Scott Boras lays some lumber on Rogers, call them cheap

[Michael Bradley]

Boras knows that Drew to Toronto makes a ton of sense, but the Jays do not have any interest apparently, so couple that with SB's already rocky relationship with Paul Beeston, and that probably explains going public. Boras likely knows he will never do business with the Jays as long as Beeston is on board anyway, so he really doesn't lose anything by getting on their bad side. Plus, the Jays fans are already turning on AA/Beeston/Rogers for their inactivity, so throwing more matches into the fire only makes the Jays organization look worse to their own fans.

Boras is a douche, but he's a smart guy. Either he says these things and nothing happens (i.e. the Jays continue to look cheap and Boras gets his money from another org), or far more unlikely is the Jays buckle and sign one of his clients (i.e. Boras does his job).

[dagger]

Imagine if we ever developed a young uber-superstar, and were faced with the idea of extending him. I'd like to see Beeston argue his way out of the six year prohibition. It looks like $150m-$160m over 7 for Trout.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 27s
To repeat on Trout: Sources say #Angels’ goal is 7-year deal covering 2014-20. One pre-arb year, 3 arb years, 3 free-agent years. FA at 29.

[akakalakin]

Imagine if we ever developed a young uber-superstar, and were faced with the idea of extending him. I'd like to see Beeston argue his way out of the six year prohibition. It looks like $150m-$160m over 7 for Trout.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 27s
To repeat on Trout: Sources say #Angels’ goal is 7-year deal covering 2014-20. One pre-arb year, 3 arb years, 3 free-agent years. FA at 29.

may be wise but then again how is quitting wise?

[Schad]

Imagine if we ever developed a young uber-superstar, and were faced with the idea of extending him. I'd like to see Beeston argue his way out of the six year prohibition. It looks like $150m-$160m over 7 for Trout.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 27s
To repeat on Trout: Sources say #Angels’ goal is 7-year deal covering 2014-20. One pre-arb year, 3 arb years, 3 free-agent years. FA at 29.

It won't be $150-160m over seven. Probably $150m over six...Trout won't want a seventh year, and a $23m AAV would be ridiculously cheap, given everything.

[dagger]

Imagine if we ever developed a young uber-superstar, and were faced with the idea of extending him. I'd like to see Beeston argue his way out of the six year prohibition. It looks like $150m-$160m over 7 for Trout.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 27s
To repeat on Trout: Sources say #Angels’ goal is 7-year deal covering 2014-20. One pre-arb year, 3 arb years, 3 free-agent years. FA at 29.

It won't be $150-160m over seven. Probably $150m over six...Trout won't want a seventh year, and a $23m AAV would be ridiculously cheap, given everything.

No, but the Angels will be happy to get him under a six-year deal. Term won't be critical to them like it is Beastie Boy.

[Schad]

No, but the Angels will be happy to get him under a six-year deal. Term won't be critical to them like it is Beastie Boy.

If Mike Trout was on our team and willing to buy out two years of free agency, I sincerely doubt that Beeston would put a stop to it.

[There There]

No, but the Angels will be happy to get him under a six-year deal. Term won't be critical to them like it is Beastie Boy.

If Mike Trout was on our team and willing to buy out two years of free agency, I sincerely doubt that Beeston would put a stop to it.

Beat me to it... but yeah, I feel comfortable assuming that the opportunity to sign the most skilled player this sport currently has to an extension would be enough reason for a successful coup if Beeston tried to block it over term.

[satyr9]

You start to see all the ways Boras' clients are converging on the Jays and this becomes incredibly silly. Drew and Morales are Boras. Nick Franklin is Boras. Even Jeff Baker is Boras. He needs homes for his guys and he's pretty much out of options. And when he finds **** homes for them, like Baker, he needs a bad guy to explain why he didn't live up to his promise.

There's two ways to see his media salvo. One, Beeston/AA are willing to deal with him and he's trying to turn up the heat. Two, Beeston has told him he and his clients can **** themselves and he's trying to set the place on fire. I have no idea which one it is, but either way I'd put the odds way against any of those three ending up here, more so after this and the interview than before.

edited to add:

This is my favorite bit about his recent interview:

Boras repeated that the Blue Jays have ‘flexibility in the long term’ that could allow them to backload deals. Signing Drew or Morales would require the forfeiture of a draft pick, but Boras says the Blue Jays would recoup the compensatory pick in future off-seasons when their contracts expire. “You’re gaining a first round pick on the way out,” he said.

One, yeah AA, why aren't you selling your successor, if it fails, down the river by dumping my clients deals on them? And two, go pick a fight in Chicago or Houston if the end part is true. Those teams have way less money allocated, have protected firsts, and have equivalent or better markets. They could sign his guys without pick compensation and gain picks, that's exactly how rebuilding should look right? Well, I can think of a couple reasons not to do it. First, they're not run by Beeston. He likely has better history with them. Second, his clients won't like the idea of playing for a bottom five team on purpose. And third, and likely the most important, those teams hold draft slots where he wants whatever his high profile kids to sign in the top 5.

[Komodo]

No, but the Angels will be happy to get him under a six-year deal. Term won't be critical to them like it is Beastie Boy.

If Mike Trout was on our team and willing to buy out two years of free agency, I sincerely doubt that Beeston would put a stop to it.

How did Trout go 25th overall back in 09? Did he make a sudden meteoric rise in development after being drafted?

[There There]

No, but the Angels will be happy to get him under a six-year deal. Term won't be critical to them like it is Beastie Boy.

If Mike Trout was on our team and willing to buy out two years of free agency, I sincerely doubt that Beeston would put a stop to it.

How did Trout go 25th overall back in 09? Did he make a sudden meteoric rise in development after being drafted?

A lot probably had to do with the ridiculous bias that because he was from Jersey, he didn't get to play as much as kids from warmer climates like Florida and California, so he was seen as a bigger risk.


Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

[Schad]

How did Trout go 25th overall back in 09? Did he make a sudden meteoric rise in development after being drafted?

What There There said, in part. He was a guy with serious tools who didn't really stand out as a hitter until his senior year, and even then there were questions about his bat. Here's Baseball America's write-up after he got drafted:

Scouting Report: Trout has turned himself into a favorite of scouts in the Northeast, both for his talent and his makeup. An East Carolina commitment, he has rocketed up draft boards as a senior, thanks to an improved offensive approach. Last year, even in the fall, he had a tendency to bail out in the batter's box, particularly against sliders. This spring he has quieted his approach and improved against breaking balls, and he's shown the ability to hit hard line drives to all fields, though his swing still gets loopy and long at times. Halfway through the spring, Trout even began working on hitting lefthanded, and he showed some aptitude for it. Trout's frame and skill set draws comparisons to Aaron Rowand, but he's a faster runner—he runs the 60-yard dash in 6.5 seconds. He has good range and instincts in center field and plenty of arm for the position. Trout's bat is not a sure thing, but he has a chance to be a solid-average hitter with average or better power. Like Rowand, Trout is a grinder who always plays the game hard.

I don't want to ruin anyone's day, so I'm going to post this in spoiler tags, but this was the final mock from Andy Seiler (MLB Bonus Baby, when it operated independently):

Spoiler:

1. Washington - Steven Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State
2. Seattle - Dustin Ackley, OF, North Carolina
3. San Diego - Donavan Tate, OF, Cartersville HS (GA)
4. Pittsburgh - Aaron Crow, RHP, Ft. Worth Cats
5. Baltimore - Zack Wheeler, RHP, East Paulding HS (GA)
6. San Francisco - Tyler Matzek, LHP, East Capistrano HS (CA)
7. Atlanta - Alex White, RHP, North Carolina
8. Cincinnati - Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt
9. Detroit - Jacob Turner, RHP, Westminster Christian Academy (MO)
10. Washington - Drew Storen, RHP, Stanford
11. Colorado - Matt Hobgood, RHP, Norco HS (CA)
12. Kansas City - Mike Leake, RHP, Arizona State
13. Oakland - Grant Green, SS, USC
14. Texas - Shelby Miller, RHP, Brownwood HS (TX)
15. Cleveland - Tanner Scheppers, RHP, St. Paul Saints
16. Arizona - Bobby Borchering, 3B, Bishop Verot HS (FL)
17. Arizona - Kyle Gibson, RHP, Missouri
18. Florida - Chad James, LHP, Yukon HS (FL)
19. St. Louis - Matt Purke, LHP, Klein HS (TX)
20. Toronto - Mike Trout, OF, Millville HS (NJ)
21. Houston - Jiovanni Mier, SS, Bonita HS (CA)
22. Minnesota - Eric Arnett, RHP, Indiana
23. Chicago (AL) - Chad Jenkins, RHP, Kennesaw State
24. Los Angeles (AL) - Everett Williams, OF, McCallum HS (TX)
25. Los Angeles (AL) - Tyler Skaggs, LHP, Santa Monica HS (CA)
26. Milwaukee - Jared Mitchell, OF, LSU
27. Seattle - Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento State
28. Boston - Max Stassi, C, Yuba City HS (CA)
29. New York (AL) - Tony Sanchez, C, Boston College
30. Tampa Bay - Wil Myers, C, Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC)
31. Chicago (NL) - AJ Pollock, OF, Notre Dame
32. Colorado - Tommy Joseph, C, Horizon HS (AZ)

Sometimes, kids just click. Scouts loved Trout, but they he wasn't seen as a sure thing to make the majors, never mind becoming a superstar.

A similar example of a late pop-up prospect is another guy familiar to Jays fans: Noah Syndergaard. He was very young when that draft came around, to the extent that he apparently added 3-4 MPH to his fastball in the latter half of his senior year. Still, drafting him in the compensation round was considered to be a bit of a reach (he was expected to go in the 3rd/4th round, IIRC) but one that most people understood because the pick was unprotected...it was essential that we take someone willing to go below-slot, and Syndergaard was (he took $600,000; it wouldn't be for another 24 picks that someone signed for less).

The draft is just a strange thing at times. When we took Deck McGuire in that same draft, I remember there being two players that most wanted: Chris Sale, and Josh Sale. Chris Sale (who was as MLB-ready as they come, but was thought of as likely to end up in a bullpen) is a perennial Cy Young candidate, Josh Sale looked good in low-A as a 20 year old before developing a drug problem and may never even reach the high minors.