Has Major League Baseball agent Scott Boras lost his touch? This offseason may have proven so after failing to get anywhere near the asking prices for Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, and Blake Snell.
Earlier in his career, Boras had the golden touch. He negotiated Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers and Gerrit Cole’s $324 million deal with the New York Yankees. Boras was the agent that finalized Stephen Strasburg’s seven-year, $175 million deal with the Washington Nationals and Jose Altuve’s five-year, $151 million contract in 2018.
During the 2022 offseason, he negotiated over $1 billion worth of contracts. The most notable of which are the deals of Brandon Nimmo, Carlos Correa, and Xander Bogaerts
However, fate had a cruel twist for Boras and his clients during the 2024 offseason. The 2023 National League Cy Young Award winner recently signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants with an opt-out after the first year. While the $31 million annual average is impressive, it’s far from the $270 million asking price Boras established for Snell.
Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger tested the free agency waters, hoping to get a contract worth over $200 million. Instead, the 2023 NL Comeback Player of the Year received an $80 million contract from the Chicago Cubs.
Finally, Boras established Chapman’s price tag at $150 million but got $54 million instead. These deals make baseball fans wonder if Scott Boras has lost his edge.
-Lance Fernandez