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Two Weeks From MLB Draft – Do You Know Who Your Advisor Is?

We are exactly two weeks away from the MLB Rule 4 Draft.  Many college baseball players and high school baseball players are having their seasons come to a close while others are still playing.  Many talented players have already chosen their advisors, but there are also quite a few who have held out until now to make the important decision on who will be helping them decide whether to go pro or go to school, and if they will go pro, how they should be negotiating their draft bonus.  There are others who believe an advisor is not necessary – some will sign for less money than they should have, while others will make prudent decisions.

The players who are going to commit to an advisor within the next couple of weeks should be well prepared in the “selection process”.  Just as there are a variety of choices in any isle of your local supermarket, there are many different types of advisors.  Things that an athlete should consider include the advisor’s knowledge base, connectivity to baseball decision makers, negotiating style, track record, and fee structure.  From a biased standpoint, the perfect book for an athlete and his family to read prior to making the important advisor selection is An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, Fifth Edition.  I am biased, because I am a Contributing Writer on the book.

The publisher has been nice enough to share a chapter from the book, free of charge, for your enjoyment.  Chapter 7 is titled, Making the Selection, and it provides some excellent tips about what an athlete and his family should be looking for in an advisor.  I especially like this tip:

Ask a prospective agent for proof of educational background, training, and work experience – particularly in the sports field. The agent’s experience and record is particularly crucial if he is going to manage money.

Another very important entry for high school and college baseball players to read comes sandwiched between Chapters 8 and 9, and is titled, A Perspective on a Talented High School Baseball Player’s Dilemma.  The first sentence reads: “Should a graduating high school senior sign a professional baseball contract or attend college first?”  Talk about a loaded question!  But this is a decision that many athletes must confront, and without the aid provided by a competent advisor, this decision (which is probably the biggest one thus far in the athlete’s life) could be made in error.

I have embedded the aforementioned Chapter 7, below.


Making the Selection

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

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