to which he was very happy to agree on the 15th."

For sure, Das' decision will say a lot about the sanctity of deadlines in baseball. Until modifications in the 2006 labor agreement, the draft signing deadline was a moving target. Draft picks were free to sign at any point until they attended their first college class. So the player, in actuality, controlled the deadline. If he chose to attend Sociology 101 on Tuesday, he was free to do so. Or maybe he would pick up the class notes from a friend and wait until Thursday.

The clubs wanted a more concrete deadline. So after considerable give-and-take, with mutual concessions on topics ranging from draft-compensation rules to a change in the contract tender date, the two sides settled on midnight Aug. 15.

Now, the union alleges, Major League Baseball is manipulating the deadline by allowing clubs to go past midnight without the necessary approval of the Players Association. A source said that several confused or "outraged" agents called the union the night of Aug. 15 with reports that clubs were bending the deadline rule. And it's no wonder: If the commissioner's office were allowed to play fast-and-loose with the deadline, it could significantly hamper players' leverage in talks.

Boras maintains that he removed himself from the Alvarez talks after midnight because agent certification rules require him to report illegal contact with his player.

"That's why this thing is so patently unfair," Boras said. "The fans are judging Pedro Alvarez, and you should judge the people first who violate the rules. Pedro's conduct in this matter isn't even relevant. This is about a violation of the rules and collective bargaining."

Boras, of course, has always been adept at using the leverage of deadlines, and is frequently accused of brinksmanship or playing "chicken" by front office people. But in reality, it's a two-way street. Any team that wants to shoot the moon on a Boras pick will never announce the signing in, say, early July, because it knows it will risk the ire of the commissioner's office by setting the bonus bar high for everybody else. The teams are instructed to wait as long as possible in such cases.

On the legal merits alone, the Alvarez case was bound to be the talk of the industry. But the interpersonal rivalries and strong personalities make for an especially colorful story line. As much as Boras would like to fade into the background and make this the union's fight, he is inevitably in the eye of the storm.

ESPN.com spoke with nearly a dozen executives, scouting directors and scouts to gauge how the dispute is being viewed within the game. It's a mark of Boras' clout that they all either declined to comment or spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

While several baseball insiders speculated that Boras' "ego" is a factor in the dispute, the overwhelming majority expressed sadness or frustration over Alvarez's plight. He is, after all, 21 years old, and a novice to the process.

"I cannot see for the life of me where we're looking out for the best interests of the player now," said an AL scouting director. "Is this what's best for Pedro Alvarez? That's what baffles me. The kid should wrestle the pen away and say, 'Let's go.'"

The surrounding circumstances add to the intrigue. Just as Alvarez's talks were coming down to the wire, the San Francisco Giants were concluding negotiations with Florida State catcher Buster Posey. Posey was selected with the fifth pick in the draft -- three spots behind Alvarez -- but received a slightly higher bonus of $6.2 million.

Posey is represented by Jeff Berry of Creative Artists Associates, a firm run by former minor leaguer Casey Close. The group's clientele includes Derek Jeter, Ryan Howard, Ryan Braun, Derrek Lee and Ben Sheets. In a recent Sports Business Journal story, Close was rated the 15th most influential agent in sports. Boras ranked third.

Last summer, Jordan Danks, an outfielder at the University of Texas, dropped Boras for Jeff Berry and CAA between the first and second day of the draft. Danks proceeded to sign for a reported bonus of about $500,000 as a seventh-round pick with the Chicago White Sox. His brother John, a pitcher for the White Sox, also switched representation from Boras' group to Creative Artists.

The competition for clients in the draft is so intense, many people in the industry are convinced this controversy is rooted in a battle for influence between rival agent groups.

"Scott has to have the top bonus in the draft, and that's what it's about," said an American League general manager. "When Scott goes out and recruits players next year, he's going to have CAA out there saying, 'Hey, we got more than Scott Boras did even though our guy was taken later.'"

Boras strongly denies that professional jealousies or Pedro Alvarez's place in the draft pecking order contributed to the current stalemate. Boras said he alerted the union to the Pirates' alleged illegal conduct before he had any idea of the size of Posey's deal with San Francisco.

"Look, I've done the highest bonus in the draft about 20 times," Boras said. "I did the first 50, 100 and 200 million dollar contracts. After doing this for 30 years, I don't need to prove my point that I can negotiate a contract."

The controversy has certainly taken some luster off a feel-good story. Pedro Alvarez is the pride of the Washington Heights section of New York. His father, Pedro Sr., came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and drives a taxi cab for a living. Now his son is sitting idle and being vilified while a fortune sits unclaimed at the middle of the negotiating table.

The backlash from the grievance isn't likely to make Alvarez's route to the majors any easier. Some veteran players will consider him a prima donna and believe he has a sense of entitlement. If he struggles, writers will judge him harshly and he could begin his pro career with a target on his back.

"Assuming this kid is going to play at some point, I think the perception, rightly or wrongly, is that $6 million dollars isn't enough -- that he's more special than anyone else in the draft, and he can go against what he agreed to because it's unfair," said an American League executive. "That's going to create even loftier expectations than the $6 million bonus created. Everybody will say, 'All right, prove it now. You're out on the field. Show us how special you are.'"

Big league clubs -- and the majority of established players -- subscribe to the notion that money should be earned. Front office people talk glowingly about Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki, who signed quickly in the 2005 draft and made it to the majors in a heartbeat. Braun (eight years, $45 million) and Tulowitzki (six years, $31 million) have since signed long-term contracts that will take them through their arbitration years and the beginning of free agency.

Boras' "special" clients, in contrast, don't sign discounted deals in exchange for long-term security, and they frequently push the envelope in the draft. Long before Jason Varitek became the beloved captain of the Boston Red Sox, he was enmeshed in a draft dispute with the Seattle Mariners and signed with the Saint Paul Saints of the Northern League. Both Alex Rodriguez and Drew were involved in protracted negotiations that resulted in grievances before they signed.

Arizona pitcher Max Scherzer chose Boras as his draft "advisor" while at the University of Missouri. Scherzer failed to reach an agreement with the Diamondbacks as the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft, and played independent ball with the Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League.

He was on the verge of re-entering the draft in 2007 when the Diamondbacks scrambled to sign him to a four-year major league contract that guaranteed him $4.3 million and could be worth as much as $5.85 million.

Scherzer said he can relate to what Pedro Alvarez is going through these days. He, too, was called greedy or worse by people who had never met him. But Scherzer never regretted his decision to choose Boras. He's heard the industry buzz that Boras players are easily led and not necessarily the most independent thinkers, and he takes issue with that characterization.

"Scott's had 30 years of experience dealing with contract negotiations at various levels, from the draft to free agency to arbitration," Scherzer said. "He has a very good feel for what's going on and what's going to happen. You want him to handle everything. If you try to take over the negotiations, you're just going to hurt yourself.

"I know from my experiences that you have control of it. Scott would come to me and we'd have discussions, but he didn't force a single thing on me. If you don't like where it's going, you can always say, 'All right. I can't take it anymore. I've got to sign,' or, "I've got to play.'"

Scherzer sees the negative reaction to Alvarez as an inevitable byproduct of an "ugly side" of the game.

"You're going to get slammed," Scherzer said. "I got hammered because everybody was saying, 'Why don't you sign? You're a first rounder, but you haven't done anything in the major leagues.' But when you have a college kid who has zero dollars, this is the one chance he has to take care of his life and his family. An extra million for a draft pick means so much more than a big leaguer trying to go from $100 million to $101 million."

Boras, in the course of preparing his high-end players for the rigors of the draft, tells them to steel themselves for the fallout if they pursue their fair market value. Of course, the definition of "fair" is relative. Boras routinely floats high figures for his elite picks, to the point where many baseball executives roll their eyes.

"These are the rules of perception," Boras said. "Rule No. 1: The player is always [viewed as] wrong if he turns down any amount of money. That's because the evaluation comes from the team. The team says it's fair, and the fans and writers have no point of comparison, because the player has never performed at the major league level.

"I always tell players, 'If you allow the rules of perception to run your day, you have to sacrifice your true value and representation that may be appropriate for your rights. As a player, you have to believe in yourself -- not what others say to you.'"

No one has heard Pedro Alvarez's opinion on the topic, because he's basically been sequestered since the draft. If the union wins its grievance, Alvarez and Boras will be vindicated to a large degree. And if Alvarez performs to expectations in the majors, he will make lots of money and get plenty of love down the road.

At the moment, the cheers must feel a world away. As Pedro Alvarez awaits the resolution of his case, he's found that standing your ground carries a price that can't be measured in dollars.
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cpawfan · Sep 10, 2008

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08255/911174-63.stm

This could take a while.

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball's commissioner, was one of just two witnesses called on the first day of the arbitration hearing involving the Pirates and Pedro Alvarez that began yesterday morning in New York. Selig completed his testimony, but the other witness, MLB labor lawyer Dan Halem, did not.

The next hearing before arbitrator Shyam Das is scheduled for Sept. 23. with an opening on his docket the next day, too. And, with the union's list thought to be much longer than two, with MLB still having to call witnesses, with lawyers needing probably several weeks to file written briefs, and with Das needing time to form a decision, it could be months before the matter is closed.

"We hope not, but it looks that way," Pirates president Frank Coonelly said last night from Pittsburgh.

Coonelly acknowledged the window for Alvarez to play in the Florida Instructional League, which begins later this month, is closing.

No one from the Pirates was present at the hearing. Neither were Alvarez, agent Scott Boras or anybody from another team.

The union filed the grievance late last month contending that more than one agreement with a 2008 draft pick -- including the verbal $6 million agreement reached by the Pirates and Alvarez -- came after the midnight Aug. 15 deadline and without the union's approval. MLB did approve the Alvarez agreement and the rest, and its stance is that the commissioner is within his rights to extend the deadline.

Opening statements yesterday were made by the union's general counsel, Mike Weiner, and MLB lawyer, Howard Ganz.

Spokesmen for MLB and the union said they would have no comment. Boras was unavailable.

MLB has acknowledged extending the deadline for the Pirates' and Kansas City's first-round picks, and Washington also is believed to have been granted one. The Royals agreed to terms with first baseman Eric Hosmer, another Boras client, on a $6 million bonus. The Nationals failed to sign their top pick, pitcher Aaron Crow.
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cpawfan · Sep 12, 2008

Here is an outside opinion on Boras Rick Hurd of the Contra Costa Times

http://www.contracostatimes.com/rickhurd/ci_10400770

Great concept: Selig bans Boras from MLB

THE MOMENT WAS heartbreaking for the 6-year-old who was hearing a voice on the other end of the phone tell him that A's left fielder Joe Rudi and reliever Rollie Fingers had been sold to the Boston Red Sox. Don't remember much more about that summer night in 1976 except the uncontrollable sobs.

Thank goodness for commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who rode to the rescue and used his "in the best interests of baseball" clause to declare the transaction void.

This memory is sponsored by super agent Scott Boras, who has shown that there would be no better time than now to renew that outdated concept. After all, who wouldn't like to see Bud Selig take the microphone at a press conference and announce: "In the best interests of baseball, we're decertifying Scott Jacka-, er, Boras."

Does anybody disagree such a scenario would be a great thing? If not, perhaps it might be worth asking Pedro Alvarez in a few years.

Alvarez is the third baseman the Pittsburgh Pirates — this weekend's Giants opponent at AT&T Park — drafted second in the June draft, a kid with so much raw ability that he has been viewed as a cornerstone in an effort to produce a winner in the Steel City for the first time since 1992. Unfortunately for the Pirates — and for the game, really — he resides on the restricted list, the result of a dispute with the team that is entirely Boras' doing.

To review: The Pirates insist they have a valid verbal agreement with Alvarez on a minor-league contract worth $6 million. Boras insists the Pirates missed the deadline for filing the contract terms with Major League Baseball. The matter will be determined in arbitration Wednesday.

But regardless, Alvarez is the big loser in this game. He is a pawn in a typical ploy by Boras for more cash at the expense of common decency. Never mind the sickness of haggling over such money for somebody who's yet to see a professional pitch. Keep in mind, also, that Alvarez shared a bedroom with his sister in an apartment growing up in New York, and that his father drives a cab to help make ends meet. Think $6 million could make their lives a little easier?

Thus the reason, probably, that Alvarez agreed to the deal after it sat on the table for two months. But his signing meant that the draft's biggest payout — a $6.2 million bonus to Giants catcher Buster Posey — would not reside in Boras' camp. So naturally, Boras has let his ego dictate Alvarez's future while clearly not having his best interests at heart.

Which is why it would be wonderful if baseball could ban him. It's one thing for Boras to leak the news during the World Series that his one-time $252 million man, Alex Rodriguez, was opting out of his contract. It's quite another to play loose and fast with the future of a 21-year-old without the worldly experience to make the common-sense call.

Already, Boras has probably doomed Alvarez's future in Pittsburgh. Even if Alvarez does sign, he likely will be given the J.D. Drew treatment. Drew, like Alvarez, was baseball's second overall pick, but he never signed with the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1997 draft, instead standing firm that he wouldn't sign for less than $10 million. He eventually was dealt to St. Louis, and Phillies fans have treated him with disdain ever since.

Boras was at the center of those negotiations, too.

To see Alvarez go down the same road is as sad as it is disgusting. Pittsburgh is a blue-collar town, one that won't take kindly to a kid who has been doomed to be viewed as just another greedy athlete.

If only he had been forced to choose another agent.
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cpawfan · Sep 12, 2008

http://www.contracostatimes.com/giants/ci_10440934

Here is Hurd's follow up article after Boras called him

THE POOL WAS beckoning Sunday afternoon when the cell phone rang, accompanied by "Unidentified Number." The urge was to blow it off.

Almost immediately after picking up, I wished I had.

"Rick," the voice on the other end said, "This is Scott Boras!"

He was calling to discuss my Sunday column, one that opined strongly that baseball would be better off if Boras were not a part of it. Boras represents Pedro Alvarez, the Vanderbilt third baseman selected No. 2 overall pick in June's draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has been put on the restricted list as the two sides argue over whether he agreed to a $6 million bonus before or after the signing deadline (Boras contends the Pirates filed the contract too late; the case went to arbitration Wednesday).

Boras said he didn't have a problem with my opinion, only that I had formed it with a skewed view from afar. I told him my opinion probably wasn't going to change, but that I pride myself on being fair. And then we talked. And talked some more.

More than an hour later, he was right about one thing. My opinion was a bit skewed. Turns out, it's not so much Boras I despise as what his profession represents.

I guess I'm old-fashioned. For me, baseball used to be about box scores and strategy and "Who's better, this guy or that guy?" And it was about all those silly little metaphors that the late comic genius George Carlin encapsulated so well, the ones about the game being "played in a park" and that it entailed "running home."

Correct me if I missed something, but it was never presented as a vehicle for greed.

To say the game ever was devoid of monetary concern would be fiction. But it retained the illusion, and thanks to folks such as Boras, that's no longer the case. To judge by all the e-mails that echoed my sentiments following Sunday's column, I'm not the only one ticked off by that.

"Let me tell you where you're off base," Boras said.

Then he proceeded to explain why the market was what it was for J.D. Drew, the top pick in the 1999 draft who never signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that drafted him. And he explained how baseball's draft is in the dark ages when it comes to compensation, especially when taking into account the struggles the game has had attracting inner-city kids. And why he was legally bound to report his claim that the Pirates missed the deadline for signing Alvarez, lest Alvarez sign an illegal contract.

In the end, he made some interesting points. Just as Pirates president Frank Coonelly surely would if he were to discuss his team's point of view. But from this side of the phone, it seems the same as it has for too long. Greed being slugged out in a public forum.

"I try to represent the voice of the common man," I told him. "And all I know is that to watch a 21-year-old turning down $6 million is disgusting."

He responded in surprising fashion. Much does need to change, he said, especially with respect to the world we're presenting to our children. He spoke of his beliefs and values, and I was stunned to find many in line with my own and that of the family of four who shells out $200 to attend a baseball game.

All of which could lead to a much longer discussion on the topic of looking at one's self in the mirror each day. But I don't doubt Boras is able to so with a clear conscience, and no longer do I doubt that he should. Turned out it's not what Boras does that has me so chapped. It's that he does it so well.
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Dumpy · Sep 12, 2008

He's correct that the compensation system is skewed, especially with regard to minorities. Anyone who has read how the yankees screwed with Brien Taylor knows this.

Boras is a creation of the owners, who are the biggest slime involved in baseball. It's unfortunate that the losers in this is the poorer, small-market teams taht are generally forced to pass up superior talents. This has gone on for years; allegedly the Indians didn't select Joe Morgan #1 because they knew they couldn't afford to pay his demands. What needs to happen is what has happened in basketball: for there to be pre-defined salaries for a player's first few years.

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Pirates take on Boras to sign Pedro Alvarez

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