It is safe to say that this MLB offseason has been disappointing for almost every fan base in some way or another. Even if people are pleased by how their team made out in free agency, the dragged-out negotiations and high-profile signings in mid-March are an undeniable turnoff for most. The players are also upset, of course, which is leading to much unrest. Super agent Scott Boras could find himself in the crosshairs of a brewing war.
Members of the MLB Players Association are said to have called for a change in leadership, namely the removal of deputy director Bruce Meyer, per The Athletic's Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal. The expectation is that he would be replaced with Harry Marino, a former big league pitcher and MLBPA lawyer, which would then put Tony Clark's long-term status as president in considerable doubt.
Boras, who objectively has not had his best year of MLB free agency, fervently disapproves of the approach that is purportedly being taken, aiming his frustration at Marino.
Scott Boras, Harry Marino speak their mind
“If you have great ideas, and you want those ideas to be promulgated in a manner that is beneficial to the union and the players they represent, you go to Tony Clark with your plan,” Boras told The Athletic. “You discuss it with him first, and the many lawyers in the union…You do not take them publicly, you do not create this coup d’etat and create really a disruption inside the union. If your goal is to help players, it should never be done this way.”
Marino came right back, claiming that he is only involved at the request of the disgruntled majority in the MLBPA. He even went as far as to land a jab on the longtime agent. “Scott Boras is rich because he makes — or used to make — the richest players in the game richer,” Marino said.
There are those who reportedly believe Clark and Meyer are partial to Boras, and his comments could only increase that sort of speculation. Harry Marino called his defense of MLBPA leadership “genuinely alarming.” Could the union be on the verge of breaking into complete chaos?
Could the biggest sports agent in the MLB lose some of his power?
This division comes after an offseason in which top free agents received substantially smaller contracts than they set out to earn. The common denominator in most of these miscalculations is Boras.
His clients– Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman– were left stewing on the open market for months before finally and perhaps begrudgingly agreeing to deals that fell well below their target number. Jordan Montgomery remains unsigned with Opening Day just over a week away (starts Wednesday for Dodgers and Padres).
Regardless of where the MLBPA goes from here, there is already a concerning amount of tension permeating the union. Scott Boras has talked his way through many situations in the past, but if Bruce Meyer and Tony Clark are ultimately replaced, his days of reigning supreme in The Show could be in some jeopardy.
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