Who willl win the Boras/Jay-Z agent war?

[Chicago White Sox]

Any talk of Boras leaving money on the table is ridiculous. I despise the man and his negotiating tactics, but he pretty much will always get his players the most money possible (with a couple rare exceptions). There's really no denying this and Jay-Z's agency will not deliver as big of baseball contracts as Boras. The difference may be insignificant, but it will exist.

 

Having said that, Jay-Z will most definitely open up more endorsement & branding opportunities than Boras ever could. He has numerous relationships in the business world that he can easily leverage. And let's he honest, he's going to sign star players with big personalities. These guys will all be extremely marketable and offer little challenge for him. I have no doubt Jay-Z will blow Boras out of the water in this area.

[Marty34]

My money is on Jay-Z. He's not hated (yet) like Boras.

[caulfield12]

Pepsi has signed New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano to be the face of its national Major League Baseball marketing campaign.

 

Cano will make his debut with a television spot that will run during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game this Tuesday. Cano will start the game on the field for the American League.

 

"He represents the kind of athlete who is in the moment, has a great personality and connects with consumers," said Heidi Sandreuter, senior director of sports marketing for Pepsi, which has been the official sports drink of the league since 1997.

 

Financial terms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed.

 

It's the first marketing deal Cano has signed since he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sports. The new sports firm teamed up with CAA to represent Cano, who will be a free agent after this season.

 

"This deal reflects how powerful Robinson's brand is," said Roc Nation Sports spokesman Ron Berkowitz. "His personality and performance and crossover appeal are all attractive to corporate partners."

 

In April, Pepsi made Jay-Z's wife Beyonce its highest paid endorser when the company signed the popular entertainer to a massive, wide-ranging deal. Jay-Z himself does not currently have a deal with the soft drink brand.

 

www.espn.com

 

 

We'll use this example.

 

1) He probably won't get this deal if he's not playing for the Yankees or in NYC.

2) He probably won't get this deal through Scott Boras, since it's antithetical to how his agency operates.

3) It's an example where he got not only a deal for Beyoncé with Pepsi, but also the player he reps...but not for himself (seeming to counter Tex's claim that he's going to conflicted in these situations).

4) Getting exposure from a company like Pepsi will lead to other endorsement possibilities, especially if other advertisers see the validity of the approach by Pepsi, which doesn't connect with any celebrity spokesperson without doing careful market research.

5) Arguably, Jay-Z was able to leverage his connection to Beyoncé to also get a deal for Cano, 2 for 1, so to speak.

Edited November 9, 2013 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/will-trout-...orsement-deals/

 

I think this article is pretty instructive about the discussion.

 

Perhaps it’s a simple as this: No major league player has had the star power and cross-over appeal of Jeter. Maybe Buster Posey is next big thing. Or maybe it will be Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, last year’s rookie phenoms who commanded national highlight shows and attention all season. Both young stars have only recently tipped their toes in the endorsement waters. Trout’s first big deal is with the sports drink company BodyArmour, which will pay him cash and give him an equity stake in the business. Harper has small deals with Topps and Under Armour sports wear, among others. His marketing agent, from Boras Marketing, says Harper intends to focus more on baseball than on commercials.

Whatever the reasons, there’s no denying MLB players simply don’t command the advertising dollars and attention that big-league stars did decades ago. And that may be just fine with them. After all, free agency and the lack of a salary cap mean higher salaries for the superstars of the game, as compared to what NFL and NBA stars earn from their on-the-field work. Whether that’s good for MLB in the long term remains to be seen.

 

 

I think it's pretty instructive because when Bryce Harper was the hottest thing on the planet (basically from the time he was in high school and on the cover of SI through his rookie season), Boras Marketing has done little or nothing to capitalize on that opportunity.

 

Stephen Strasburg, also represented by Boras, you'll wonder if he might feel 20 years from now that he should have taken advantage of that time period when he was the biggest name in baseball...

 

Finally, you're starting to see more Trout commercials (there was one in the 2013 Super Bowl and a few during this year's post-season, where he wasn't really the "star" of the ad, per se), but considering how dominating he's been in his first two seasons, he SHOULD be doing better in terms of endorsement deals, and yes, 2013 was a disaster for the Angels. I get that.

 

 

 

 

The people that think Mike Trout would/should be “Da Bomb” (dating myself there) are the same age group that root against people like Mike Trout because he’s too talented and nice.

 

Bryce Harper on the other hand, has a real chance to be that “Can’t miss TV” guy, because if he continues to be himself, people will turn to root for AND against him.

 

A couple of years ago, on every 12U (including 11U, 10U, 9U, etc) baseball diamond, half of the players had the ridiculous “Bryce Harper Eye Black” all over their faces .. and THAT was when he was an amateur!!!

 

Harper has enough of “the edge” to just enthrall the young fans, and yet enough of the classic “balls to the wall” effort, hustle, kick you in the nuts, type play” to please the die hards.

 

But whatever he does, he’s going to do it big. Hero, Goat, winner, loser. It’ll always be a show.

 

I feel very fortunate to be an active fan at the start of these players’ careers. I hope I get to see their whole careers and I hope they’re awesome. I still remember when Eric Davis burst on the scene, and then when Junior did. Junior was BIG.

 

snake says:

 

February 5, 2013 at 10:40 pm

 

Why would the same group that thinks he should market himself better be the same group that roots against him? I am rooting for him and would like to see him proactively broaden his reach instead of standing pat. If he gets injured and ends his career you can be sure he will regret not striking while the iron was hot.

 

He is not capitalizing on his rising stardom and he is making poor choices like endorsing BodyArmour energy drink. When your biggest endorsement is an energy drink no one has heard of, you’re not doing it right. Also, now he won’t get big dollars from Gatorade or another energy drink since he is affiliated with the no name brand.

 

 

 

It's also interesting that Jay-Z's targeting more Latin American players, like Cano and Cespedes.

 

As mentioned in the article, Cabrera's having a bit more difficult time because of his inability to speak English fluently AND the DUI/arrests in the past...although Chevrolet did promote him heavily in their post-season commercials as being the best baseball player on the planet, the product of hard work, from Detroit, etc.

 

I'm sure that he (Jay-Z) wishes Abreu was on the Cubs instead of the White Sox...but it will also be interesting to see where things go with Puig, Abreu and Soler in terms of endorsements.

Edited November 9, 2013 by caulfield12

[witesoxfan]

LOL, you think Beyonce needed her career furthered? :lol:

 

They've been together 10 years. Yes, I think the fact that Jay-Z has as many connections as he does to help further her career was an influence.

[Wanne]

So Barack Obama was exploiting Jay-Z for political points?

 

That and campaign contributions....

[caulfield12]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/boras-bashes...-122953166.html

 

Seems the pressure is getting to Boras a bit, he's feeling the need to be more entertaining...

[Iwritecode]

The Cubs were 15th in payroll this year at about $101 million. Boras said the Rickets family, which bought the team four years ago, has put too much emphasis on the redevelopment of Wrigley Field and not enough on major league payroll.

 

"You're developing the infrastructure, but fans don't come to see seats, grass, cement. They come to see players," he said

 

Boras obviously doesn't understand the Cubs fan base very well.

[witesoxfan]

Boras obviously doesn't understand the Cubs fan base very well.

 

Seriously. There are a ton of people who DO go to Wrigley because it's Wrigley.

[cabiness42]

"I don't go to Cubs games just because of Wrigley Field" = "I read Playboy for the articles"

[iamshack]

It's just weak that he would use this tactic as a way to try and get the fanbases to pressure the teams...he is in no way qualified to understand each team's unique position going forward.

 

That's just bs.

[southsider2k5]

It's just weak that he would use this tactic as a way to try and get the fanbases to pressure the teams...he is in no way qualified to understand each team's unique position going forward.

 

That's just bs.

 

Oh he is perfectly qualified to do so. He probably knows them as well, or better than, the teams know their own fan bases. This is just tweeking teams who aren't spending right now.

[Iwritecode]

Oh he is perfectly qualified to do so. He probably knows them as well, or better than, the teams know their own fan bases. This is just tweeking teams who aren't spending right now.

 

Yes but to what end? This sort of comes off as him saying "I need to make more money. You team owners need to spend more!"

 

There are certainly reasons teams like the Cubs aren't spending a ton of money on player salaries. I can't say if their current approach is right or wrong but I don't think bumping their payroll up for no reason is the answer either.

[southsider2k5]

Yes but to what end? This sort of comes off as him saying "I need to make more money. You team owners need to spend more!"

There are certainly reasons teams like the Cubs aren't spending a ton of money on player salaries. I can't say if their current approach is right or wrong but I don't think bumping their payroll up for no reason is the answer either.

 

That is exactly what it is.

[caulfield12]

Yes but to what end? This sort of comes off as him saying "I need to make more money. You team owners need to spend more!"

 

There are certainly reasons teams like the Cubs aren't spending a ton of money on player salaries. I can't say if their current approach is right or wrong but I don't think bumping their payroll up for no reason is the answer either.

 

 

And the Cubs would be much better off giving $125 million to Tanaka than Ellsbury or $100 million to Choo.

 

He just doesn't like it how teams are spending money (not on his clients).

 

 

Then we have the argument about a team's "net worth" or total asset value. We've had this argument over and over again with the White Sox, especially now that they're valued close to $1 billion and with all the media rights monies streaming in. Just because the Mets are valued at $2 billion doesn't mean it's so cut and dried that they should have a $200 million dollar payroll. Plus, they're still sorting through the Madoff/Wilpon mess.

Edited November 14, 2013 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

Yes but to what end? This sort of comes off as him saying "I need to make more money. You team owners need to spend more!"

 

There are certainly reasons teams like the Cubs aren't spending a ton of money on player salaries. I can't say if their current approach is right or wrong but I don't think bumping their payroll up for no reason is the answer either.

 

 

I would say they're crazy to spend it on Ellsbury when they have Almora coming up in 1 1/2 years.

 

Now there's no guarantee that he's going to be an All-Star (we heard the same things about Brett Jackson 3-4 years ago), but it would be irresponsible to spend hundreds of millions until you know exactly what you have in Baez, Bryant and Soler, and what positions they eventually end up in (Baez could be at 2B or SS, Bryant at 3B/LF/RF, etc.)

 

They would be stupid to trade Castro at his lowest possible value unless they feel he's completely uncoachable.

 

They would be stupid to offer Mr. Notre Dame a long-term deal and pay him like a front-line ace.

[iamshack]

Oh he is perfectly qualified to do so. He probably knows them as well, or better than, the teams know their own fan bases. This is just tweeking teams who aren't spending right now.

Bologna...he doesn't know what these teams are planning to do on other fronts moving forward. There are plenty of other aspects to improving or positioning an organization than free agency; in fact, the impact of free agency has been decreasing because teams have been locking up their young talent early, eliminating them from hitting the market in their primes. He doesn't know the trade discussions that are occurring, he doesn't know the state of their farm systems as well as the organizations do, he doesn't know what plans they have for their current players, etc.

 

He's just trying to drum up pressure for these teams to enter the marketplace and pay his ridiculous asking prices.

[caulfield12]

Bologna...he doesn't know what these teams are planning to do on other fronts moving forward. There are plenty of other aspects to improving or positioning an organization than free agency; in fact, the impact of free agency has been decreasing because teams have been locking up their young talent early, eliminating them from hitting the market in their primes. He doesn't know the trade discussions that are occurring, he doesn't know the state of their farm systems as well as the organizations do, he doesn't know what plans they have for their current players, etc.

 

He's just trying to drum up pressure for these teams to enter the marketplace and pay his ridiculous asking prices.

 

 

At least he was smart enough not to mention the White Sox...or imply they should sign Viciedo to a contract extension.

[Iwritecode]

That is exactly what it is.

 

Well in that case, Boras is just an ass.

 

Although I think most of us knew that already...

 

[southsider2k5]

Bologna...he doesn't know what these teams are planning to do on other fronts moving forward. There are plenty of other aspects to improving or positioning an organization than free agency; in fact, the impact of free agency has been decreasing because teams have been locking up their young talent early, eliminating them from hitting the market in their primes. He doesn't know the trade discussions that are occurring, he doesn't know the state of their farm systems as well as the organizations do, he doesn't know what plans they have for their current players, etc.

 

He's just trying to drum up pressure for these teams to enter the marketplace and pay his ridiculous asking prices.

 

None of what I said contradicts what you said if you think about it, that is unless you think Boras is the type of guy that would think one thing and not say another.

[southsider2k5]

Well in that case, Boras is just an ass.

 

Although I think most of us knew that already...

 

Absolutely.

[soxsoxsoxsox]

Jay-z not coming off too well with Robinson Cano

LOL 10 Years 300 million

 

[southsider2k5]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS 24m

 

#yankees met with cano agent brodie van wagenen today. no word on movement but gap still believed very substantial.

[ptatc]

I would say they're crazy to spend it on Ellsbury when they have Almora coming up in 1 1/2 years.

 

Now there's no guarantee that he's going to be an All-Star (we heard the same things about Brett Jackson 3-4 years ago), but it would be irresponsible to spend hundreds of millions until you know exactly what you have in Baez, Bryant and Soler, and what positions they eventually end up in (Baez could be at 2B or SS, Bryant at 3B/LF/RF, etc.)

 

They would be stupid to trade Castro at his lowest possible value unless they feel he's completely uncoachable.

 

They would be stupid to offer Mr. Notre Dame a long-term deal and pay him like a front-line ace.

The one thing the Cubs really don't have is pitching. If they believe they will be contending in 3 years, it may be worth giving him the 4-5 year deal. They will need to spend money on pitching at some point. Stick with the devil you know, maybe.

[southsider2k5]

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 4m

 

Sources: If Robinson Cano is getting $200M, it won't be from the Yankees. They are adamant they won't go there. News: http://yhoo.it/19dTIyR