SAN DIEGO – A mostly dreary winter meetings lacking spectacular swaps will be remembered as the Scott Boras show.
Baseball’s most prominent agent dominated each of the three full days of meetings with a nine-figure contract, deals for Stephen Strasburg, Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon that totaled $814 million.
Just two trades were announced: The San Francisco Giants acquired shortstop Zack Cozart and infield prospect Will Wilson from the Los Angeles Angels for a player to be named or cash, and the Chicago White Sox obtained outfielder Nomar Mazara from the Texas Rangers for outfield prospect Steele Walker.
“I think it’s hard to say that there hasn’t been a trend,” new Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “It’s important not to get too focused on artificial timetables. You want to be prepared to do something when you think it’s going to help you, but you don’t want to force anything.”
The podium and dais remained in nearly pristine condition, hosting just one player announcement: Washington’s $245 million, seven-year contract on Monday to retain Strasburg, the World Series MVP.
Boras’ other big deals remained pending successful physicals as executives and agents cleared out Thursday: Cole’s $324 million, nine-year agreement to leave Houston for the New York Yankees and third baseman Rendon’s $245 million, seven-year contract to depart the Nationals for the Los Angeles Angels.
Just 25 of the 168 players who exercised their right to become major league free agents last month had finalized deals when the meetings ended Thursday, slightly ahead of the 21 of 164 when last year’s session ended in Las Vegas. The pace of talks does seem faster.
“It feels to me like there’s going to be continued action in free agency in the days to come and early next week,” Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said.
Boras said four straight years of declining major league attendance sparked teams to be more aggressive in an effort to excite fan bases and sell tickets.
“It’s a more competitive environment. More teams are trying to win,” New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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