Scott Boras: Bad for Baseball, Even Worse for Agents

There’s an episode of the now off the air HBO series "Arliss" in which Arliss’ secretary wants to become a sports agent and then gives up when she realizes just how cutthroat the industry can be.

Maybe Jim Munsey ought to check it out.

Munsey has filed a complaint with the Major League Baseball Players Associated stating that super agent Scott Boras was attempting to steal one of his clients. He claims that Boras’ representatives have been “stalking” Braves’ top prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the last year.

Boras said that Saltalamacchia provided his cell phone number and initiated contact with his people several times.

Now I’m sure that the Boras camp is blowing up the kid’s cell phone and showing up at every one of his games in Myrtle Beach even if he has made it clear that he wants to stick with Munsey. But isn’t that part of the job? I thought agents were supposed to do whatever they can in order to get the best clients available.

It’s must be frustrating that Boras can probably land any player he wants at any time but that’s what happens when you convince Texas to spend $100 million more than any other team for Alex Rodriguez. He has a phenomenal track record.

This isn’t about stealing. It’s called business. Munsey just finds himself in the unfortunate predicament of competing with the Wal-Mart of sports agents.