And the award goes to...

[lil red jeep]

Scott Boras as the "Smartest" man in baseball!:rolleyes: Not only did this guy negotiate a 5 million dollar a year pay cut for catcher Jason Veritek, he suggested to Manny Ramirez last summer to have a hissy fit in Boston so they would trade him and he'd make the big bucks! Like 20 million a year in Boston was chump change! Now, since they have turned down 45 mil for 2 years and 25 mil for one year, he is negotiating his players right out of the league. Yes, he got Tex a nice salary in NY, but other than that, this guy is killing his players bank accounts faster than my ex-wife killed mine! Can't wait til spring training. Nine days to go!!!

[Talapia]

Scott Boras as the "Smartest" man in baseball!:rolleyes: Not only did this guy negotiate a 5 million dollar a year pay cut for catcher Jason Veritek, he suggested to Manny Ramirez last summer to have a hissy fit in Boston so they would trade him and he'd make the big bucks! Like 20 million a year in Boston was chump change! Now, since they have turned down 45 mil for 2 years and 25 mil for one year, he is negotiating his players right out of the league. Yes, he got Tex a nice salary in NY, but other than that, this guy is killing his players bank accounts faster than my ex-wife killed mine! Can't wait til spring training. Nine days to go!!!

I know it is a lot of money but Manny ain't young anymore and he definitely
needs a multi-year contract. The Dodgers will offer him at least a
3-year deal for around 20+ mil a year. I think 1M is too much but
that is what he can get.

[TreednNC]

Id play ball and be on the road for 150,000K a year.

[basstardo]

Hell yeah me too. These boys make INSANE amounts of money and they're gonna cry about ONLY making a few million.

[jhmorgan]

Scott Boras as the "Smartest" man in baseball!:rolleyes: Not only did this guy negotiate a 5 million dollar a year pay cut for catcher Jason Veritek, he suggested to Manny Ramirez last summer to have a hissy fit in Boston so they would trade him and he'd make the big bucks! Like 20 million a year in Boston was chump change! Now, since they have turned down 45 mil for 2 years and 25 mil for one year, he is negotiating his players right out of the league. Yes, he got Tex a nice salary in NY, but other than that, this guy is killing his players bank accounts faster than my ex-wife killed mine! Can't wait til spring training. Nine days to go!!!


Boras has had some major gambles that did not quite pay off like he expected over the years, but when you look at ALL of his clients, they have turned out ok. Remember when JD Drew opted out of LA a few years back and everybody (I literally mean every single person in America) thought he was an idiot because he was being overpaid in the first place? Then he went and got a BIGGER deal from Boston. Or how he convinced A-rod to opt out last year, only to have him sign a bigger deal with NYY. Nobody saw the baseball market dropping as sharply as it has. I mean, look at the contracts given even last year to players of significantly worse talent. Varitek's case you can argue, as he has been absolutely terribly the last 2 years with the bat and hes getting old at a position where you drop off the face of the earth.

And Boston is not without fault in the Ramirez saga. They have the best PR machine in professional sports. Every time they have an aging star, they manage to ship them out of town and then stand back and blame the player. Garciaparra, Pedro and now Manny all fit the same mold. If you look at Ramirez' stats last summer, you see that he was actually playing almost every day (yes I know he took off those days where he couldnt "remember" which knee was hurting him, and he pushed down the Boston employee, and he was an idiot half the time), but they loved Manny "for being Manny" all of those other years.

Boston held 2 options for the last 2 years, each year at 20 million. They refused to say whether they would excerice the clauses. All Manny wanted (after 8 of the most productive years of MLB history with the Red Sox) was to know where he stood with the team. Their refusal to do so opened the door to Manny being unhappy and wanting out. Somehow, he turns into the scape goat and they skate off looking like the victim...

[lil red jeep]

Boras has had some major gambles that did not quite pay off like he expected over the years, but when you look at ALL of his clients, they have turned out ok. Remember when JD Drew opted out of LA a few years back and everybody (I literally mean every single person in America) thought he was an idiot because he was being overpaid in the first place? Then he went and got a BIGGER deal from Boston. Or how he convinced A-rod to opt out last year, only to have him sign a bigger deal with NYY. Nobody saw the baseball market dropping as sharply as it has. I mean, look at the contracts given even last year to players of significantly worse talent. Varitek's case you can argue, as he has been absolutely terribly the last 2 years with the bat and hes getting old at a position where you drop off the face of the earth.

And Boston is not without fault in the Ramirez saga. They have the best PR machine in professional sports. Every time they have an aging star, they manage to ship them out of town and then stand back and blame the player. Garciaparra, Pedro and now Manny all fit the same mold. If you look at Ramirez' stats last summer, you see that he was actually playing almost every day (yes I know he took off those days where he couldnt "remember" which knee was hurting him, and he pushed down the Boston employee, and he was an idiot half the time), but they loved Manny "for being Manny" all of those other years.

Boston held 2 options for the last 2 years, each year at 20 million. They refused to say whether they would excerice the clauses. All Manny wanted (after 8 of the most productive years of MLB history with the Red Sox) was to know where he stood with the team. Their refusal to do so opened the door to Manny being unhappy and wanting out. Somehow, he turns into the scape goat and they skate off looking like the victim...

I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were such a Yankees fan. Scott Boras conspired with Manny to lay out and fake injuries and act like a fool because Boras knew that if Manny's option(s) were picked up by Boston,he (Boras) wouldn't make a dime off of it. Manny signed the contract with Boston when Boras wasn't his agent, and Boras saw $$$ in Manny. He also saw a guy who is unbelievably smart about baseball, and incredibly naive about life and the ins and outs of a contract. Boras convinced Manny the he was worth 4 years and 100 million dollars. Problem was, at 37, no one is going to pay that kind of money to a guy with a reputation for being a quitter on the field. His reputation is of his own making, not the Red Sox spin machine.

As for Nomar, and Pedro, they were clearly at the end of their production. Since Nomar left Boston, how many games has he played short stop? That is what he played for Boston, and he clearly had lost a step or two. After he was traded, Boston, with the help of a mobile SS won their first Series in 86 years. To show the class they do have, they as a team voted a full World Series share of the purse to Nomar. Pedro on the other hand was so much like Manny it wasn't funny. One day he was happy as a clam in Boston, the next, he was swearing he never wanted to step foot in Boston again. After so many times crying wolf, they'll eventually give you what you ask for, and that was the door.

Manny was a quitter, and is crazy for turning down 25 mil from the Dodgers. At his age, he should be happy someone even wants him because of his antics. He is one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen. Surely a first ballot hall of famer. On the other hand, his production with his bat doesn't excuse his quitting on his team. How else do you explain hitting .396 after getting to L.A.? It wasn't the pitching! He had the same ability to hit in Boston, but under Boras' thumb, he was greedy.

[jhmorgan]

Just a massive sports fan in general. You are correct in saying that Boras would not have received any money if the options were picked up. But look at it from Manny's side: you play 8 seasons with a team that you brought 2 championships to (after 90 years of playing the lovable loser card), and they refuse to tell you if they intend to pick up the options or not. If you know that you only have roughly 3-5 years left in your job field, wouldnt you want to have some security?

Your originial post implies that the Sox would pick up the options, which we will never really know. But after years of trade rumors, I would think they would not have picked them up. Boras has one simple job: to get his players the most money possible in a location that they are comfortable in. Manny clearly was not comfortable in Boston and Boston was clearly not comfortable with Manny.

And finally, Manny did NOT "quit" on his team. Last season he played 153 games between BOS/LA. That means that he missed 9 team games on the year. In Boston he played in 100. Now would you happen to know that Manny had not played 153 games in a season since 2003 (when he played in only one more)?? Or that in 3 other seasons he had played in 152. Or that from 1994-2008 (his full time seasons) he averaged only 138.73 games a year?

In Boston last year, he hit .299, with a .398 OBP, was on pace for 30+ HR with over 100 RBI. Find me any other player in the league that you would claim was "quitting" with numbers like those numbers. So I dont agree at all with your assessment of him laying down on the Red Sox.

Here are the BOS/LA splits:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ramirma02.shtml

But because I know that any good argument has to acknowledge the good points of the counter argument, ill post this link of Bill Simmons' (one of the biggest Boston fans of all time) which blames it all on Boras too. It came out a while ago but was a good, and long, read. Personally, I still understand why Boras does what he does. I mean, wouldnt you if you were in his position?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=manny

[redneckranger]

I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were such a Yankees fan. Scott Boras conspired with Manny to lay out and fake injuries and act like a fool because Boras knew that if Manny's option(s) were picked up by Boston,he (Boras) wouldn't make a dime off of it. Manny signed the contract with Boston when Boras wasn't his agent, and Boras saw $$$ in Manny. He also saw a guy who is unbelievably smart about baseball, and incredibly naive about life and the ins and outs of a contract. Boras convinced Manny the he was worth 4 years and 100 million dollars. Problem was, at 37, no one is going to pay that kind of money to a guy with a reputation for being a quitter on the field. His reputation is of his own making, not the Red Sox spin machine.

As for Nomar, and Pedro, they were clearly at the end of their production. Since Nomar left Boston, how many games has he played short stop? That is what he played for Boston, and he clearly had lost a step or two. After he was traded, Boston, with the help of a mobile SS won their first Series in 86 years. To show the class they do have, they as a team voted a full World Series share of the purse to Nomar. Pedro on the other hand was so much like Manny it wasn't funny. One day he was happy as a clam in Boston, the next, he was swearing he never wanted to step foot in Boston again. After so many times crying wolf, they'll eventually give you what you ask for, and that was the door.

Manny was a quitter, and is crazy for turning down 25 mil from the Dodgers. At his age, he should be happy someone even wants him because of his antics. He is one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen. Surely a first ballot hall of famer. On the other hand, his production with his bat doesn't excuse his quitting on his team. How else do you explain hitting .396 after getting to L.A.? It wasn't the pitching! He had the same ability to hit in Boston, but under Boras' thumb, he was greedy.

First the Pink Sox are just as pitiful as the Yankers when it comes to buying World Seris. Do you think they could have been as dominate without spending 180 million + every year?? NO they couldn't

As for the Pink Sox fans (my fiance included) if they are so great why did it take them 86 years to win a world seris(don't give me that BS about Babe Ruth). As far as im concerned both teams and go to hell

[lil red jeep]

Man you Royals fans are brutal!

[redneckranger]

Sorry im A Cardinals Fan I am sick to death of ESPN pandering shamelessly to the those two teams