We normally only cover player agents when they make colossal errors, such as the one made by Paul Kinzer with Edwin Encarnacion. However, today we’re making an exception as, per Hazel Mae, Aaron Sanchez has hired Scott Boras.
Source informed me #BlueJays RHP Aaron Sanchez has joined @borascorp and is now being represented by super agent Scott Boras. #MLB
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) January 3, 2017
It’s been a long time since the Blue Jays had a notable Scott Boras client, and this one should not make any Toronto fans happy.
Sanchez broke out in a big way last year, going 15-2 while leading the AL in ERA (3.00) and pitching a career high 192 innings. He was every bit the ace that Jays fans hoped he would become, and he’s still just 25 years old. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that Boras is the super agent, as Hazel Mae points out. He very rarely has his players sign deals before free agency, and is known for getting top dollar out of teams. While it may seem like that’s something of a non-issue right now, with Sanchez still four years from free agency, this pretty much shuts the door on any type of extension to buy out arbitration and free agent years and save a few dollars.
It also increased the likelihood of more hardball in arbitration hearings, as the Blue Jays are a “File and Trial” team. What this means is if the two teams can’t agree on a contract, and arbitration numbers are filed, the Jays will not negotiate a new one year deal at or near the midpoint as so many other teams are willing to do. This almost became a problem last year with Josh Donaldson, but the club and player eventually worked out a two year deal. With Boras, that two year deal is less likely. The arbitration is often acrimonious, as the team is doing its best to show how a player isn’t valuable in order to keep costs down. In the end it isn’t usually a big problem (after all, Donaldson went through arbitration his first year in Toronto and lost, and I’d say things are going just fine), but the Jays likely don’t want to alienate their young stars in any way.
This is good for Aaron Sanchez – he’s going to get paid – and likely somewhat unpleasant for Atkins and Shapiro, but Shapiro does have history dealing with Boras (The Jays actually signed a Boras client last year – Franklin Morales), so it could all work out just fine.
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Hiring Scott Boras may be more beneficial to Aaron Sanchez’s longevity. I don’t think SB would take kindly to the SP/RP/Shutdown in-decisions the Jays have shown to Sanchez over the past three years.
Interesting point. In the end, he doesn’t actually have control though, as evidenced by the Matt Harvey situation (and his eventual injuries).