A-Rod, Bonds both blew off Boras
Posted: Friday, November 16, 2007 6:49 PM
On the same day that news broke of a framework for a deal between the suddenly repentant A-Rod groveling back to the Yankees certainly against the wishes of his agent, Barry Bonds was indicted. The cloud that hung over Bonds, San Francisco, and the game for three years finally broke.
Why now? That’s the magic question. It can’t be ignored that an indictment in the offseason carries far less risk in the court of public opinion. Had the feds slammed Bonds as he neared the record, the public, and a potential jury pool, could have found the act vindictive. Now Bonds has his record and the public will find it easier to accept the slugger having to answer in a court of law.
What about Bonds’ career? It’s over. No team touches him until the indictment is resolved. Although some legal experts expect this to move fast (and Bonds should be motivated for the same if he is truly innocent), how many trials in our society happen quickly? Bonds would be past his 44th birthday by the time of decision and, if innocent, likely unable to truly contribute to a team.
Things to remember: Bonds was counseled relentlessly to avoid perjury. He can only blame himself for this predicament. Somehow his answers to the grand jury left enough room for the feds to indict.
When Bonds' lawyer Michael Rains talks, the words may as well come from Bonds. Bonds is involved intimately with the legal process. He is known as a difficult client.
No sympathy for Greg Anderson. The greatest mystery in this whole affair was released from prison yesterday. His lawyer called the government vindictive. But ask this: Why didn’t Anderson just say that Bonds did not know the cream and the clear were steroids? That was the testimony of Bonds. Parroting that testimony, affirming its truth, would have kept Anderson out of jail. The government may have been vindictive, but was also well within reason to ask that question. Why didn’t Anderson simply and directly say Bonds told the truth? Still waiting for that answer.
Bonds and A-Rod have one thing in common: both blew off Scott Boras. The agent, fired by Bonds after 2001, tried to steal the limelight from the World Series through A-Rod’s opt-out. Then Bonds went and stole the spotlight back on the day that A-Rod returned to the Yankee fold. And the events of the last 24 hours set up the likelihood of A-Rod, in a Yankee uniform, breaking Bonds’ home run record.
I have heard suggestions that these events with A-Rod and the Yankees could have been a master plan by Boras. And I don’t believe it. That flies against everything established by Boras in his career as groundbreaking agent. A-Rod is still the game’s highest-paid player, by far, but only increases his take by $23 million from seven years ago. And it’s $75 million less than the mark floated by Boras.
I believe that Boras’ intent was to find this year’s Tom Hicks: one owner who out of perceived need/desperation would bid anything necessary to secure the services of a superstar. And A-Rod short-circuited the process, in Boras’ view, by contacting the Yankees himself, just as Bonds communicated with the Giants in 2001.
Clearly, A-Rod didn’t want to be the “bad guy.” And he didn’t want Boras repeating 2000 and steering A-Rod to a place he never wanted to play. Don’t underestimate that point. Again, A-Rod never wanted to be in Texas. Boras compelled A-Rod to accept an offer that Hicks continued to raise despite no competition. That didn’t go too well for either side. And Boras’ commission, as well as reputation, was untouched.
So I credit A-Rod for taking control of his life. I credit someone for finally telling Boras he is not a Svengali. I credit someone for recognizing when they have a “good thing.”
Final point: there is a sense that baseball wins when A-Rod supplants Bonds atop the home run list. Don’t we know enough by now to understand there should be no assumptions about this era? When an upstanding man like Matt Williams is linked to a phony scheme to obtain HGH, don’t we understand that it could be anyone at anytime?
