Baseball insiders insist the hard feelings on A-Rod’s part toward Boras are genuine, that in taking over the negotiations himself he accused his agent of betrayal by misleading him about the level of interest from the Yankees.Likewise, they say that Boras is reeling from the ego blow A-Rod dealt him by telling the world on “60 Minutes” he’s not even speaking to his agent these days.
“Yeah, (Boras) made his commission,” a prominent agent said this week, “but, come on, do you know how much money he has? With Boras it’s all about being king of the jungle, the most powerful agent and the toughest negotiator in the game.
“He loves being the guy that everyone in baseball fears. He wouldn’t for a minute concoct a plan that would diminish his reputation. His image as a god to the players is too important to him.
“A-Rod might not be the most popular guy in the game, but don’t think he didn’t do some serious damage to Boras’ image. He basically called the guy a lying weasel on national TV. Nobody in the business is shedding any tears for Boras, believe me, but he took a serious hit.”
Poor Boras... and the downward spiral continues:
For that matter, A-Rod detailed what many in baseball have suspected Boras of doing for years: keeping clients in the dark about negotiations as he goes about making the deal he wants to make.
“And Boras didn’t seem comfortable dealing with the Yankees about A-Rod once George Steinbrenner was out of the picture,” the person said. “He had a relationship with George, who always said that Boras was a tough but fair negotiator. But Hank and Hal (Steinbrenner) didn’t play up to him. Hal, especially, was tough with him. Boras didn’t like dealing with Hal.”
Whatever the reason, Boras took A-Rod down the opt-out path and it all blew up on him. His multi-million dollar commission apparently hasn’t healed all wounds. “He has tried to call more than once,” one person close to A-Rod said. “Alex hasn’t taken the calls.”
Hal is showing some pimp hand behind the scenes. And this comes after a recent report that Hal was the driving force behind the financial caution exercised on Johan Santana.
If Scotty B. is really down in the dumps, A-Rod deserves props for opting out of his business relationship with the Gordon Gecko of professional sports. Greed is good, but payback is better.
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