This spring training Mark Teixeira followed teammate Alex Rodriguez in dismissing Scott Boras as his representative, a move that one player suggests underscores the shortcomings of the biggest agent in baseball.
In the April 4 edition of ESPN the Magazine, in the Player X segment obtained in advance by The Post, an anonymous current player writes: “I think that’s a sign that [A-Rod and Teixeira] want to be known for their teams and performances — not for their agent. Some players think of Boras as just a contract rep. If you’re an All-Star, he’ll get you your big deal. But this league is made up of more role players than All-Stars, and guys have told me that Boras doesn’t even bother with you once you fall off that top tier.
“I bet big-name guys who are struggling, like Barry Zito and Oliver Perez, don’t like being Boras’ clients because his priorities seem to be elsewhere,” Player X writes. “For their sake, I hope Boras makes his guys see sports psychologists and personal trainers when their performances slump. Because that’s what I want: an agent committed to my career, not just a commission.”
The accusation lost some of its zing yesterday when Boras actually got the hard-to-employ Perez a minor-league deal with the Nationals. Told over the phone of the comments by Player X, Boras actually challenged anyone to contact clients whose performance has slipped — “Call Rick Ankiel. Call Andruw Jones. Call Alex Cora. Call Barry Zito” — to see what they would say about his services. In fact, often to organizations’ chagrin, Boras does push his clients toward his own mental and physical therapists.
“Our commitment to the player is extreme,” Boras said. “There is no representation service available in the game that spends more time or money or has a greater commitment to enhancement of performance levels then we do.
“We are the only company that has psychiatrists on the payroll. We have the most trainers available in baseball. We have the largest commitment to a fitness center and the largest database of any representative in baseball. And all of these services are available at any time to our clients.”
Also, though Rodriguez and Teixeira left Boras, they have not hired baseball agents to replace him, but instead are now more aligned with marketing companies. They also did not publicly criticize Boras.
Which makes this Player X attack somewhat unique because, while Boras is by far the most criticized agent, those attacks generally come from baseball officials, other reps and the media.
“Magazines that allow statements without proper research or quotes, you end up with this kind of journalism, which is not journalism,” Boras said.
“It’s not documented, researched. It is just a bald opinion. I’m not sure that is a responsible dynamic when you have faceless allegations published in journals that we would otherwise consider responsible and professional.”