Scott Boras lays some lumber on Rogers, call them cheap

[dagger]

Yes, there are a number of ironies here... I'm sure we'll be signing one of his clients any decade now

However, after overpaying for NHL rights and for additional spectrum, Rogers certainly has some people thinking that the Jays drew the wrong straw this winter.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/rose ... ask-022314

Rosenthal: Boras takes Jays' ownership to task

Scott Boras think he knows why the Toronto Blue Jays have been quiet in free agency.

Jays ownership, the agent said, is preventing the front office from improving the club.

“There is no one who has the asset base of Rogers,” Boras told FOX Sports on Sunday, referring to Rogers Communications, the Jays’ parent company.

“It’s a premium city. It’s a premium owner with equity. And it’s a very, very good team that with additional premium talent could become a contending team.”

Boras added, “They’re a car with a huge engine that is impeded by a big corporate stop sign . . . a successful and committed ownership that needs to give their baseball people financial flexibility.”

Informed of Boras’ comments, Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said, “Our ownership has been outstanding and given us all the resources we need.”

The Jays’ payroll is expected to increase from about $120 million last season to more than $130 million this season.

Boras represents two of the remaining three free agents who are subject to draft-pick compensation, shortstop Stephen Drew and first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales.

Neither is a particularly good fit for the Jays, unless Drew wants to play second base. The third remaining comp free agent, right-hander Ervin Santana, would make more sense for Toronto.

The Jays are expected to pursue Santana only if he is available at a bargain rate. But Santana, according to a source, would rather sit out until after the June draft than accept a deal similar to the one-year, $8 million contract outfielder Nelson Cruz agreed to with the Orioles, pending a physical.

The compensation pick disappears after the draft.

[Wo1verine]

It's disheartening that we would trade all those prospects spend all that money and not add to it the this year with our window closing by the day.

They are the 2nd richest owners in baseball and while having $130M payroll is nice this team still needed upgrades and Rogers apparently refusing to spend to make it happen isn't surprising

Tim Leiweke needs to be hired as he knows how to get the most out of ownership it seems.

[Michael Bradley]

Boras is right (even if it is completely self serving on his part). It's pretty clear, much like they did in 2009, that ownership is preventing the team from spending additional money, not the GM or the market. The issue is that instead of telling AA to cut salary, they are basically telling him to stand pat. AA is someone who declined Rajai's team option last season and then signed him again just to save $500,000. I'd imagine that Alex would do something if money were an issue, not just sit on his hands.

This is entirely on Rogers/Beeston, IMO. We've seen it before, and it was right before a firing (Ricciardi). I'm guessing we'll see the same thing this season if the team falls flat.

As far as Boras, he miscalculated the market for some of his clients and is trying to save some face, most likely.

[Garmfay]

AA is "ALL IN BABY!" Goins starting 2B Scrub Happ, Rogers part of the rotation!!

[Susp3ct]

Has anyone seen the top posters named in the jays forum? Below the moderators list. Made me chuckle.

[changes]

AA has done a pretty horrific job for someone with all the resources he needs the last 3 years.

[Schad]

So, from this we've likely learned that:

- The Jays have inquired about Stephen Drew.
- They've made it known that they are interested either at a certain price point or with certain contractual terms, but not those that Boras is pursuing.
- Boras believes that, of the remaining suitors, we're the one most likely to budge.


I can't see any other possible reason for the remarks...Boras doesn't fire shots at random, and he's leveraging fan discontent to try and make sure that Drew gets paid.

[torontoaces04]

So, from this we've likely learned that:

- The Jays have inquired about Stephen Drew.
- They've made it known that they are interested either at a certain price point or with certain contractual terms, but not those that Boras is pursuing.
- Boras believes that, of the remaining suitors, we're the one most likely to budge.


I can't see any other possible reason for the remarks...Boras doesn't fire shots at random, and he's leveraging fan discontent to try and make sure that Drew gets paid.

I love your role of curmudgeon on this board..and I'm not being sarcastic.

[DreamTeam09]

I'm completely confused by this off season so I have no other reason to believe he is completely correct even if he has his own hidden agendas. Even if you wanna believe that injuries and down years are the reasons for a failed season last year, every single team in our division got better or were already better than us, so with no outside improvement, how were we supposed to improve.

It's going to get ugly quick and rogers can only blame themselves for what's about to happen.

[Santoki]

I'm completely confused by this off season so I have no other reason to believe he is completely correct even if he has his own hidden agendas. Even if you wanna believe that injuries and down years are the reasons for a failed season last year, every single team in our division got better or were already better than us, so with no outside improvement, how were we supposed to improve.

It's going to get ugly quick and rogers can only blame themselves for what's about to happen.

The average fan already believes that it's Alex not getting anything done who is to blame for this offseason. While that may be entirely true, we don't really know the real reason for the lack of activity. But, that hasn't stopped people from bringing out their pitchforks. Rogers/Beeston has done a wonderful job pinning this on entirely on AA.

[dballislife]

when ur never gonna pay free agents what they want, its gonna be hard to win

[Santoki]

So, from this we've likely learned that:

- The Jays have inquired about Stephen Drew.
- They've made it known that they are interested either at a certain price point or with certain contractual terms, but not those that Boras is pursuing.
- Boras believes that, of the remaining suitors, we're the one most likely to budge.


I can't see any other possible reason for the remarks...Boras doesn't fire shots at random, and he's leveraging fan discontent to try and make sure that Drew gets paid.

I love your role of curmudgeon on this board..and I'm not being sarcastic.

We don't really do this on this board but favourite posters have to be Schad and Michael Bradley. They're back and forth is always respectful and enjoyable to read. Honourable mention to Graham's Cracker as well.

Favourite **** disturber has to be akakalakin. Poster id probably grab a beer with is Wolverine1 for the sheer amount of And1s received.

It'll be a long season but I genuinely enjoying coming here to bitch about the struggles along the way.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

While it has a lot of merit, anything that comes out of Boras' mouth I take with a grain of salt. There's no down side for him to say what he did except piss off ownership. Play to the fan base in hopes of getting "his client" more money.

[Duffman100]

Well he's not wrong.

[Randle McMurphy]

Can't imagine this will help mend the antagonistic relationship that Boras and Beeston have had for years. I'm enjoying the shots at Rogers, though. They certainly don't deserve the benefit of the doubt this offseason considering their history in this regard.

[BigLeagueChew]

Alex Anthopoulos said, “Our ownership has been outstanding and given us all the resources we need.” -

Then AA does nothing during the off season.

[dagger]

Can't imagine this will help mend the antagonistic relationship that Boras and Beeston have had for years. I'm enjoying the shots at Rogers, though. They certainly don't deserve the benefit of the doubt this offseason considering their history in this regard.

Agreed, and I can't believe the Jays didn't anticipate the next shoe that's about to drop: the remaining comp free agents holding out until June when the comp pick obligation disappears. That would put a floor under the dollar cost of a new contract. I just feel as if we've been played all winter on this whole implied "we can wait until they get desperate" song and dance the media has conveniently been trumpeting.

[uniballer]

While I do agree with what he is saying I still think this is a scum bag move. Trying to strong arm an organization to sign some of his guys by calling them out in public is low.

[Fairview4Life]

Alex Anthopoulos said, “Our ownership has been outstanding and given us all the resources we need.” -

Then AA does nothing during the off season.

As opposed to "Our ownership group is terrible and won't give me any money! Blame them!"?

AA would have all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted in the offseason. Regular season too, for that matter.

[BigLeagueChew]

As opposed to "Our ownership group is terrible and won't give me any money! Blame them!"?

AA would have all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted in the offseason. Regular season too, for that matter.

Here's a better one from 2009. "it's not lies if we know the truth"