Boras fires the first shot (via Robothal) in the battle over contraction ← FREE KRAUT!

Boras fires the first shot (via Robothal) in the battle over contraction 24

20 Jan 2011  |  monkeyball  |FREE PARK!

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Robothal jumps on board the San Jose bandwagon, armed with Scott Boras quotes, active ignorance of Victory Court, and passive ignorance of the realities of stadium development in SJ and Oakland (especially given Jerry’s doubling down on his anti-redev plan).

The whole piece requires a thorough fisking (that’s what we have FSU for), but for right now, I think this is evidence that Selugworth is basically holding the franchise hostage, to use the threat of contraction in the upcoming labor negotiations. Hence Boras’s strident interest. Contraction, I’ll concede, isn’t likely — but Bud needs it as a threat.

New theory/prediction: the A’s stadium situation won’t be resolved until after the new labor agreement.

24 thoughts on “Boras fires the first shot (via Robothal) in the battle over contraction”

  1. MikeV Jan 20,2011 9:15 am

    I’m so fking tired of this.

    And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

    Thanks, and go As.

  2. linusalf Jan 20,2011 9:21 am
  3. nevermoor Jan 20,2011 9:28 am

    That’s actually the most intuitively appealing one of your theories so far.

    If they contracted TB (give the big money teams a better shot), and your franchise owned the #1 distribution draft pick…

    Holy shit would that change a franchise’s fortunes.

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • monkeyball Jan 20,2011 9:41 am || Up

      It certainly works to explain most/all of Tootsie’s (in)action w/r/t the A’s stadium issue.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • nanotrebuchet Jan 20,2011 8:41 pm || Up

      the mlbpa ought to insist (in that case) that any player on the contracted teams can enter a draft or void their contract and declare themselves a free agent (service time be damned)

  4. monkeyball Jan 20,2011 9:37 am
    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  5. monkeyball Jan 20,2011 9:40 am

    Hunh. Via that same ML/v0 piece, Stiglitz had a column over the weekend wherein he poo-pooed the Mausoleum Factor:

    Beane has contended the Coliseum — widely regarded as an outdated venue — drives players away. However, two agents — who each have represented major leaguers for many years — said the A’s stadium gets overblown as a factor that’s kept many free agents away.

    “What is frustrating for them is that none of them believe that they can win (with the A’s),” said one agent, requesting anonymity. “A lot of players potentially are only going there to get their money. You look at Minnesota, other small-market teams, and they don’t have that attitude. They go in thinking, ‘We can win this thing’ “… and players don’t feel that way in Oakland.”

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • nevermoor Jan 20,2011 9:55 am || Up

      That’s very interesting. It’s not, of course, what incoming players say (but that’s worth nothing). I can certainly see why the accurate projection of this season – “Maybe if everything breaks right we can make the playoffs in a weak division” – is less appealing than “I get to play on MAUER’S TEAM?!?”

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • linusalf Jan 20,2011 9:55 am || Up

      exactly. It seemed funny during 2000-2006 Players were stoked to come here for a chance to win. As soon as the 25 man roster became a revolving door of trades no one wanted to come here.

      • nanotrebuchet Jan 20,2011 8:41 pm || Up

        who was stoked to come to oakland as a free agent for a chance to win from 2000-2006?

    • MikeV Jan 20,2011 9:59 am || Up

      anonymous agents get full credit for what they say, but Boras is a lying sack of shit when he’s willing to go on record and say that SJ is the best thing for the A’s?

      And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

      Thanks, and go As.

      • monkeyball Jan 20,2011 10:01 am || Up

        Fair ’nuff.

        Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of the anonymous quotes.

        Though I think you’ve mischaracterized my position on Boras.

        you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
        • MikeV Jan 20,2011 10:06 am || Up

          Wasn’t meant for you specifically, but the same thing is being said on ** about it.

          And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

          Thanks, and go As.

    • monkeyball Jan 20,2011 10:03 am || Up

      And I missed LinusAlf’s take.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  6. monkeyball Jan 20,2011 10:47 am
    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  7. lenscrafters Jan 20,2011 11:10 am

    For Beltre, the A’s were willing to guarantee six years, but at $12.8 million per season, not $16 million. After Beltre signed for that price with the Rangers, the A’s added Balfour and Fuentes, bringing their 2011 payroll to nearly $70 million.

    Imagine how much stronger they would be in San Jose.

    I wonder if Robothal is even aware of what he’s writing. Beltre didn’t sign with us for exactly those reasons outlined above in the first paragraph. What does not being in San Jose have to do with anything? That offer to Beltre wouldn’t have been competitive if they were the San Jose A’s, Portland A’s, or Acapulco A’s.

    The main reason why free agents turn us down is because we routinely don’t offer the best deal on the table.

    • nevermoor Jan 20,2011 11:13 am || Up

      Yup.

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • monkeyball Jan 20,2011 11:26 am || Up

      The entire fucking column is like that.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • andeux Jan 20,2011 11:34 am || Up

      The implied assumption is that a new stadium in San Jose, with the extra corporate money and presumably higher ticket prices, would not only raise the absolute amount of revenue, giving the A’s more money to spend on payroll, but also raise the amount of marginal revenue per win, making it worthwhile for them to make competitive bids for free agents.

      I have no idea if all that is really true. I can think for some good arguments both for and against it. But many people seem to just accept it as self-evident, and Lew and the other San Jose partisans have an obvious interest in encouraging them to do so.

      The second implied assumption is that all that would not be true for a new stadium in Oakland. And that one definitely seems like bullshit to me.

      TINSTAAFK
      • monkeyball Jan 20,2011 11:39 am || Up

        The third implied assumption is that there’s no way the A’s should even think about spending their revenue-sharing money on FAs.

        you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • nanotrebuchet Jan 20,2011 8:43 pm || Up

      Beltre last year, Scutaro last year, Furcal…I thought we had some data points where the A’s outbid their competitors and still lost.

      • lenscrafters Jan 20,2011 10:13 pm || Up

        Beltre was offered the exact same deal (3/24) by the Phillies which he also turned down. It was clear that the Red Sox’s offer, situation, park, etc were the best for him.

        Furcal didn’t hate Oakland so much as he wanted to return to Los Angeles. If I remember correctly, the Braves gave him the best offer out of all three teams, but he reneged upon it to return to the Dodgers. The Braves were the one getting screwed over, and Schuerholz was pretty pissed.

        I’ll give you Scutaro. But him turning down our better offer probably has less to do with hating Oakland than with how the Red Sox have a far better team (and a management that presumably values him more than Bobby Crosby).

  8. FreeSeatUpgrade Jan 20,2011 8:37 pm

    I don’t have the stamina for a thorough fisking tonight. So I’ll leave it at: Agents lie. That’s why so many of them want to be owners.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."

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