Iin most baseball precincts, citing Scott Boras as the big winner of an offseason would be akin to naming Darth Vader champion of the galaxies, such is the general antipathy engendered by the mega-agent.
But Boras got the 14th-largest contract ever, seven years at $126 million from Washington, for a one-time All-Star in Jayson Werth. Then around Jan. 1, stories began emerging that he would be unable to find suitable packages for his other two main free-agent clients, Adrian Beltre and Rafael Soriano.
Yet Beltre received a five-year, $80 million pact and Soriano a three-year, $35 million deal. And think about where Boras produced these deals: Texas took on Beltre, though its highest-paid player was already a third baseman (Michael Young). And the Yankees signed Soriano to a high-level closer contract despite already having re-signed the greatest closer ever (Mariano Rivera) earlier in the offseason. As degree of difficulty goes, that is pretty impressive.
“He got outlandish deals for Beltre and Soriano, and $50 million more for Werth than most thought he would get,” an NL executive said. “His offseason was mind-blowing.”
Boras understands how to attack soft spots. The combination of an aging owner (Ted Lerner) and his aggressive son (Mark) made the Nationals susceptible to wanting to make a big score. The Rangers and Yankees had money to spend after being the teams that didn’t land Cliff Lee.
Boras’ offseason was not all paradise. He faced scrutiny over questionable loans to a Dominican prospect. But in that way, he simply mirrored the sport. No team had a flawless winter. Still there were winners — and losers. Hardball has decided to join Boras in the degree-of-difficulty forum by ranking the teams one through 30 for their winter work.
Clubs are judged here against expectations. So, for example, Hardball believes the Yankees had the worst offseason among the five AL East teams, though they still are likely to finish no worse than second in the division in 2011. There simply were divisional rivals who executed offseason plans far better:
1. BLUE JAYS
If Toronto did nothing except find a sucker to take Vernon Wells’ bloated contract, this would be a triumphant offseason. Its horizon for serious contention is 2013 onward, so having the $42 million owed Wells in 2013-14 to use in other fashions is a blessing. That the Blue Jays also got rid of most of the $44 million owed Wells in 2011-12 is a fringe benefit borne of the Angels ridiculously not demanding that Toronto eat a more significant portion of one of the worst contracts in the majors. Toronto also maximized Shaun Marcum into a potential star infielder in Brett Lawrie, and re-did their pen with interesting pieces: Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel and Jon Rauch.
2. RED SOX
After failing to make the playoffs in 2008, the Yankees invested more than $400 million in
CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett. Boston, after missing the 2010 postseason, followed a similar blueprint with what will be more than $300 million invested once Adrian Gonzalez’s extension is announced to go along with Carl Crawford and a rebuilt bullpen (namely Bobby Jenks). Gonzalez and Crawford are dynamic, lefty-hitting, two-way players in their prime.
3. PHILLIES
Their offseason was a triumph of who they have become: They have such a good thing going that Lee pretty much forced his way back there, taking less overall money to form a potentially historic rotation with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt. Yes, they will miss Jayson Werth’s righty bat, but Philadelphia has shown the past few years that it is a go-for-it organization that will find solutions during the year.
4. A’S
Oakland appeared heading toward disaster early in the offseason by failing to land a few main targets, notably Beltre. But the A’s rallied impressively. They made good trades for Josh Willingham and David DeJesus and signed Hideki Matsui, all of which should help what was a feeble offense. Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes should deepen an already-good pen.
5. RAYS
No team was more devastated by defections. Yet the Rays know who they are. They have won two of the past three AL East titles. But financially they could not keep an entire division champ together. So they positioned themselves for a bright future by turning Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett into nine prospects via trades. And, with compensation picks from lost free agents,
Tampa Bay will have 10 of the top 60 picks in the June draft. This will allow the Rays to augment what already is a powerful farm system. Meanwhile, they retain a strong rotation and still can be heard from this year, especially if Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez can be Idiot-esque again.
6. ROCKIES
Does any team have three mid-20s players as special as Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Ubaldo Jimenez? And Colorado just signed up Gonzalez and Tulowitzki long-term. Maybe the Tulowitzki deal was overkill because he already was under contract until 2014, but the Rockies know they have their cornerstone position players in place for the long haul. The additions of Jose Lopez and Ty Wigginton should help infield depth. Matt Lindstrom was acquired for the pen and Jorge De La Rosa was retained on a fair contract to work behind Jimenez.
7. PADRES
They recognized now was the time to maximize Gonzalez’s value and deepened their farm system in a deal with Boston. The additions of Brad Hawpe, Jorge Cantu, Orlando Hudson and Bartlett should help some with the loss of Gonzalez; and so would Cameron Maybin if he could honor his talent in a way he did not in Florida. Aaron Harang can be reborn in big Petco Park.
8. WHITE SOX
If Adam Dunn is fully committed to being a DH, he is moving to a ballpark that could make him a 50-homer man. They were one of the teams that overpaid for middle relief (three years for Jesse Crain), and they remain at the mercy of Gordon Beckham and Carlos Quentin bouncing back to be productive players, and a novice closer (Matt Thornton or Chris Sale) handling the job.
9. DODGERS
They have not made the biggest trade yet — getting rid of the deadbeat McCourt ownership — but the Dodgers at least addressed the rotation-depth issue that forced them into having a quarter of their games started by John Ely, Carlos Monasterios, Charlie Haeger, James McDonald and Ramon Ortiz (combined in 40 starts: 6-21, 6.34 ERA). Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly and Vicente Padilla were retained and Jon Garland was imported to work behind Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley. It doesn’t match the Giants’ rotation for quality, but at least the Dodgers go six deep and can send out a legitimate starter daily. Clutch Juan Uribe was snatched from the Giants and Matt Guerrier should help the pen, albeit on a too-expensive contract.
10. BREWERS
They emptied an already dubious farm system to obtain Zack Greinke and Marcum to join Yovani Gallardo and, at last, give the Brewers a real rotation. Milwaukee still has a lot of holes (center field, bullpen, catcher) and the pressure to win now with Prince Fielder in his walk year.
11. CUBS
If you believe Garza will find his inner Cy Young liberated from the AL East, then he certainly was worth the prospect outlay to acquire from Tampa Bay. Kerry Wood and Carlos Pena on one-year deals seem worthwhile gambles.
12. BRAVES
Added righty power with Dan Uggla, but for a team with big dreams, the Braves remain untested at first (Freddie Freeman) and closer (Craig Kimbrel), and they still have other questions to answer. Can Martin Prado play left field? Can Chipper Jones come back from yet another injury to play third? Can Nate McLouth really be an everyday center fielder?
13. TWINS
Got good deals in retaining Carl Pavano and Jim Thome. Are still missing the ace they so badly need, however. They changed their middle infield from J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson to Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Alexi Casilla. Is that good or bad?
14. ROYALS
Kansas City is widely perceived to have the best farm system in the majors. The Royals probably won’t begin benefiting from the system in a significant way until 2012, which was going to be Greinke’s walk year. So as long as they received a strong haul, it was right to deal the ace now and fortify the reservoir of talent, which is also what they did in dealing DeJesus. Yet despite saving millions in those two deals, the best the Royals could do for their fans is hand two-thirds of their outfield to Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur.
15. RANGERS
Like the Yankees, they whiffed on Lee. And you can argue that they overpaid for Beltre, especially because Beltre faltered the last time he received a long-term contract. But the signing of Beltre did serve as a final trigger to get the division-rival Angels to make the foolhardy Wells deal, which has value.
16. ORIOLES
Went 0-for-3 with veteran signs last offseason with Mike Gonzalez, Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins. Are trying again with signings of Kevin Gregg and Derrek Lee, and trades for Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy. They badly want to make an assault on a .500 record.
17. TIGERS
Out with the bad, old contracts (Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson) and in with . . .? Well, if Joaquin Benoit is as special as he was in 2010, then Detroit has the best setup man in the majors. But Benoit was given closer-esque dollars after not pitching in 2009 because of shoulder problems and never before pitching as well as he did last season. Victor Martinez was imported and Magglio Ordonez retained, but both may be DHs at this point. Detroit re-signed its infield left side of Brandon Inge and Jhonny Peralta, which hardly inspires. Brad Penny has not pitched healthy and/or well since 2007.
18. MARLINS
Were determined to address a bad pen and gave up (prematurely?) on center fielder Maybin to get Edward Mujica (six BBs/72Ks/69.2 IP) and Ryan Webb (2.90 ERA) from San Diego, plus signed lefty specialist Randy Choate. Was John Buck really the kind of player you invest three years in? Will Javier Vazquez be worth a flyer away from the pressures he succumbed to as a Yankee in the AL East?
19. REDS
They committed $151 million to sign Bronson Arroyo, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto long-term. But their only additions help marginally, at best: Edgar Renteria and Fred Lewis.
20. D’BACKS
New GM Kevin Towers had a magic touch with bullpens in San Diego, and now is redoing Arizona’s atrocious relief corps, specifically with the signing of J.J. Putz. In addition, Towers will hope veterans Melvin Mora and Xavier Nady — both probably supplementary players at best now — can help as regulars in the everyday lineup. Zach Duke, Armando Galarraga and perhaps even Aaron Heilman will try to assist the rotation.
21. YANKEES
They did not execute their winter plan, which was to sign Cliff Lee. They engaged in a public hissing with icon Derek Jeter. They overpaid for Soriano, in large part out of desperation to do something significant in the aftermath of missing out on Lee. Much would be salvaged if Andy Pettitte does return. But as the offseason neared conclusion, the Yankees were fending off storylines of dissension in the ranks and falling significantly behind the Red Sox.
22. GIANTS
Mainly rested on their championship. They lost Uribe and will hope Tejada can dial back the clock and be a regular shortstop again.
23. METS
They probably made the right choice to try to fix at the margins with Chris Capuano, Chris Young, D.J. Carrasco and Ronnie Paulino while hoping stars such as Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez and Jason Bay get healthy and productive. But as the Wilpons’ revelation that they are seeking limited partners revealed, the organization also is hurting financially. In addition, does Terry Collins really have the stature and temperament to be a successful manager in New York, or was the first major move of the Sandy Alderson administration a dud?
24. CARDINALS
Lance Berkman needs a different body from last year if he really is going to be an everyday right fielder. And is Ryan Theriot really an everyday shortstop? Their big news of the offseason still is pending: Do they extend Albert Pujols long-term before spring training or not?
25. NATIONALS
Washington will be better for having Werth in the short run, but he is not the kind of player you grossly overpay to show you are serious about contending. Werth and Adam LaRoche should remove some of the sting of losing Dunn’s major power.
26. ASTROS
The new middle infield is Clint Barmes and Billy Hall; someone get my defibrillator.
27. INDIANS
There is a rumor that they still are part of the major leagues. Is this true?
28. PIRATES
Adding Lyle Overbay and Kevin Correia will not do much to prevent a 19th straight losing season.
29. MARINERS
Last offseason they were busy, notably obtaining Lee, and pretty much collapsed under the weight of expectations and too many offensive holes. This offseason, the quiet additions were Jack Cust and Miguel Olivo, not enough to avoid last place again in the AL West.
30. ANGELS
This was a setback not only of player personnel, but perception. Owner Arte Moreno began the offseason vowing to spend what was necessary to return the Angels to the top of the AL West, and then lost out on main targets Beltre and Crawford. Then the Angels seemed out of the baseball mainstream by not understanding just how much Toronto would do to unburden itself of as much of Wells’ contract as possible. The Angels did not get Toronto to eat Scott Kazmir’s odious contract or a lot more future dollars for Wells. They also included Mike Napoli in the trade to get Wells when they should have used him in a separate trade (consider that Toronto immediately traded Napoli to Texas for reliever Frank Francisco).
joel.sherman@nypost.com