Around Baseball 2022

[Jimcanuck]

 

Yep, medical reasons my ass

[Jimcanuck]

You see it with big draft picks sometimes. Like did they get cold feet about drafting a guy in the 1st round, so they pulled it bsck? It’s stupid

 

Once again, you are on the wrong side of history, connor

[connorp]

Yep, medical reasons my ass

 

Do you think they want to be known as an organization that works like that? Jesus, bro. Give your head a shake

[connorp]

Once again, you are on the wrong side of history, connor

 

History like the Mets backing out of Kumar last year?

[connorp]

Maybe they didn’t want to pay the $6m

[Jimcanuck]

Do you think they want to be known as an organization that works like that? Jesus, bro. Give your head a shake

 

Maybe you haven't been paying attention to the s*** that goes on in this world, on a daily basis

[L54]

Ownership didn’t want a massive contract on the books. I’m shocked

[Ehjays]

Scott Boras Comments On Carlos Correa Situation

By Darragh McDonald | December 21, 2022 at 12:02pm CDT

 

The past week has seen an incredible free agent plot twist that’s unprecedented in baseball history. Reports emerged last week indicating that the Giants had agreed to terms with shortstop Carlos Correa on a 13-year, $350MM deal. That deal, like all free agent agreements, was pending a physical. However, it was reported yesterday that an issue flagged during Correa’s physical caused the Giants to delay a press conference that was set to introduce Correa. That was followed by a stunning middle-of-the-night report that Correa had a new agreement with the Mets for 12 years and $315MM.

 

The entire baseball world is still trying to piece together how such a strange sequence of events came to pass. Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, has provided his perspective today, giving comment to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

 

“We reached an agreement. We had a letter of agreement. We gave them a time frame to execute it,” Boras said. “They advised us they still had questions. They still wanted to talk to other people, other doctors, go through it. I said, ‘Look, I’ve given you a reasonable time. We need to move forward on this. Give me a time frame. If you’re not going to execute, I need to go talk with other teams.”

 

It still isn’t publicly known what issue the Giants found during Correa’s physical, but Boras frames it as an old injury that precedes Correa’s time in the majors. “You’re talking about a player who has played eight major-league seasons,” Boras said. “There are things in his medical record that happened decades ago. These are all speculative dynamics. Every team has a right to go through things and evaluate things. The key thing is, we gave them (the Giants) medical reports at the time. They still wanted to sign the player and negotiate with the player.”

 

Rosenthal lays out that Correa suffered a season-ending leg injury in the minor leagues in 2014 but he has not been on the injured list for a lower leg injury since his promotion to the majors. He’s also had back issues in the past but his last IL stint for a back injury was in 2019.

 

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi also provided a comment, though without getting into specifics. “While we are prohibited from disclosing confidential medical information, as Scott Boras stated publicly, there was a difference of opinion over the results of Carlos’ physical examination,” Zaidi said to reporters, including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We wish Carlos the best.”

 

It’s worth reiterating that, with the Giants not providing any details, we only really have one side of the story. As Correa’s agent, Boras is surely motivated to wipe away the concern of the Giants as unreasonable or a non-issue. Correa’s new deal with the Mets is also pending a physical and won’t be official until that is complete. However, if the Mets end up having the same concerns as the Giants, it might be difficult for them to back out in a similar fashion. Andy Martino of SNY reports that the Mets could face a grievance if they back out of the deal since owner Steve Cohen has already discussed the deal on the record.

 

Also noted by Rosenthal, it’s not entirely unprecedented for medical personnel to come to different conclusions about the health of a player. This Boras-Mets situation was the other way around with Kumar Rocker, whom the Mets selected 10th overall in the 2021 draft. The Mets had agreed to give Rocker, who is represented by Boras, a $6MM bonus before medical concerns scuttled the deal. Rocker re-entered the draft a year later and was selected third overall by the Rangers.

 

It has also occasionally happened in the past that free agents agree to terms with teams but then issues pop up with the physical before the deal is official. In one recent example, reliever Grant Balfour agreed to terms with the Orioles on a two-year, $15MM deal prior to the 2014 season. The O’s backed out after conducting Balfour’s physical and he instead signed with the Rays for two years and $12MM. However, a similar situation for a free agent of Correa’s magnitude hasn’t been seen before.

[connorp]

Who wants well-written articles, give me Tok Tok conspiracy all day… if my name is Jim at least

[connorp]

What I get is SF wanted to do a little extra due diligence with second opinions and Boris like like “fu, going to my back pocket”

[Jimcanuck]

What I get is SF wanted to do a little extra due diligence with second opinions and Boris like like “fu, going to my back pocket”

 

lol, Boras is not one to leave money on the table, dude

 

He would only move to the Mets after it was clear the Giants had backed out

 

It's f***ing December

 

Give your head a shake

[connorp]

lol, Boras is not one to leave money on the table, dude

 

He would only move to the Mets after it was clear the Giants had backed out

 

It's f***ing December

 

Give your head a shake

 

It could drag out a couple weeks and the Mets could do something different. There’s nothing by either account saying they were not going through with the deal, only that it hit a snag

[JaysAllMighty]

SF had buyers remorse so they use the medical as a way out. They believe they dodged a bullet.

[connorp]

Even if the conspiracy theory is true and front office didn’t want him and used the medicals to slip out, that would mean ownership signed them but got talked out of it when the medicals came back. Not buyers remorse. Ok a $360m contract and all that goes into that and change your mind 2 days later

[TheHurl]

The ones who are under the limit will see some of this money come to them so they probably don't mind much. I do wonder if this means we will see the Jays now try to stay under so they get a piece of that growing pie though?

 

I saw something that said after the players fund gets their share it is under $3M per team.

[Laika]

Even if the conspiracy theory is true and front office didn’t want him and used the medicals to slip out, that would mean ownership signed them but got talked out of it when the medicals came back. Not buyers remorse. Ok a $360m contract and all that goes into that and change your mind 2 days later

 

Yeah. The general scenarios are:

 

1) The Giants (collectively - GM and owner in agreement) decided to sign him then got cold feet and used the medical clause as an excuse (bad faith exit)

 

2) The Giants have internal disagreement. GM decided to sign him but owner disagreed and made the team exit for medical reasons

 

3) The Giants wanted him but there is a legitimate concern on the medicals and they weren't willing to waive the medical clause. Rather than engage in further inspections etc. Correa and Boras decided to take the Mets deal.

 

 

#3 is by far the likeliest.

#1 is a huge stretch. They aren't just going to change their mind

#2 is at least plausible because we have seen teams before that have internal disagreement between GM and owner. But still unlikely I think.

[Jimcanuck]

Yeah. The general scenarios are:

 

1) The Giants (collectively - GM and owner in agreement) decided to sign him then got cold feet and used the medical clause as an excuse (bad faith exit)

 

2) The Giants have internal disagreement. GM decided to sign him but owner disagreed and made the team exit for medical reasons

 

3) The Giants wanted him but there is a legitimate concern on the medicals and they weren't willing to waive the medical clause. Rather than engage in further inspections etc. Correa and Boras decided to take the Mets deal.

 

 

#3 is by far the likeliest.

#1 is a huge stretch. They aren't just going to change their mind

#2 is at least plausible because we have seen teams before that have internal disagreement between GM and owner. But still unlikely I think.

 

4) The Giants have internal disagreement. GM determined price too high but owner disagreed and agreement pending medicals reached. GM presented medicals to owner and recommended non-execution.

 

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, someone above the GM led the negotiations to the agreement.

[Laika]

4) The Giants have internal disagreement. GM determined price too high but owner disagreed and agreement pending medicals reached. GM presented medicals to owner and recommended non-execution.

 

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, someone above the GM led the negotiations to the agreement.

 

That's just in between #2 and #1, same kind of unlikely s***

[connorp]

4) The Giants have internal disagreement. GM determined price too high but owner disagreed and agreement pending medicals reached. GM presented medicals to owner and recommended non-execution.

 

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, someone above the GM led the negotiations to the agreement.

 

Yeah, little slip on Laila’s part. This would replace #2 on his list but everything else would be the same. The GM isn’t able to unilaterally sign a $360m contract unless it’s the owners kid or something

[TheHurl]

There is no way the Giants would risk losing a relationship with Boras. Just crazy scenarios

[Laika]

You see this type of s*** all the time on real estate deals.

 

Honest buyer has a condition on home inspection. They can kill the deal if they don't like the inspection.

They do the inspection and there is something just a bit odd. Like, inspector says there is a chance of asbestos but someone would need to cut into the drywall and have the insulation tested.

The buyers ask for a two week extension of the deadline of their condition. And the right to test the insulation.

The sellers say no. They don't want to open a can of worms or miss the market. They turn around and sell with no conditions to someone else, for a bit less $$.

[Jimcanuck]

You see this type of s*** all the time on real estate deals.

 

Honest buyer has a condition on home inspection. They can kill the deal if they don't like the inspection.

They do the inspection and there is something just a bit odd. Like, inspector says there is a chance of asbestos but someone would need to cut into the drywall and have the insulation tested.

The buyers ask for a two week extension of the deadline of their condition. And the right to test the insulation.

The sellers say no. They don't want to open a can of worms or miss the market. They turn around and sell with no conditions to someone else, for a bit less $$.

 

Yeah I negotiated a $25K reduction on the price of this house using the inspection findings - the main issue being the furnace. Got them to pay for new furnace and AC plus quite a bit left over

[Laika]

Yeah I negotiated a $25K reduction on the price of this house using the inspection findings - the main issue being the furnace. Got them to pay for new furnace and AC plus quite a bit left over

 

When did you buy? Seems like it was a buyer's market, maybe?

[connorp]

Sometimes players accept a lesser offer. It wasn’t seemingly at that stage though, just the desire for an extension if you will. They pivoted to a great plan B, even if for a little less, rather than play it out

[Laika]

The funny thing is that Correa is probably underpaid, severely on a year to year basis.

 

A $26.25 AAV is pretty light for a player of his quality.

[Jimcanuck]

When did you buy? Seems like it was a buyer's market, maybe?

 

2013

[xposbrad]

The funny thing is that Correa is probably underpaid, severely on a year to year basis.

 

A $26.25 AAV is pretty light for a player of his quality.

 

That's why it's 12 years. Firstly, the time value of money will make the last 5-6 years slightly less and it evens it out over a longer pay period. At age 35-36 he's probably worth 0 war, but teams are throwing money for deals into the 40s. So is he worth a 6/315m? Who knows, the Mets will need to make it to the WS and they are all in, so maybe.

[Stangstag]

well a disconnect between the GM and ownership would make a bit more sense than one human party getting cold feet on something like that

 

but if ownership signed him, more or less, and Zaidi killed the deal this way, I mean wouldn't ownership just f***ing fire him right now?

 

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Zaidi out sometime during 2023 (either before or after the season)

[Stangstag]

What I get is SF wanted to do a little extra due diligence with second opinions and Boris like like “fu, going to my back pocket”

 

Yeah this could be the jist of it too

[Stangstag]

Even if the conspiracy theory is true and front office didn’t want him and used the medicals to slip out, that would mean ownership signed them but got talked out of it when the medicals came back. Not buyers remorse. Ok a $360m contract and all that goes into that and change your mind 2 days later

 

Yeah I agree on this