DALLAS − Scott Boras was fatigued Wednesday morning, his voice raspy, spending most of the night on the telephone negotiating with teams, and now addressing the media, with a flight scheduled Thursday morning to New York for a press conference at Citi Field to officially announce Juan Soto’s historic $765 million contract.
Yet before he leaves town, he could have one more massive contract finalized, with ace Corbin Burnes expected to land a deal exceeding $250 million – the third-richest for a pitcher in history.
Boras has been in serious talks with the San Francisco Giants for Burnes, and has spoken to the Boston Red Sox and others, acknowledging the possibility that Burnes’ deal could soon be agreed upon.
“I think Corbin Burnes is kind of like Elvis,’ Boras said. “He’s got that burning love for a No. 1 starter. You’re really feeling it today and every morning, I might add.’’
The Burnes signing would conclude a frenzied week at baseball’s annual Winter Meetings where there was $1.3 billion spent on free agents including three contracts in excess of $180 million and four trades involving 17 players.
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Certainly it has been a sharp contrast to a year ago when just $138 million was spent, and the biggest free-agent contract was starter Eduardo Rodriguez’s four-year, $80 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It rings a definition of resources for the teams,’ Boras said. “Media (TV contracts) is understood, more defined, as to what the plan will be ahead. I also think that expiring contracts in this market something have a lot to do with it.
“But the real lesson is that star-level players, playoff-caliber starting pitching, power in the postseason are winning consistently. And those are the things that teams understood with just great aggression.’’
Indeed, Soto has a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals and helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series. Max Fried, who signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees has won a World Series with Atlanta and has pitched in 20 postseason games the past seven years. Nathan Eovaldi, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract to return to the Texas Rangers, won two World Series titles. Willy Adames, who signed the biggest contract in San Franciso Giants’ history with his seven-year, $182 million deal, has been to the postseason five times in the past six years.
Now, with Burnes pitching in the postseason in four of the past seven years while winning a Cy Young award and finishing in the top eight in four other seasons, he’s expected to command the third-largest contract in history for a pitcher behind only Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million) and Gerrit Cole ($324 million).
Boras also represents third baseman Alex Bregman, who has won two World Series championships and been to the postseason every year since 2017, could land a deal exceeding $180 million from the Houston Astros, Red Sox or the Yankees.
“We’ve had numerous talks with teams and owners, and we all know what comes after an A (Alex) and a B (Bregman) is a C – champions,’ Boras said. “And it’s Bregman’s case, that’s C-squared. All of these teams realize what a leader he is and what a champion he is, and plus his skill level to boot. He’s very much in demand.’
Boras could also get a similar contract for free-agent first baseman Pete Alonso, a four-time All-Star who has hit 226 homers in his six seasons.
“A lot of market locomotion going on regarding Pete,’ Boras said. “The Polar Bear Express is rolling. … Power in this game is such a commodity, and you can see that as we filter through the market the availability is something that most teams recognize as a real core lineup need.’
While the market appears slow for Alonso, Boras didn’t rule out a return to the Mets, even after their massive spend on Soto.
“I think it’s pretty evident the Mets have decided that they’re going to pursue winning and winning for a long time,’ Boras said. “They made it very clear to us that they’re not limited to signing one great player, but multiple great players. So you know they’re going to be very steady and have a heavy commitment to acquiring the best talent.’
While Boras refused to talk publicly about the Soto negotiations until Soto completes his physical, the soaring price of the pitching market has captivated everyone’s attention at these winter meetings, reaching levels no one quite envisioned. There have been six pitchers who have signed contracts guaranteeing at least $20 million a season, with Snell leading the way with his five-year, $182 million contract, averaging $36.4 million a season.
“You’re seeing the real demand for pitching,’’ Boras said. “I think with COVID-19, we used a lot of our Double-A and Triple-A young starters. We brought them to the big leagues. Some worked out, a lot didn’t.
“And now we have a need for veteran pitching because we have severe gaps and the need to fulfill those 800 or 900 innings of starting pitching.’
While most team executives and agents left Dallas at the conclusion of the Rule 5 Draft Wednesday afternoon, there’s expected to be a flood of signings in the next week before the Christmas holidays.
And, yes, all of the way until teams report to spring training, there will continue to be an outpouring of complaints from the small and mid-sized market teams, as the payroll disparity gap grows wider and wider.
“Part of the sports league is disparity,’ Boras said. “There’s always a Goliath. And there’s always the David. I don’t care what league it is. I don’t care whether you have salary caps or not, you start to see those things happen in sports. It’s always been that way.
“So I’ve listened about market disparity and needs and such, but the one thing that’s common is that every ownership that was bought for $100 million or $200 million is now worth $2-$3 billion. That’s the greatest part of being in a sports league, and the disparity part is just merely a competitive choice that you choose while being in the league that is appreciating at dramatic levels.’’
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