It’s been a busy day at the GM Meetings by the accounts of those there, and it’s still not even dinner time out in California. I wanted to toss out some of the high points for your review, with more likely to come out later this evening …
Super agent Scott Boras held court, as he so often does, tossing out zingers and cloying portrayals of his clients in equal measure. While his thoughts on how amazingly awesome his players are don’t interest me all that much, I still think it’s useful to hear from him on the eve of a labor battle. His opinions carry a lot of weight in certain corners of the players union. Some of Boras’s lines:
Agent Scott Boras’ big message at his annual GM meeting media scrum was to decry rules that reward losing with enhanced draft positions. “We don’t ever want a system that rewards being a lesser team … Tanking teams wanted to get to the bottom. I blame the rules not the teams.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 10, 2021
Scott Boras on how many teams are trying to win in 2022:
“17 at the most.”
How many in the NL Central?
[pauses, smiles]
“I think you know the answer to that.”
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) November 10, 2021
Boras on what he thought about the White Sox not giving Carlos Rodón a qualifying offer: “Thank you.” Punctuated with a smile.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) November 10, 2021
Boras said Jake Arrieta plans to play next year and is getting healthy.
"Obviously, at the end of the season he was struggling a little bit with some physical issues & it affected his command. …Basically he was dealing with things that didn't allow him to repeat his delivery."
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) November 10, 2021
Scott Boras called Kris Bryant "the Sean Connery of Major League Baseball" because of his "bond-like abilities" and that he's "always red hot in the hunt for October." I think that puts him out of the Giants' price range.
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) November 10, 2021
Agent Scott Boras on Nick Castellanos' free-agent market: "I advised all of you two years ago that Ol' Saint Nick was going to bring a lot of presents to Cincinnati. Frankly, we're just going to sit back and see what teams have been naughty and nice." #Reds
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) November 10, 2021
Boras would not say if the Cubs were a match for free agent Nick Castellanos.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) November 10, 2021
I’d be curious about the context on that last one – Boras never rules out any team for any of his players – but it’s weird, right?
Meanwhile, CBA stuff circulated, and while there are still no direct incidents of dung flinging, the DOOM is still prevalent:
MLB and the union are engaged in CBA talks today. Not a ton of hope on either side for a quick resolution as the Dec. 1 expiration date approaches.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 10, 2021
Management source on the state of CBA negotiations: “As bad as I’ve ever see it.” Prediction: “2 1/2 months of pain”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 10, 2021
Starting today on @TheAthletic Baseball Show: a weekly episode about labor in baseball. Lockout next month? CBA? We've got you covered. For the first episode, @Ken_Rosenthal and I sat down at the GM meetings.
Apple: https://t.co/eEKYO13sTk
Spotify: https://t.co/I6POi0Wi3o pic.twitter.com/WqIHMMj98R— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) November 10, 2021
You’d think it would be front and center, but given both sides are in the biz of satisfying their constituents, it may not be: there are some fundamental problems with the game and competition. A better product needs to be the focus 7/x
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) November 10, 2021
But the pulse of the sides doesn’t seem to come off as being in a close place right now. Things can move quick but if not, a lockout on 12/2 seems probable. 9/x
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) November 10, 2021
That is all to say … your expectations should remain unchanged. A lockout come December 2 is a near certainty at this point, and the only question is how long it takes to get a deal done from there, while we fret and twiddle our thumbs.