According to Wallace Matthews, in a great column for Newsday, Scott Boras is aiming his spin on Alex Rodriguez in the direction of the Mets, citing how his client will do wonders for SNY ratings and attendance at Citi Field.
Boras, among other comments, as quoted by Matthews…
“You can’t count Alex against payroll because he pays for himself…This is not a baseball decision, it’s a business decision. The Mets are in a rare situation where they can add a player of Alex’s performance and he doesn’t cost them a thing. To me, this is an easy, easy call.”
…i’d like to see boras run a political campaign one day…he is so good at creating a market for his client, and whipping the team’s fans in to a frenzy…i have spent the better part of two days making posts and linking to words about the Mets and a-rod, none of which are based in fact, and all of which are just rumor and innuendo, yet it keeps happening and will continue to happen…this is not an accident…he is great at using media to spin, disseminate and control the message, all while setting the terms of the discussion…frankly, the way this thing is getting started, i would not be shocked to see a-rod in the White House, instead of playing baseball next season…
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Boras is dying to get the Mets in this..
Exactly. As the Yankees have said they are out of it, and the Red Sox have proven they don’t need A-Rod to win a World Series, Bora$ desperately needs the Mets involved so he can scare the Angels, Dodgers, etc, by saying a big money team is interested.
I really, really hope this all blows up in his (and A-Rod’s) face an no team is willing to pony up the $300 million (minimum) for this over-hyped showhorse. I know it won’t happen, but I can dream.
First of all, you’ve got to understand that Boras already knows that a specific team will pay A-Rod more money than he left on the table in the Bronx. You don’t think Boras would be that stupid to pass up the big Yankee bucks to gamble on MAYBE a bigger payoff. He knows specifically who will pay it and it’s only a matter of how much higher he can drive up the bidding price. Boras is always two steps ahead of baseball’s brain trust.
Boras is nonsense. Pure nonsense. The Mets will sell out the new stadium with or without A-Rod. I wonder why Boras always fails to note that attendance in Texas actually went down when A-Rod got there and went up when he left … or that the Mariners attendance went up when A-Rod left. Hmmm.
It goes a lot deeper than that…. Boras’ argument that ARod “pays for himself” is the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. It’s a baseball version of Tesla’s “perpetual motion machine”. It can’t work in the real world.
Or, to be precise, it only works if you have an infinite number of fans, a stadium with infinite seating capacity and the ability to sell infinite amounts of merchandise.
Imagine if it was possible to sign a whole bunch of guys who “pay for themselves” — ARod, Bonds, Cal Ripken during the last year of his streak, Doc Gooden circa 1985, Nolan Ryan in his final season, Pete Rose when he broke the all-time hit mark. Would that team suddenly sell 1200-percent more merchandise? Would fans buy a jersey for EACH of them, and STILL buy a Reyes or Wright jersey? Would that team’s games suddenly become the highest rated show on television, beating all of the prime time offerings? Of course not! Because in reality there is an upper limit… there are only so many baseball fans out there, and of them, there are only so many Met fans. And even if we max all of them out, there are only so many seats in the stadium and they only have so much money they’re willing to spend.
Put ARod in Tampa and maybe he comes closer to paying for himself (especially if he makes them a contender). But the Mets already have high attendance and high ratings – we’d bump up against the upper limit pretty quickly.
I’m NOT saying don’t sign ARod. If the price is right , why not? But let’s not buy into Boras’ lunacy either. It’s not “free” – far from it.
Well Said, you should forwrad this comment to Fred.
Excellent point. But my point is that A-Rod, for some reason that I don’t understand, actually depressed attendance in Seattle and Texas. Obviously there’s no proof he was the cause of the downturn and it might have been conincidental, but it certainly undermines anyone who tries to sell the idea that A-Rod sells tickets — even in places like Tampa.
Moreover, another piece of baloney we keep hearing is that A-Rod would mean more revenue from merchandise sales. Yet in a recent year (this year or last) Wright’s jersey was the biggest seller in the NY area among baseball players. Bigger than A-Rod’s. Bigger than Jeter’s.
I think A-Rod’s rep is just so bad (apart from his bat) among baseball fans that he isn’t a big drawer.
Boras is a jerk.
Still, I want A-Rod on the Mets.
Pretty much sums it up.
A ROD is a good move if we supplement him with some pitching. I do think A ROD will have huge appeal. Right now, we’re not the toast of the town, we’re a team that choked big time so a move like this would restore some faith..
I hope the Mets get in the mix, but Boras needs the Mets in this.
the thing is…..boras is right!
See, it only takes one sucker.
Mets problem is pitching.. he doesn’t solve that problem. And yeah, they’re hitting was inconsistent AT BEST last season, we all ( I hope) know that it still begins with good starters.
I just can’t see dropping down this kind of loot for one player that’s not a premier ace pitcher. I’d rather overpay for Santana and lock us in for 17-21 wins but that’s just my opinion.
If we had a great starting rotation and needed production, then this would be a much more enticing deal to me
All this Boras talk. What about Natasha?
I am invinceable!
The thing is that A-Rod does not change what we can do with pitchers this season. He is not going to keep us from adding a Carlos Silva and or Livan Hernandez. Nor would he keep us from trading Milledge/Gomez and Pelfrey to the Bay area teams. In fact adding his offense could make trading Milledge and playing Gomez easier? As much as I want Alou back, you could even save 7.5 million by letting Gomez and Milledge play in the OF, trading Delgado to the Angels for a couple of prospects (picking up most but not all of his salary) and not lose any offense because of the addition of A-Rod.
Reyes Castillo Wright A Rod Beltran Milledge Castro Gomez would get it done offensively.
I dont know if I agree with that assessment of Alou. Resigning Alou actually only costs the Mets $6.5 million, and I definitely think Gomez needs another season at AAA. If you are going to go out and spend $30 million on an offensive player you better damn well make sure your lineup is deep from top to bottom.
Reyes, Castillo, Wright, A-Rod, Beltran, Alou, Milledge, LoDuca/Castro
Looks better to me than:
Reyes Castillo Wright A Rod Beltran Milledge Castro Gomez
Even though the latter can get it done, the Mets are much deeper in the outfield for a relatively cheap one year investment on Alou
As far as signing Arod goes, I have never been more torn about a potential Met Acquisition in my life, but after a few days of thinking I think I would like it no matter how it plays out but would much prefer to leave Wright and Reyes where they are and see if A-Rod would be willing to play first, considering this is the team he wanted to play for from the beginning, he will be very good at first, and we would be compensating him fairly well Id say to change positions. I think that needs to be the Mets thinking at least at the beginning of negotiations.
I say $230 million, 8 years, play first base, take it or leave it.
i think i agree with that statement of being happy either way. obviously this wont happen but i just want him to sign somewhere soon and get it over with so we can either a) move on with arod and fix the pitching or b) move on without arod and fix the pitching.
He won’t be signing anywhere anytime soon. Boras will drag this out for as long as he can. I suspect we won’t know anything until December.
I definitely agree with that it needs to be over with quickly. The way I see it is if Boras wants to use the Mets as a bargaining tool and they are actually interested, they need to set the terms and impose a deadline that the terms need to be agreed to or rejected. Don’t let him drag this out at the Mets expense because he wants them as leverage. If he wants to play here, we want him here, get it done and get it over with. If it doesn’t happen by the date imposed by the Mets then they need to come out and say “We are no longer interested in Alex Rodriguez,” this way they are no longer a bargaining tool and we can concentrate on improving the pitching.
Good point. That’s how the Giants signed Plax. How is that working out for them?
Honestly, Boras is incredible. If I were a ballplayer, I would want him to be my agent. The guy almost convinced me that I wanted ARod after I had decided that I don’t want to move DWright around.
But he makes an excellent point about ARod. They have a chance to acquire a transcendent player who generates a ton of revenue for only cash. We don’t need to give up prospects, we don’t need to even deal established guys… he only costs money. Money that he helps the team recoup through increased ratings, attendance, and merchandise sales.
Still, I am dubious about moving Wright, and I really think this team will be better offensively with a full season of Castillo hitting 2nd and Milledge in RF.
Love him or hate him, you have to admit… Boras is VERY good at what he does.
The empirical evidence contradicts Boras. Please note that Boras is a professional blowhard. He blows hard for money. He’s good at it. When empirical evidence proves inimicable to Boras’ agenda, he must blow harder and harder.
ARod might help merchandising. It’s pretty much proven that he does not help attendance, nor do the Mets in particular need his help.
ARod may not significantly impact attendance, but he also can’t hurt it. This aspect is more important for later on down the line, when he is chasing Bonds and his skills have perhaps diminished (most likely they will have).
So yeah, Boras and ARod probably overstate his value in these regards, but like you said, it’s his job.
But, how much do you want to bet that with ARod on the team, SNY can seriously bump up its ad rates. The key business value of ARod is in SNY, and I do think Boras has a serious point there.
Let’s not also forget that with the team in contention year in and year out (which I think will be the one of the effects of getting him), attendance naturally grows. The attendance situation in Texas can’t be looked at comparitively. They were terrible. We at least have decent pitching in a more “parity-stricken” league. I think this move would put us over the top and thus increase attendance.
Face facts, a losing team in NY doesn’t draw unless it plays at MSG. He’ll put the fans in the seats and keep them there as long as they win. In this case, the business decision is a baseball one.
Sure, but even without him, we’re in no danger of being a losing team.
I think that is debatable. Now, I will argue that Delgado has a little left in the tank, but let’s just say he doesn’t. Where is our feared bat? Beltran and Wright are very good hitters, but not the kind that will put up those type of numbers….by themselves.
Put him between Wright and Beltran and we’ll have 3 feared hitters.
Look, I don’t think this is the way to go heading into the offseason, but we can’t get a front line starter (which we need). May as well slug ‘em to death, right?
I’m going to give the “Mets official” who stated that signing ARod is not a money issue but rather a baseball issue, the benefit of the doubt.
Without factoring in how much ARod will attract in terms of marketing, some of the more expensive player contracts coming off the books in 2008/2009 help offset the $30 million. Over the life of the deal his salary is further discounted by salary inflation along with the team’s natural revenue growth. It’s true that the budgetary implications aren’t quite as daunting as they first appear.
However, as far as Boras’s assertion about how much we need ARod, didn’t we draw 3.5 million fans this year without ARod? And for those of us that are in the SNY broadcasting radius, didn’t we tune in faithfully without ARod? Will any of our interests be raised that substantially because he’s on the team?
If anything, Boras needs to improve ARod’s image for PR purposes because I’m pretty sure he’s not attracting nearly as much in endorsements as he should be. He might not be the second coming of Jordan or even Lebron for Nike, but considering that Jeter does those Ford commercials and he has that stupid cologne and a billboard on the West Side Highway along with those credit card commercials a couple of years back, his agent and PR people have made sure that he’s well known beyond his exploits on the field. ARod has had better seasons (ok, statistically) and is bilingual, a huge selling point for an important part of the baseball fan demographic and he doesn’t even have an awful second-rate commercial like David Wright’s Fathead promo? He needs to fire Boras.
Good point.
I still think that getting ARod makes Reyes into trade bait for an Ace, something we desperately need but don’t have the players to deal for it as long as Reyes is off the table.
That said, if Reyes is to stay, why not at least talk to him as well and see how he’d feel about going back to 2nd. He did it once and was pretty good. You note to Jose that this would likely be only for one year, as next year Wright can move to first, ARod goes back to 3rd, and Reyes back to short. I still think that ARod has the capacity to play short and play it well, at least for one more season. That way you don’t have to F around with Wright at 2nd or left, and ARod gets to move back to the position he prefers, anyway.
I have to say that while I love Reyes, I consider Wright to be the franchise cornerstone, so I’d be talking with Jose as much about moving as I would David.
The thing is, Reyes plays near gold glove caliber defense at shortstop, and it’s the most important position in the infield. Moving him to second and moving Arod back to a position he hasn’t played in 4 years might not work out. Arod has gotten bigger in recent years and he won’t get to as many balls as Jose does. But ARod is better defensively at 3rd than Wright. It would be more of an overall upgrade if Reyes was left alone at shortstop.
ARod was a gold glove caliber shortstop before the move. Reyes may become a gold glove shortstop someday, but he still has work to do. My guess is that it would be a defensive wash between the two (Reyes gets to more, ARod commits fewer throwing errors).
Yes, you’re right about ARod being an improvement at 3rd, but who would be a better 2nd baseman, another key defensive position. And the potential effect on Wright’s offense having to move from 2nd to 3rd.
All-in-all, I would rather move Reyes than Wright. Frankly, I think we should move him to Houston and get Oswalt. Red Sox showed the value of having a true ace who can flat deal. Love Reyes, but ARod would make him, if not expendible, at least tradable. I still think we are in desperate need of that option, and we simply do not have it right now.
Doth my eyes decieve me? Did you say “Wallace Matthews in a great article for Newsday”?
Wall Street, A ROD isn’t just about the Met fan, its about the common fan with no allegiance who when he’s breaking records wants to see Alex Rodriguez.
boras’ revenue increase from tv ratings is pure garabage. the only thing proven to drive up ratings and attendance in local markets with any significance is winning. if the mets suck next year, a-rod is going to drive up ratings, tho if he helps us win, there will be a correlation for extra cash.
im really hoping the mets are smart enough by now to 1) see thru all this crap that boras has allready used and 2) know how to handle it better than phillips did.
Some final random thoughts before I swear off A rod talk forever!
- He isn’t going to add much revenue, at least in the s/t. There are already plenty of mets fans, and Citifiled will be a tough ticket. It’s not like they are playing in front of 1/2 full stadiums.
- Winning is the only area that will increase viewers/attendance. If he is the difference between winning and losing, then he might raise some revenue. But, ANY OTHER PLAYER that leads to a winning season will do the same thing. It is the TEAM that fans come to see, not him.
- Boras is a funny guy. But, odds are that A Rod has peaked (other than some Roider outliers like Bonds, unless he is a true freak of nature, most guys start to tail off a bit in their mid-30s). So maybe a few more high end years (40 HR? 125 RBI), but by years 5-6-7, no way you are getting what you are paying for. Maybe if this was 2000 (OK, definitely!), but not at this age.
- For sure they need the Mets in the chase, or his price is going to be much harder to meet.
- What is all the talk about no offense anywhere else? Is A Rod a 1 man band? Just adding him doesn’t mean that you can carry offensive black holes at 2-3 other positions as some posters want to do (C, LF, RF, etc.)
- On offense, you can’t just look at A Rods #s as some addition. It is a replacement, so what you are getting is the marginal increase over whoever he replaces (Castillo, Delgado, whatever).
I’m more amazed that I read a post on metsblog that used the words “Wallace Matthews” and “great column” in the same sentence.
As for the topic, A-Rod’s presence alone does not earn more money for the Mets. His contract is only worth it if they win a World Series and he helps them do it.
I still have very mixed, non-commitall feelings about A-Rod and the Mets but I do think I would be frustrated by the FO if they go into this negotiation treating it as an eiter/or with A-Rod or pitching. A big splash signing like A-Rod will retain most fans who might have otherwise walked out after last year’s debacle and with the number of big contracts coming off the books in the next year or two, I can’t see why the Mets can’t have A-Rod and a top pitcher while keeping their payroll in the $140-$150M range that the Red Sox are currently in. The FO is trying to sell us on their scores of young (and cheap) talent that is going to be ready to slide into the OF, rotation and bullpen in another year or two. And besides spending less now in hopes of something better being available next year is only going to great a major PR catastrophe for this team if some of those prize FAs don’t actually hit the market in 2008.
In the words of Borat:
“It was NOT a great column!!!….That column was great not!!!….That column was great pause not.”
conzy, notice the post was NOT signed. Ever remember that happening before? I think wally hacked into metsblog.
Wallace Matthews is the worst thing about opening Newsday every morning. all that said…
I reaaaaally reaaaaaally dont want A-Rod on the team. He is going to ruin the make up as well as baseball in NY period….
its official the mets are not getting arod, hes going to use us the same way he used us last year with zito even though we clearly werent interested in his ridiculous demands he still managed to use our interest to get a sucker to pay up.
Ok, if ARod is so mighty, then let’s have him sign a contract that pays him 15 millions per season plus 50% of the profits from revenue directly related to the player. Now that is a no-brainer!
im pretty sure scott boras would get any of us at least 2 years at league minimum.
Good point. Considering he got Newhan a 7 figure deal, the sky’s the limit!
The last half of the season poster after poster cried out for players with fire, determination, and grit. Folks bemoaned the absence of such players on the Mets. Now it’s all A-Rod lust all the time.
Sure, the talent is enormous. But is this a guy who you think is going to bleed blue and orange? Is this the Met you will point out to your kid at Citifield (if any of us can afford a ticket) and say, “This is a guy who really plays the game the way it was meant to be played.” Has everyone forgotten the “I got it” call or the “slap” running down the first base line? This guy is more likely to be picking Mr. Met’s pocket than sliding head first into second.
I think the Mets have to consider Arod seriously, but getting him would cause an avalanche of moves.
First of all, there is no way that they should toy with putting Wright at second. He probably doesn’t have the range, and he would be at much greater injury risk. The natural move for him is to first, and only to first.
But moving him to first, means they have to get something for Delgado now, and not a year later. It’s possible they can get something of minor value for Delgado, but I doubt very much. At the same time, if Delgado is gone, they will have no solid left -handed hitter.
And this means that they will have to get a solid, left-handed version of Alou to play in the outfield. I’m not even sure whether such a player is available.
On the other hand, if they can get a solid, doubles RBI or power hitting left-hander to provide balance to the lineup, I suppose that frees them to trade Milledge.
Gotay at 2nd hitting lefty?
For th eOF, jeff Jenkins might be about the only thing readily availbe (FA) that qualifies as a LH power bat. Just not a very good one anymore. Nice back up for Alou though (replacing Green!)
“i have spent the better part of two days making posts and linking to words about the Mets and a-rod, none of which are based in fact”
then STOP!
if it’s just rumors, and you know that’s all it is, stop perpetuating the illusion. Be part of the solution, stop helping Boras.
JUST STOP!
Amen! and Thank You!
A-Rods Not coming! Let’s not waste time/energy w/Boras
and ANY of his clients!
MORE and MORE I get the feeling Omar will bring back both
Alou and Castillo and frankly it makes me worry.
Alou will be 41 and has missed over 800 games due to
injury. With his history and age theres NO reason to think
we’ll get any more then half a season out of him.
Thus, this will AGAIN create a problem with both the line-up
and what to do w/Millage/Gomez.
RE: Castillo, Always liked him as a player BUT his days of
60 SBs and playing everyday ARE OVER!, Bad Knees AND
Worse a bad Hip has really lessened his game.
Instead of going after, Oh, Maybe an Iguchi we’ll again
be scrambling at some point during “08 for an answer @
Second!
There really is NO reason for this! Not THIS off-season
after what happened Last AND With Plenty of Cash in hand
due to All the expiring contracts.
Don’t be surprised to see Bart Colon brought here 4 years
and 40 lbs. too late. Couldn’t you just see Omar give this guy 2 Yrs and an option for 30Mil?
Iguchi seems like a decent investment.
My suggestion. Give ARod an offer, but only offer him exactly what he would be worth to the Mets.
ARod’s worth to the Mets= ARod’s WARP for 160 games -Gotay’sWARP for 160 games * $ per Win + Gotay’s salary.
ARod’s WARP: 11.1
Gotay’s WARP 4.8 for 160 games.
Gotay’s salary prob. league min. ~300K
At $1M/win, ARod’s value to us is $6.3M
At $3M/win, ARod’s value is $18.9M
That’s pretty much the accepted range of value per win.
Conclusion, ARod to the Mets is worth at most $19M/yr.
Make him that offer; if he refuses, it’s no problem, because it means we can use the resources more to our advantage
I think it’s a bit absurd to try and calculate the WARP for a player like Gotay by pro-rating his performance based on a very small sample size this past year. I think even the most ardent statheads would agree with that, especially since there is nothing in Gotay’s history in the major or minor leagues that indicate he is anything more than a .270 hitter with doubles power and shoddy defense.
Yes, it is a bit absurd, and I wasn’t trying to be totally rigorous. Just making a point.
But there is a sign in Gotay’s history that says he can replicate his 2007 output over a whole season. He did it for a third of one season. That’s a decent sample size. And if you platoon him with Easley, they compliment each other. Also, he’s young. 24 I believe. So there is some hope for him.
the Arod talk is funny since he wants out of NY not in. Boras only wants the Mets as leverage as is pointed out.
Angels are his preference since going to the NL will not be any easy move for his record seeking.
Mets don’t need that much in my opinion. I would move an outfielder like Gomez and Humber for a starter. Blanton is fine. I think Oakland would do that deal.
Pedro/Maine/Perez/Blanton/Pelfrey work for me
Then move El Duque into the pen as well as spot starter. he will really compliment the bullpen. Wagner/Heilman/El Duque/Sanchez/Feliciano/Sosa seem like an excellent group.
I would sign Lo Duca to a 2 year deal as well as Castro.
I want LoDuca back as well.
On to A-Rod….he wants out of NY, so what better place than Shea? Think about it. This is a much, much different animal than Yankee Stadium. You have different fans, different beat writers, different broadcasters. A-Rod doesn’t hate NY, he didn’t enjoy his time with the Yankees. Their fans crucified him when he started slow out of the gate…they never got off his back.
This would be a fresh start in the biggest market. Winning here would be a close 2nd in terms of his legacy, that’s for sure.
ffffhhhjjjjfh
boras is a genius despite what anyone thinks of him. hes built for business. very smart man.
The thing that I find most interesting is how most Met Fans are acting as if we are somehow beneath signing the best player in the history of baseball. It is quite funny. Everyone says we need an ace. Well, out bats let us down last year, maybe not in september, but for the whole rest of the season. A-Rod would gauruntee a playoff birth, every year. We already have a somewhat young starting pitcher capable of coming in and pitching 185 innings of 4.00 era ball for us. His name is Aaron Heilman. He has wanted to start, this should be his time. With the price of a guy like Joe Blanton or Jon Garland, both of whom Aaron has better stuff, we move him into the rotation, paying no price in dollars or prospe ts. We hope Duaner is back healthy. We possibly make a trade for Joe Nathan or a big time reliever who is out there available. We let Pelfrey develop in the bullpen next year, and let his nasty stuff get guys out for one inning at a time, even if his command is not ready yet as a starting pitcher.
Pedro
Maine
Perez
El Duque
Heilman
Sosa
Burgos
Pelfrey
Feliciano
Show
(Nathan, Cordero, Gagne) just and idea.
OB
your post just paid for itself!
Throw Bora$ a curveball. I say offer Arod 7.5 million per year. For 40 years. He wants a 300 mil commitment? Let’s give it to him. Built in incentive for him to stay in shape.
It’s like the joke (pardon me ladies), “i can’t get 1 million dollars for someone to sleep with my wife, but i CAN get $50 2oooo times!”
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