Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell, and Cody Bellinger. All of them are coming off amazing seasons. So why the fiddlesticks do some of them have small and low-priced deals or even no deals?

Let’s factor the factors.

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Let’s Factor the Factors

Alright first off. I need your opinion. Which team do you think failed in this MLB offseason? IF YOU PICKED ONE TEAM IN THE FIRST POLL, DO NOT PICK ANOTHER ONE IN THE 2ND POLL.

To me? The team that failed? It is between the Marlins, Mariners, and Cubs. Never expected them to NOT make an addition. Athletics stuff happens every year… Padres were supposed to fall… White Sox just don’t contend, I can go on and on.

Now this is surprising, but not as surprising as the three super players not getting deals.

Who is Scott Boras?

This guy is 71 years old! That’s Mookie Betts + Rafael Nadal + 3!

Scott Boras was born in Sacremento, and before he became an agent, he was a baseball player! Boras played minor league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs for four years. He made the Florida State League all-star team, but unfortunately, he had some knee issues which means… His career was… over…

Then he went to law school and then worked as an associate in the pharmaceutical defense department of the Chicago firm Rooks, Pitts & Poust. He did something related to law. I don’t want to dig too deep into it.

Scott Boras started his career as a baseball agent by representing Manny Trillo, a former major league shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Bill Caudill, a former minor league teammate and closer for the Seattle Mariners, who both now work for Boras. By 1980, he had decided that his calling was in the field of baseball agency. In 1983, Boras negotiated a contract for Caudill, which was worth $7.5 million, one of the largest contracts in baseball history. Not long afterward, he left his job at the law firm to represent players full-time.

Client List of Scott Boras

OLD:

Alex Rodriguez, Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira, Barry Zito, Matt Holliday, Johnny Damon, JD Drew, Carlos Beltran, Jayson Werth, Kevin Brown.

NOW:

Pete Alonso, Bryce Harper, Corey Seager, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole, Xander Bogaerts, Max Scherzer, Jose Altuve, Carlos Rodon, and Cody Bellinger

These are just the most famous players. Look at the number of free agents on this list this year who are under the Boras Corporation.

List

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How Did He Fail?

Not really the best players
Tough Market

What do you mean by not the best players? Didn’t you say they were good?

Okay, so maybe they did have a good 2023 season. I mean, Snell won his second Cy Young Award. Montgomery got a World Series ring. Bellinger won a Silver Slugger. But, this could be only for one season. It could be like a television show that died, but then it came back, but it died again. You never know.

Here’s a bit of evidence; for this one, we will add Matt Chapman and J.D. Martinez.

Bellinger? In between his MVP-winning turn in 2019 and his comeback turn in 2023, he posted a .648 OPS and 1.0 rWAR. And even last year, the quality of his contact was abysmal.
Snell? He may have two Cy Youngs, but in between those were four seasons in which he was only 4 percent better than the average pitcher. And even last year, he led MLB in walks.
Montgomery? He's a Tommy John survivor who had a 34th-percentile strikeout rate in 2023.
Chapman? He's settled into a life as a .700-ish OPS guy.
Martinez? Heck of a track record, but at 36, he's at an age when only three hitters have topped 30 home runs within the last decade.

Bleacher Report

Bellinger: It’s just like I said earlier. This guy had a great season in 2019, and then the rollercoaster went… But then, he came back! Should you bet on this guy? Should you pay him more than $80 million? Hell no!

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Snell: Same thing as Bellinger

Montgomery: Tommy John is a serious injury. Not many people make it back to the MLB and succeed after that. Do you want to spend money on that?

Chapman: Not the thing you want…

Martinez: Why the heck would you want to pay a guy that is 36 years old? If I was a GM, I would decline, but not politely.

Okay then. What about that market?

As of now, free-agent spending is way down. Let me do some math here. $5,400,393,921 were spent. This year? 3,381,000,500.

What’s 5,400,393,921 - 3,381,000,500?

I need a calculator 😂😂😂

2,019,393,421 down from before.

This is even when Shohei Ohtani, who signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, secured the record for the highest-ever amount paid to a player, amounting to $700 million over 10 years. This is also even when Yoshinobu Yamamoto, also of the Los Angeles Dodgers, holds the record for the highest-ever amount paid to a pitcher, amounting to $325 million over 12 years.

That’s a BILLION DOLLARS RIGHT THERE!

Boras Free Agents

This was the prediction by MLBTR for those 5 free agents.

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Cody Bellinger: 12 years, $264 million (DIDN’T HAPPEN)
Blake Snell: 7 years, $200 million
Jordan Montgomery: 6 years, $150 million
Matt Chapman: 6 years, $150 million
J.D. Martinez: 2 years, $40 million

Continuing On

People don’t want to spend on regular free agents, so why would they spend on Boras free agents?

That’s what happened. That’s the storyline.

Boras always gets what he wants. He made a big splash with Josh Hader. He made a big splash with Jose Altuve. Reminder, that was this year.

But, those stats. Not really the greatest for all of these players. I’ll put a few links below.

Blake Snell: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/san-diego-padres/blake-snell-18356/statistics/

Jordan Montgomery: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/texas-rangers/jordan-montgomery-21715/statistics/

You can find more on the Spotrac site.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Well, if you’ve been keeping up with my notes, you’ll find that Sports Square is gaining a lot of international subscribers. I wanted to give them something to read by giving them something related to them. Hopefully, you’ll see this in every post from now on.

Nadal is Back Baby! Netflix is Streaming it?

Netflix is expanding its sports content with a new live event called "The Netflix Slam". The event will feature an exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, which will take place in Las Vegas! Yes. Las Vegas.

Nadal, a veteran from Spain who has been dealing with injuries and is on the brink of retirement. On the other hand, his soon-to-be successor Carlos Alcaraz has been on the rise. What makes me say this?

He’s got 2 GRAND SLAM titles by the AGE OF 20!

But, will they play? And if they play, will they try? The reason I say this is because Indian Wells is coming up, and that cup is prestigious. I mean… Novak Djokovic is playing…

Conclusion

Me? It wasn’t ALL his fault, because I guess luck could’ve placed him in a different spot. But, he’s SCOTT BORAS. He’s THE BIG THING.

That’s it for this Friday’s article. I have a few collaborations lined up for you guys in March, so expect special posts. Also, as we near the summer, I suggest you download the Substack app on your phone. I don’t only post articles. I am also very active on the notes platform, which is where I share many things. This is on the Substack app.

Substack rolled out a new DM feature this week. Feel free to chat with me whenever you want. My biggest and most active conversations will be devoted to the people who recommend my publication, donate/pay, or have the 3 referrals you need (check the leaderboard section on the site).

How the Fiddlesticks did Scott Boras fail? Let's Factor the Factors + International News

Edition #59

BREAKING NEWS: Catlin Clark is entering the WNBA Draft!

BREAKING NEWS: Ohtani = Married

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