Last week, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com wrote the following:
Scott Boras’ latest attempt to free-agent-nap another marquee player — in this case, as first reported by Fox’s Ken Rosenthal, Mets dynamo Jose Reyes — was nothing new, other agents say.
Now, technically, there is nothing illegal about it, as long as Boras reports all contact with other agents’ clients to the players’ association, as required by the new agent rules. But it serves as more evidence that it isn’t just happenstance when high-profile free agents (such as Rafael Soriano and Jayson Werth this past winter) abruptly switch to Boras on the verge of their free agency. True, it’s only business — but that doesn’t mean it’s a particularly pretty part of the business.
Interesting choice of words with “free-agent-nap.” Further, it is interesting that Stark included Jayson Werth’s name amongst those who have been “free-agent-napped” by Boras, since Werth has stated, after Stark’s story was published, that he was never solicited by Boras. In fact, Werth first reached out to Boras after his friends and former teammates told him good things about the agent.
Prior to signing with Boras, Werth was represented by Jeff Borris (try not to get confused by the similar pronunciation of last names) at Beverly Hills Sports Council. Werth was “shopping” for a new agent and certainly did not use any coupons in his selection of Boras. I expect that Boras took a fair commission on the fantastic 7-year, $126 million contract he negotiated for his client.
