BORAS > HOVA: Jay-Z Costs Cano Millions (written before Cano signed with Seattle)

If you're a baseball player and you want to make the most money possible, why do you hire anybody but Scott Boras? The guy gets his clients paid. He may not be as cool as Jay-Z, but he shows his clients the money.

I don't know why Jay-Z decided to go into the world of sports agency. I think he watched a few episodes of Entourage and wanted to be the sports world's Ari Gold. And if the rumors out of Seattle Friday morning are true, it seems like he doesn't know what he's doing.

According to sources, Robinson Cano's representation had been able to convince Seattle to offer him a 9-year deal worth $225 million ($25M/year). Then Jay-Z wanted more, and demanded 10-years at $252 million. By the way, that's the same deal A-Rod took, which left a bad taste in Seattle's mouth. Mariner ownership reportedly flipped out, ending negotiations.

What Jay-Z did was ask Seattle to bid against themselves. The Yankees have stayed firm with their offer of $170 million over 7 years ($24.3M/year). Nobody was close to Seattle's offer. And I have to say that it's more than generous. Yet Jay-Z demanded more.

Imagine being at an auction, and you bid $225 for a Robinson Cano autographed baseball, and the next highest bidder was $170. Then the auctioneer demands that you increase your bid to $250. Even though you've already bid the most and nobody is close to your bid. That's BS.

I just can't imagine Boras making a team feel so blatantly disrespected. Boras is conniving, scheming, sneaky. And I'm sure owners don't enjoy dealing with him. But he is a born negotiator. He's too clever to do something as brash and dumb as this. Cano's representation essentially told Seattle to get on their knees, open their mouth, and swallow whatever they put in it.

Don't forget, Cano's camp initially wanted $300 million for 10 years. I think Jay-Z literally pulled that number out of his ass. That number was not based on market value, or relative contracts, or anything real. It was a big, loud, flashy number. There was no substance behind it, just lots of noise and self-promotion. Exactly like Jay-Z's music.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images, Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE

Yankees Overpay for Jacoby Ellsbury, Pink Hats Devastated

It's a sad day for the Pink Hats. Well, it will be a sad day in a few months when they turn to their friends and ask "Where's J-Cobes?" Once they realize that their favorite Fenway hottie is gone, they'll cry more than they did the day Tyler Seguin was traded.

The Yankees bought Jacoby Ellsbury early in the Holiday Shopping season. Although they didn't get much of a bargain. A total of $153 million for 7 years. Ellsbury turned 30 in September.

I can't say I blame Jacoby. I think it's lame and dishonest for any of us to call him greedy. He's been paid $20.8 million in his career to date. By the end of this deal he'll have collected a career total more than 8 times that much. Would any of us refuse a raise like the one Jacoby has accepted? A 242.9% raise. He made $9 million in 2013. He'll earn that by June 11 of 2014.

I would have preferred he stay with the Sox. He's a good player. He was a key component in two World Series winning campaigns. Players like him don't grow on trees. Et cetera.

He's not worth this price, though. Not for that many years. Five years and $100 million, maybe. Maybe.

My two biggest issues with Ellsbury are that he performs much better in contract years than non-contract years. And that he lacks power. His best asset is his speed.

He's been able to utilize that speed to compensate for his lack of power. However how much speed will he have toward the end of this contract? Will he be stealing 50 bases a year in 2018? Will he steal 20?

His other production isn't enough to justify such a heavy and lengthy commitment. His OBP (.355 last year) is good, not great. He's hit 65 career homeruns, 32 of which were in that freakish Brady Anderson style contract year of 2011. He's never reached 10 HRs in any other season.

There's an old saying in baseball: "Speed never goes into a slump." That's true. At the same time, speed does disappear with age. When speed disappears for power hitters, they can still drive the ball out of the park or off the wall. When speed dependent players like Ellsbury slow down, their careers slow down.

As Ellsbury's speed deteriorates, so will his numbers. He collected 24 infield hits in 2013, boosting his OBP by .038 points and his average and SLG by .042. As he ages his infield hits will go down. He hit 8 triples in 2013. Some of those will become doubles. He hit 31 doubles. Some of those will become singles.

Ellsbury helps the Yankees. And for the next 3 or 4 years this deal might look wise. Unless Ellsbury gets hurt. Which also has a tendency to happen. I don't question his fortitude as much as others have, but he's hardly an ox. Anyway, in a few years the Yankees will have an old, slow, poor hitting, poor fielding, poor throwing outfielder collecting $21.8 million a year. The Red Sox will have $153 million to spend on a more complete player or players.

Yankees first play the Sox on April 10th in the Bronx. The first Fenway series starts on April 22nd. Tickets for these games have just skyrocketed to the top of many Christmas Wish Lists.