More Boras

Super-agent Boras says Pirates will have opportunity to re-sign Alvarez, Cole
Pirates/MLB Videos
Scott Boras stood on the crushed brick track behind home plate at PNC Park prior to Tuesday's game and marveled at the view. A former minor league teammate of Pirates first base coach Nick Leyva, the super agent said he would love to play at the Pirates' home — if he were still playing.
The question for Boras is: How long will some of his clients in the home dugout play in Pittsburgh? Boras represents Pedro Alvarez and Gerrit Cole, as well as Cubs uber prospect Kris Bryant.
Boras told Trib Total Media his confidence in Pirates ownership's desire to compete — and spend — has increased. He said he feels compelled to give the Pirates “an opportunity” to make serious efforts to keep his clients as part of the club's long-term core.
“I'm encouraged by Pittsburgh. The core is here. The management team is here,” Boras said. “I just remember a conversation I had with Bob (Nutting) when he signed Gerrit and it was very clear that he wanted to (turn) a new leaf for this town. ... He wanted to do something different.”
Nutting spent differently on the draft. The Pirates shelled out a major league-record $51 million in draft bonuses from 2008-12. But Pirates' payrolls have remained ranked near the bottom of the industry.
While the Pirates have signed players such as Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte to long-term contracts, those are club-friendly deals that look to be dramatically undervalued. They are the types of deals Boras has publicly criticized.
“There was a change of circumstances here with the draft. Does that means there can be a change in circumstance in how they pursue major free agents? In fairness, I have to give them the opportunity to do the other,” Boras said. “The formula for every team is never constant. You can't say ‘We are an organization that never does (that).' You always have to have that flexibility to do things that you probably thought you wouldn't do to become what you hope you'd be.
“There really has to be flexibility. There's a time to do it.”
This past offseason, the major league team with the 29th-ranked Opening Day payroll, the Miami Marlins, signed Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year, $325 million extension — the biggest contract in baseball history.
Boras said the Pirates have not yet engaged in serious talks to extend Alvarez, who is a free agent after next season, or Cole, who can't become a free agent until after the 2019 season.
“I don't sign checks,” Boras said. “I'm in the back of the bus. … I get the message when the driver pulls over and says, ‘I need to talk to you.' When you represent great players, or unique talents, you kind of wait and see what they think, and wait and see what the team thinks, and usually that's a period of years.”
Boras also disputes the idea that he avoids extensions at all costs.
“I always let players make their decisions,” Boras said. “People say I always go to free agency. I can give you 15 players that did not go to free agency.”
Still, extensions don't mean discounts, and Boras noted that his “appraisals” of clients' value have proven to be accurate, and have often either set the market for or come near market prices.
What could complicate any appraisal of Alvarez is that Boras said Tuesday he still believes Alvarez can play a competent third base — where he would have more value —– despite his throwing issues last season.
Still, the Pirates changed from avoiding Boras clients such as Matt Wieters in the draft to selecting them first (Cole) and second (Alvarez) overall. So will the Pirates make a Boras client their first $100 million player?
“You have to remember, players like playing here. It's a beautiful ballpark,” Boras said. “(But) it's a competition. You have to compete in the draft, and you have to compete in free agency.”
Travis Sawchik is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at tsawchik@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Sawchik_Trib.
The statement that we've signed players like Cutch and Marte to club friendly under-valued contracts really bothers me. It's the fundamental flaw in the game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the arguments, but even I can't spend $50 million dollars if it's handled properly. The greed that exists is just disgusting.