With this year's MLB Winter Meetings having gone virtual, many annual traditions were either done away with or changed in a rather significant way. Something that has evolved into an annual tradition is MLB's highest-profile agent, Scott Boras, finding a spot in a hotel hallway or lobby to pontificate about the state of MLB and his clients, notably those who are free agents. A gaggle or reporters surround him and everyone gets a laugh at how he has decided to phrase things (such as "Harper's Bazaar" regarding the free agency of Bryce Harper two years ago).
Nothing happened last week, but Tuesday night, Boras dialed up a video chat and held virtual court with the baseball press.
On the free agent market being slow and likely continuing on that path, Boras confirmed our suspicions by saying, "we're going to have a lot of late signings in this market."
We could all see this coming. There were no fans in the stands until the NLCS and World Series in Texas and that meant the owners missed out on a lot of money in the 2020 season. Many of them both publicly and privately have complained about how much money this past season cost them and Boras pretty perfectly pointed out there's a difference between actually losing money and missing out on expected profits.
Scott Boras on MLB teams claim of losses in 2020: "A lot of teams lost profits. Great profits. But we know this -- in operating the game and having baseball games teams make money. ... Even without fans, we know that players playing baseball games makes money for MLB teams"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) December 15, 2020
Boras is a polarizing figure that many fans don't like, but ignore the messenger here and breathe in the message. He's spot on. There is gobs and gobs of TV money and MLB made it this year. And still, despite telling fans they lost money, not one ownership group has opened their books to show us.
It wasn't all serious, of course. Boras let loose with his puns and other plays on words. Like about his free agent center fielder, defensive whiz Jackie Bradley Jr.:
Boras on Jackie Bradley Jr.: "JBJ is like PBJ -- he's sweet and smooth and he spreads it all over and covers it well."
— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) December 15, 2020
He mentioned new Phillies president Dave Dombrowski was like hopscotch, because everywhere he goes, he wins.
Kris Bryant is a Boras client who is set to hit free agency after the 2021 season and is also mentioned in trade rumors. On that front, he busted out a Star Wars reference ...
Scott Boras said Cubs still have "stars" (yes, including Bryant) and suggests Cubs under Hoyer should be able to compete in '21:
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) December 15, 2020
"I guess when you have star wars, who best to handle it than the Jedi. So we'll have to see."
New ownership group with the Mets?
Boras on new Mets ownership: "It's nice to have an owner with big apples."
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) December 15, 2020
Then made a pun on getting a Porter-house when they hired Jared Porter as GM. About 4 analogies like that in a row !
New Angels GM Perry Minasian?
Scott Boras on the #Angels: "They have to solve the case of the lost playoffs. They've gone out and got their Perry Mason."
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 15, 2020
What does "DH" actually stand for?
You may have noticed that we're still not sure if the universal DH will be back in 2021. Scott Boras has noticed, too: "Maybe in the commissioner's office, the DH may stand for dragging their heels," he says.
— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) December 15, 2020
Oh and we need a food reference regarding new Mets general manager Jared Porter. Bring it, Scott.
The metaphor has continued. There was something about Big Macs (James McCann?) and porterhouse (Jared Porter), and now: “The Mets are shopping in the organic produce aisle ... and I don’t think this apple is going to have any worms in it.” Even Boras is laughing at this point.
— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) December 15, 2020
Hey, nothing wrong with him having a little fun, but don't just shove aside his excellent framing on the "losses" MLB teams took last season. MLB teams are doing more than fine.
