Think back to the winter meetings a couple of weeks ago. Remember how San Diego played host to a headline-filled week that saw all three of the offseason's top available free agents sign massive contracts? Perhaps the wildest part of the whole thing was that each of the deals was negotiated by Scott Boras.
Indeed, the agent has had himself a fruitful winter. After helping set some records in San Diego, Boras hit another milestone Sunday night after his client Hyun-Jin Ryu inked a four-year, $80 million deal with the Blue Jays. Ryu's deal pushed the total guaranteed money for Boras client contracts this winter above the $1 billion mark. Here's a rundown in chronological order:
- Mike Moustakas: four-year deal worth $64 million with the Reds
- Stephen Strasburg's: seven-year deal worth $245 million with the Nationals
- Gerrit Cole: nine-year deal worth $324 million with the Yankees
- Anthony Rendon: seven-year deal with $245 with the Angels
- Dallas Keuchel: three-year deal worth $55.5 million with the White Sox
- Hyun-Jin Ryu: four-year deal worth $80 million with the Blue Jays
That's a total of $1,013,500,000 from Boras' top clients, and they've all signed in the span of three weeks.
Boras isn't done, either. He has one more big-name free-agent to land before the winter ends: outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, who entered the winter ranked as 15th on our top-50 list. Here's what we wrote about him at the time:
Speaking of odd seasons, league sources had Castellanos pegged for a one-year deal prior to his trade from Detroit to Chicago. Castellanos then went on a tear with the Cubs, hitting .321/.356/.646 with 16 home runs and 21 doubles in 51 games. Getting away from Comerica Park figured to help his raw offensive totals, but sheesh. Castellanos is still a tough fit for many squads because despite good athleticism he's a subpar defender. He's also, historically anyway, more of a good hitter than a great one. Still, he did everything in his power to improve his stock.
Castellanos figures to receive a healthy chunk of change when he does put his name to paper. Take a look at some contract predictions for his next deal, courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors, FanGraphs, and CBS Sports HQ's Jim Bowden:
Player/Source | MLBTR | FG | Bowden |
---|---|---|---|
Castellanos | $58 million | $56 million | $64 million |
A five percent commission on that billion, by the way, would pay Boras $50 million. It's not bad work if you can get it.