Hypocrisy and the Pedro Alvarez case
Let's try getting back to baseball.
Have you been following the dispute between Pedro Alvarez and the Pirates? Fascinating stuff, and very unfortunate for Alvarez, who played his high school ball at Horace Mann School in New York City.
It seems to me that Scott Boras doesn't have much of a case here. But what struck me most was this statement that Pirates president Frank Coonelly released.
It's a very combative statement, wouldn't you agree? It's full of shots at Boras, with whom Coonelly battled in Coonelly's previous job as Major League Baseball's "slot" enforcer. Coonelly did all he could, as was his job, to convince clubs to adhere to the amateur draft slot figures established by MLB.
I was bothered by Coonelly's accusing Boras of hypocrisy _ trying to invalidate the Alvarez deal because it was finalized minutes after the Aug. 15 deadline, but not challenging Kansas City's deal with Boras advisee Eric Hosmer even though that took a few minutes longer than Alvarez's to complete _ because I think Coonelly himself is a hypocrite.
Coonelly spent years pleading with teams not to pay above slot. Then, in his very first drat pick as Pirates president...he paid Alvarez $2 million above slot. That's the essence of "Do as I say, not as I do," isn't it?
Who, I thought, was Coonelly to be claiming the moral high ground over Boras?
I e-mailed this sentiment to Coonelly, and to his credit, he called me back and we talked it out.
"I'm now the president of the Pittsburgh Pirates," Coonelly said. "It's different job, a
different role. My job was to recommend that teams not overspend on draft picks. Now I'm representing the Pirates. Sometimes teams' interests are wholly aligned with those of baseball, and sometimes they're not."
Alvarez's slotted signing bonus was $4 million. Coonelly said that he knew that Alvarez would cost more than that the slot, but that he felt the Pirates had such a need for top-flight talent that paying over slot was worth it.
"To be burdened by my former role would be a disservice to my new employers and fans," Coonelly said. "If I had not drafted Alvarez just because of my former job, my owner should've fired me."
I agreed with him - drafting Alvarez was the right thing to do, and I hope the two sides can work through these differences and Alvarez can begin his professional career with the Pirates. But, I suggested to Coonelly, there was a trade-off. In return for doing the right thing for the Pirates, he had opened himself to criticism because he so directly and so quickly contradicted his previous mission.
Coonelly didn't seem altogether offended by that statement.
I've heard only good things about Coonelly from industry people, and I think he and his general manager Neal Huntington are off to a promising start. I think they're going to wind up looking all right from the trades that sent Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady to the Yankees and Jason Bay to the Red Sox.
But our past is part of whom we are, whether it's baseball or politics. And if Coonelly is going to get all high and mighty with Boras, then I think it's fair to call out Coonelly for his own personal inconsistencies.
P.S. Because of this case, Major League Baseball has now disallowed Hosmer from playing until the Alvarez mess is settled, Jon Heyman reports here.
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Comments (27)
I think this is only the beginning. Baseball wants to portray Boras as an incompetent agent who doesn't work well with the sport or the people he is representing (see ARod, IRod and this). They've been unsuccessful in driving him out of baseball any other way, so maybe if they can show he doesn't do a good job representing his guys, they wont hire him and he will be gone. I don't think Boras is incompetent but he is a user and borderline unethical. Obviously the more he gets for his players, the richer he gets, and sometimes I'm not so sure he has his players best interests in mind in order to get what HE wants (see ARod again). Ken, I know you said they made amends but that one is the most prominent client he has and ARod did his own deal at the very end to get what he wanted. Not what Boras wanted.
Its a tough call. I totally understand Coonelly's position. But I also understand yours. It sounds like he is passionate at whatever job he is given. And it also sounds like he can explain himself very well on the fly.
For the life of me, I dont understand why the Union doesn't work with the owners on this. I think they would be smart to put in the CBA that if you're drafted here you get X amount. In exchange for that, the owners would have to either raise the luxery tax, add a 26th player or do something to even out the money. Or raise the Big League mininum salary. I think players that have played should be entitled to more money than players that haven't had a Big League at bat. My plan wouldn't save a dime for the owners btw. It would just go to more deserving players.
As great a agent as Boras is, he's had some clunkers for his clients as well. I dont have the link but I know he has lost millions for at least two of his cllients by waiting too long for them to sign.
From what I heard, he wuoldn't have made a dime had the Red Sox exercized their option with Manny. Now Manny expects to get 20 million a year from someone else??? I doubt it. But then again, I wouldn't be all that surprised.
It's tough to enforce "cost certainity" - be it salary caps, slot pricing or collusion like activity on free agents - when the person in charge of the discipline is loath to support it when he is on the other side of the table. Does Coonelly now take the chameleon award title away from Larry Lucchino?
And Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, called the grievance "entirely without merit." So Alvarez' deal is OK for MLB but the Hosmer deal isn't? I await the lawsuit on antitrust grounds by Hosmer.
Rg - yes, owners would be wiser to start complaining about the high cost of signings for untested amateurs in order to sow discord among the union.
Bob...as a former player, what do you think of the CBA giving slotted salary amounts to draftees, if the extra money went to current ballplayers?
I think Goodall wants to address paying rookies such high salaries in expense of veteran players in the next NFL negotiations.
I don't trust the owners to stop with slots (caps) on draft picks without moving on and trying some other hairbrained restrictions.
Any savings will not go to players, it goes into the owner's pile.
By adding draft caps, the owners are making it easier for the union. If they were smart (leap of faith) , owners would grant total free agemcy and pay what they wanted to a limited few stars and then build a minimum salary team around them.
Then again, what do I know about bonuses? I didn't get a bonus - I got a sandwich and cup of coffee at the NY Port Authority
Bob the first part has nothing to do with trust. It would have to be bargained for. And you know Fehr and Orza > Selig. Obviously the Union wouldn't give that out for free.
As for the second part, I read once where Marvin Miller wanted all players to be free agents every year. If that was ever the case, that would be the biggest blunder this side of Richie Garcia.
I can't see the union trying to reallocate the total salary/bonus package from draftees to current players, as their agent base is making money off the current system and happy - and no player uproar regarding paying too much cash to unproven talent has happened yet, unlike the NFL and NBA.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/28470/review_of_lords_of_the_realm_the_real.html?page=2
"When the free agent debate took full attention of the owners, nobody wanted to give in. The Lords, as Helyar names them, knew free agency would break some teams. Players would be seeking out better environments and better pay. However, one owner had a great idea that was not taken very seriously back in the late ‘70’s. Charlie Finley, owner of the Oakland Athletics, suggested that they (the Lords) should make all players free agents, with no timetable of when they would be declared one. This would have given the owners all the power in the world, players would have to find their own work or take the low offers the owners gave them. Players would almost be too scared to look for work on another team because of how flooded the market would always be. Finley’s idea was ignored by his fellow Lords because of his reputation for being the group idiot, but Marvin Miller was actually scared of the idea. He said, “My main worry was that someone would listen to him.” "
The Yanks had a 6-2 lead heading into the 7th and still lost 7-6. A-Rod came up with 2 on and no one out and he grounds into a DP, what else is new. Everything A-Rod does at the plate in clutch situations has been a disater.
This case between the Pirates and Pedro Alvarez along with his agent Scott Boras will be watch very closely by everybody in baseball. This could get ugly very quickly.
Boras seems to do what is best for himself than what is best for his client. He goes for the money instead of listening to what his client wants.
By the way Ken, your beloved Michigan Wolverines lost to Utah at home 25-23. Not a good day if your last name is Rodriguez.
Dennis he hit that ball really solidly. What he did wrong was stare at the ball three times. He was out by half a step. He would have definitely been safe had he just run hard to first without looking back at the play.
Keith Hernandez just said, "I like our lineup better than anybodys." God unless you've been announcing for 40 years for the same team you shouldn't be saying stuff like that.
RG - "our lineup"?`` Of course, the Mets are in first place.
Did Keith use "their lineup" during the fade in 2007?
Ken - a loss to Utah? "Did you say 'utes'?"
A tough day for the Wolverines, indeed. Thanks for the reminder, Dennis. I wasn't even aware the college football season had started. ;)
Many of the Michigan players also appeared to not know that the season had started.
Love those Mets - a walk off walk - not as bad as the end of the 1999 playoffs (Kenny Rogers v. Braves), but just enough to keep fans off-balance.
Ken -
What is your deal...?I
I asked you about Utah v UM earlier in the day...
Phils and Mets are going to the wire,
I was joking, Gerry. Of course I knew that the season had started (hence the wink).
Bob It amazes me that they keep walking the bases loaded. Its so dumb. It makes the hitter know a fastball down the middle is coming and it has to make the pitcher more nervous. Its just not worth it.
Hey, guys. I just returned from watching another walk-off walk, this one in extras. Wow, I could not believe that I was watching Atlanta. It brought back fond memories of those mid to late-80s Braves teams!
What was missing in the Alvarez discussion is the unfairness of the draft system. While I am pleased to see that teams like the Pirates and Royals were willing to play well over slot for their high draft choices this summer, the system in recent years has favored the "richer" teams. The top stars were deliberately passed over, allowing them to fall to the end of the first round. Should this year's draft prove to be an aberration, then MLB will have to devise a salary cap or something similar on draft choices may have to be instituted to restore some fairness.
Ken, why is walking the bases loaded accepted wisdom in ninth-inning situations? This tactic has now bitten the Mets on the ass twice in one week. (Moreover, it backfired on Bobby Cox tonight.) I realize that there are risks involved with leaving a runner on third with less than two out, but when you walk the next two batters, you leave the pitcher with no room for error. To your knowledge, has anyone done statistical work to determine whether this move is folly? Thanks.
JE, to my knowledge, there is no such research. But I agree with you guys - doesn't make sense. I can see if it's second and third, so that you create the force. But just a runner on third, like Tuesday night with the Mets? Or first and third, like last night with the Mets? I don't get it.
Heilman hasn't pitch since throwing 3 innings on Tuesday. His control was certainly off last night. I totally agree with all of you about Jerry Manuel's strategy in walking 2 guys to loaded the bases with a runner at third. When a guy like Heilman can't find the plate and is all over the place, you know what the end result will be. And the result was another blown game by the Mets bullpen. I'll said this before and I'll say it again, the Mets bulpen will cost them the NL East if no one steps up and take the bull by the horns when the the starter don't go deep ino the game.
Anthony McCarron wrote an interesting article today in the Daily News about the rise of players going on the DL.
Here's the link.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/08/30/2008-08-30_trips_to_the_dl_on_the_rise_in_mlb.html
Thanks for the link, Dennis. No wonder why Dr. James Andrews is now a household name.
In addition to Ken's excellent summary on the Coonelly angle in the Alvarez situation, here is a piece that roasts Boras for, among other things, denying the kid a chance to start the ball rolling (MLB service time) needed to get to free agency before his 30th birthday, all for what, maybe $200K?
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/boras-hole-burying-alvarez/
JE you know Boras is all about himself. He would probably be chasing ambulances for a living (not to mention totally unknown) if he hadn't found a way to make easy money repping baseball players who normally have no clue what they are bargaining for and probably give him carte blanche to do what he needs to do to get them both rich. I think it's when players start to pay a bit of attention to him that they realize he's not in their best interests for the most part ala ARod last winter.
I dont care if its 2nd and 3rd. You're still going to put the infield in most of the time so you cant get a DP anyways. The only time I'm in favor of it is if you're avoiding a very good hitter to get to a not so much hitter.
Though to be fair to my boy Heillman, he did strikeout Ramariez. They just called it ball 4.
Don't get too excited that the Pirates were willing to pay some sort of market price for a draft pick. That was the purpose of revenue sharing. For the first few years, teams like KC, Pittsburgh, Florida and Tampa Bay pocketed the cash and didn't reinvest in any form. New ownership in Miami, TB and Pittsburgh have done so and made progress. Old ownership in KC is still not up to speed on the economics of the game, as they are run by ex- Wal-Mart employees and Glass famly members.
As for walking the bases loaded, in my (medium sample size) experience, the success rate is limited, unless you are bypassing two .300 hitters to get to batters with obvious weaknesses. That doesn't happen in the major leagues if the opposing manager has directed the game correctly and has a pinch hitter or two ready for the situation.
RG is correct, you'll never get a double play since your infielders are out of position and their first instinct is to throw home anyways. You stand a better chance of getting the runner on third to commit on contact and throw them out at the plate.
I remember people saying that the Yanks should have play the infield back with the bases loaded and 1 out in a tied game in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series because Rivera gives up a lot of bloop hits. That became moot when Luis Gonzalez bloop a base hit with the infield in to win the World Series for the D'Backs.
In this year's All-Star Game, the game was tied at 3-3 in the 10th, with the AL having the bases loaded and no one out with the winning run at 3rd. And what happens? Aaron Cook gets a force out at home, a force out at home and slow groung ball to short to end the inning. And the first 2 outs came with the infield in.