I don't have any idea if some prospective owner of the Cubs talked to Scott Boras and the possibility of Alex Rodriguez winding up with an ownership stake was discussed. Sure, that's what New York magazine says. But Boras has denied the story, and anyway, it would present all sorts of problems if true: In the first place, it's tampering, and in the second place, it seems that MLB's rules prohibit not only player ownership, but also a negotiation for future ownership.
So it's a nothing story.
Except...
Except Scott Boras' name almost never shows up accidentally. He might tell you that he's not as smart as you think, but the truth is that he's almost
always the smartest guy in the room. This story, just like all the other stories in which Boras is quoted, or is rumored to have been quoted, spring from the mind of a master manipulator of a credulous sporting media.
For example, when he says the Devil Rays really can get to the playoffs, if they'll just plunge into the free-agent market like the Tigers did a few years ago, is that a knowledgeable baseball man offering an opinion? Sure. And if you believe that, I've got a starting pitcher with a career 4.84 ERA I'd like to sell you for $12 million per season.
Oh, wait; that's not me. It's
Boras who has that starting pitcher, and he's already
trying to sell him. He will, too.
Everything Boras says publicly, and I mean
everything, is done for one reason: to drive up the price of his clients, and thus feed more dollars into Boras' empire. In this case, of course, there's just a rumor about something he might have said. But the rumor, however unfounded and unrealistic,
still serves Boras' purpose. Because now when he's auctioning the services of Mr. Rodriguez this winter, in the back of everybody's mind will be:
He's so good that if there weren't a rule against it, we might have to give him a piece of the franchise. But since we can't give him a piece of the franchise, we'll just have to give him more ... money.
Rob Neyer
