No one in the baseball industry expects free agent Cody Bellinger to make up his mind any time soon.
I got a kick out of the little poem Scott Boras trotted out at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday, rhyming his way through the seven teams ready to throw money at Cody Bellinger.
It was a corny but cute. I’m told Boras writes these verses by himself.
His real talent, of course, is making owners beg. I have no idea whether those seven teams are actually pursuing Bellinger. It could three or four. It could be none.
Either way, no one plays the mind game better than the Human Shark.
The Yankees are no strangers to Boras’ tactics, which is why they’re preparing for a long, difficult negotiation. The stakes are sky high, and not just because Bellinger is one of the franchise’s pillars.
It’s that prolonged bargaining that would put the rest of the Yankees’ off-season agenda on hold. And that’s Boras ultimate goal: make the Yankees squirm until they finally cave.
Here’s the kicker: the Bombers don’t hold it against him.
“Scott is a professional, he’s really good at advocating for his clients,” said Yankees president Randy Levine. “I respect his ability, and I know he respects ours, too.
“We’ve done a lot of deals together.”
Other executives agree. As ruthless as Boras can be, they say, his methods are above board. Boras just happens to be the smartest and most aggressive agent in the game.
“I actually like Scott quite a bit,” said Athletics’ executive Billy Beane. “He’s got the guts of a burglar and the brains to go with it.”
I asked Beane flatly if Boras was honest.
“The game doesn’t allow me to know if Scott was telling the truth or not, so my policy was to take everything he said at face value,” Beane said.
“If he told me he had seven or eight other teams involved (in a negotiation), I would believe him. But contrary to what fans might think, Scott Boras is not a dick, he’s never unprofessional. He’s just a really smart lawyer.”
The Yankees are hoping their prior successes with Boras’ clients (Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon) will give them the upper hand with Bellinger.
Talks are so far at the preliminary stage. No serious numbers have been exchanged yet. And no one seems to be in a hurry.
Another executive who’s had a long history with Boras says Yankees fans are wasting their time looking for updates on social media every 15 minutes.
“This thing is going into January,” the executive predicted of the Bellinger talks. “Boras is in no hurry.”
If that’s true, the pressure will be on Hal Steinbrenner. He has to decide how much money and time to devote to the sweepstakes.
If the Yankees wait too long, they risk missing out on other upgrades. The worst outcome would be to whiff on Bellinger, can’t play catch-up with another quality starter and find themselves with mostly the same roster from 2025.
The timing has to be precise. But even if the Yankees play it perfectly, not everyone in the front office believes Boras will steer Bellinger back to the Bronx.
Some execs are convinced it’s a lost cause, especially if the Dodgers are serious bidders. The optimists believe the market won’t be as fertile as Boras expects, especially with a lockout likely coming in 2027.
If it’s Door Number One – Boras whisks Bellinger away for the six-year, $180 million contract I’m told the Yankees don’t want to pay – angry fans will have their pick of three villains.
The most obvious target would be Steinbrenner for being too cheap. He shouldn’t feel badly, though. The Dodgers are printing money. Even Steve Cohen can’t keep up.
Villian No. 2 would be Bellinger, who everyone loves. But that would change if he bailed on the Pinstripes simply for more cash. All the goodwill from the Bleacher Creatures would vanish faster than you can say Juan Soto.
And finally, the blame would find its way to Boras for his part in breaking the fans’ hearts.
Not that the Mr. Shark would care.
“I don’t need to be adored, I don’t think any fan has ever been liked by the fans,” Boras said in an interview last year.
“My job is to get my clients the best contracts, the best professional advice and protection and of course, the best financial deal we can make.”
Personally, I wonder how Boras would react if Bellinger decided the biggest contract was less important than the bond with the Yankees.
That scenario nearly unfolded last year with Soto, who supposedly had his heart set on returning to the Bronx. But Cohen out-bid Steinbrenner at the 11th hour, ending Soto’s one-year trial run with the Yankees.
But Boras wasn’t necessarily the culprit. I’m told he actually recommended to his client to stay put. The consensus was that Soto caved to family pressure to switch camps.
Bellinger could be facing a similar dilemma. He’s from Arizona and still has a home in Phoenix. Picking the Dodgers would mean staying home during spring training. That’s two extra months for the Bellinger family to sleep in their owns beds.
That’s the human side of negotiating that one rarely hears about when Boras is involved.
Believe it or not, Boras has a human side, too.
“I consider Scott a friend,” said Levine.
“Our kids went to the same grade school and sat next to each other in class,” said Beane.
“I just ran into Scott two weeks ago. I always found him to be funny and self-deprecating. And he loves baseball.”
Yankees die-hards on Bellinger watch probably disagree. But if Bellinger picks the Bombers, all will be forgiven.
Boras would earn beers for life in the bleachers.
You never know.
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Category: General Sports
