Boras finally tastes a bit of humiliation

by Ken Rosenthal

Updated: November 15, 2007, 9:48 PM EST 717 comments

Boras has lost his aura of invincibility, but you can already hear his spin: This is what Alex wanted. If, as his agent, I had to take a secondary role, then I was willing to step back.

Actually, Boras might not even go that far — he spent the past several days with Rodriguez in Miami and released a statement Wednesday night saying that A-Rod had instructed him to discuss contract terms with the Yankees.

If only it were that simple.

From the furor over A-Rod opting out during Game 4 of the World Series to Boras' inability to establish the benchmark he wanted, it has been anything but the agent's finest hour.

The perception is that Boras couldn't get $30 million a year from another club, that Rodriguez's best deal was always with the Yankees.

For once Boras appears to have misread the market. For once, A-Rod didn't appear to act as his puppet. For once, the final, jaw-dropping tally will tell only part of the story.

This looks worse than when Andruw Jones abandoned Boras briefly after the 2001 season to negotiate his new Braves contract with his father.

This is A-Rod, Boras' pride and joy, his baseball Frankenstein. And even though Boras is handling the final details, even though he might have orchestrated the entire strategy, it is indisputable that Rodriguez had to start the process without him.

The stunning turn of events no doubt will embolden clubs in future talks with Boras — and may embolden other Boras clients to take greater control of their careers.

Boras' knowledge of the market is so uncanny, I wrote that he surely would get his desired terms on the night Rodriguez opted out of his contract.

Another Boras client, J.D. Drew, pulled off such a maneuver last off-season, voiding the final three years of his contract with the Dodgers, only to be welcomed by the Red Sox with a five-year, $70 million deal.

Yet for Rodriguez, the best and perhaps only way to find that type of soft landing was to go back to the Yankees. Without Boras. Without hubris. With his beloved Yankees hat in hand.

Rodriguez issued a statement earlier Wednesday in which he spoke of his willingness to respond to "certain Yankees concerns," saying he was "receptive and understanding of the situation."

That, ladies and gentlemen, is defeat.

And yet, when the final terms are announced, I dare anyone to call A-Rod a loser. The big, bad Yankees — who huffed and puffed and claimed they would not negotiate with A-Rod if he opted out — are relenting, too.

First, the Yankees will justify re-opening talks by saying that circumstances changed when Rodriguez reached out to them directly, overlooking that A-Rod's stunt cost them the $21 million subsidy from the Rangers in his original deal.

Then, the Yankees will justify exceeding the first proposal they intended to make — eight years, $230 million to $240 million — by saying they were prepared to give A-Rod additional money from the start, yet actually are "deducting" $21 million.

A-Rod's spin, too, will be delightful — he wants to die in pinstripes, he was willing to take less from the Yankees, blah, blah, blah.

But if his intent was to stay with the Yankees, then why did he bother opting out in the first place?

Boras said then that Rodriguez was concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the Yankees' other top free agents — Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte — as well as the team's ownership transition.

Posada since has reached terms with the Yankees, but Rivera has yet to accept a three-year, $45 million offer and Pettitte remains undecided about whether he will return.

As for ownership, it was obvious when A-Rod opted out that George Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, were assuming greater control. If Rodriguez had spoken with them then, he would have gained a better understanding of the chain of command.

The entire episode was so unnecessary; Rodriguez could have secured another record deal simply by pressing the Yankees to increase their initial proposal. Instead, Boras refused to even meet with the Yankees unless they offered A-Rod $350 million — an empty threat if there was ever one.

Humiliation in such matters is relative, but two facts are indisputable: Boras had to apologize for the timing of the opt-out decision and Rodriguez had to act independently of Boras in order to make up with the Yankees.

Boras haters — a group that includes pretty much the entire industry — couldn't ask for much more.