Somewhere, there is a bag of rocks that will be offended to be compared to Pedro Alvarez.

$6 million in the hand is worth $6.2 million in the bush.

Just ask Matt Harrington.

Mr. Alvarez, go talk to Alex Rodriguez, or Harrington–ask them to smack you upside the head several times until you reach epiphany.

You’re being used by Scott Boras.

The $200,000 you’re holding out for is about one-half the major league minimum–if it costs you a six months development time in reaching the major leagues then you’ve broken even. If it delays you any more, you’ve been ripped off.

A year or two difference in the age you reach free agency is literally worth tens of millions of dollars–you’re risking that for $200,000?

Do you know why it’s $200,000 for which your agent is asking? $6.2 million would make you tied for the largest bonus in the year’s draft–that means a lot to Boras; something he can sell to other young men like you.

However, the $200,000 you’re trying to get now can cost you millions, and possibly tens of millions, later.

Right now, it seems you’re in a precarious position–Boras’ actions now make him your agent and not your advisor so unless I’m missing something your NCAA eligibility is gone.

The thing is, Boras cannot renegotiate your contract–if you missed the deadline as Boras is maintaining, there is no contract to renegotiate. You simply go back into the draft. However, you have to play in the Independent Leagues and hope you play like a superstar and do not become injured. The fact that he wishes a renegotiation implies that there is a contractual link between yourself and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

You may get a better bonus next time round (and you may not) but if you have a successful major league career you will have still cost yourself a lot of money and goodwill.

However, your agent isn’t trying to get that–he is trying for an extra $200,000.

Scott Boras has been trying to find loopholes in the draft for over 20 years–he has been playing a cat and mouse game, or better still, a game of poker with MLB for self-enrichment.

Boras is a multi-millionaire but you’re the one spotting him chips for this particular hand–he is gambling with your money … with your career.

Boras has had a lot of setbacks in recent years–Alex Rodriguez dumped him last year, he has a losing record in arbitration cases and the new draft rules cramp his style and teams are able to handle him more effectively. This isn’t about you; it’s about Boras and his stature in MLB and the agent business.

Go online, Google your name and check out what folks are saying about you–it ain’t pretty. You have a good start at becoming the game’s next pariah–or at the very least the next favourite target of the boo-birds. All for the sake of half a season of the major league minimum; a total you can double by reaching the major league a year earlier by getting your career started as expeditiously as possible.

You’re a pawn in Boras’ game. It isn’t about the commission on the $200,000–it’s about his ability to say he got his client the largest bonus in the draft, it’s about testing the boundaries of the rules surrounding the draft, it’s about finding and/or creating a loophole that he can use for future clients.

Not you.

You’re just the sucker he’s duped into playing along in his little game.

Were you aware that the Pirates’ executive you’ve been negotiating with is the father of the slotting system (something Boras loathes) and was the enforcer of it? Do you think it might mean something to your agent to get the better of him?

Trust me, I do not like MLB ownership one bit–I’ve written articles dripping with vitriolic poison about them. I’m not writing this because I support management’s efforts to rein in the so-called “greedy players.” I’m generally on the side of the players in owner/player disputes–heck, I have been pounding the collusion drum all year for a player I do not particularly like.

I’m on your side in this instance too–one does not have to be a major league executive to exploit players.

Scott Boras has an agenda–he always has; despite his fancy words and his high sounding rhetoric he is a man looking to maximize his earnings. One of the ways he does this is by finding loopholes to get his clients extra money–sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he fails. Matt Harrington had a second shot at a million dollar payday and Boras told him to reject it.

Boras is still rich–Harrington is not.

What Boras needs is naïve young men like yourself willing to be used as he tests the system–if he wins, you win, if he loses, he’s still rich and it sucks to be you.

You agreed to a $6 million bonus to join the Pittsburgh Pirates organization–that’s a lot of money and nobody knows what tomorrow will bring (again, Matt Harrington might have a thought or two on the subject). There’s a lot more money to be made but the streets lined with gold begin by getting yourself into affiliated baseball and making the major leagues as quickly as possible. Every month of delay is money out your pocket–a lot more money than you stand to gain by following the advice of Scott Boras.

Take the money and run … from Scott Boras.

Fast.

Best Regards

John