Free agent negotiations are almost always tricky, and there are typically a lot of factors that come into play. The role of the agent is often one of them, especially when the agent is Scott Boras.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic compiled an intriguing list of Boras’s top ten free-agent clients this winter, and several are of interest to the San Diego Padres and their fans. As a small market team that may no longer have a big market budget, it’s entirely possible that several top-level Boras clients can often be ruled out right away for the Padres.
The basic dynamics of a Boras negotiation are well known at this point. He likes to slow-crawl the process and get as many teams involved as he possibly can, and the length of the negotiation is usually months, not weeks.
For the Padres, it’s hard to know whether or not to rule out a lot of Boras’s current clients, simply because we know next to nothing about San Diego’s upcoming payroll budget. A player like first baseman Pete Alonso or outfielder Cody Bellinger might be a great flip, but a coin flip is currently the best way to determine if the Padres will be able to spend for one of these guys.
Where things get interesting with Boras for the Padres is with his representation of two Japanese free agents, corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto and Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai. West Coast teams like the Padres often have a perceived or real edge because of the geography involved in these signings.
It’s hard to tell if Okamoto or Imani would fall into the Padres price range, but Boras’s presence is almost always a complication, for better or worse.
Boras’s power and influence remains enormous, although he doesn’t have the universal control he once did when his nickname was “Commissioner Boras.” Many players choose different agents and different paths, but seeing Boras’s name connected with a key player can be a yellow flag for many teams.
What’s especially interesting with Boras and the Padres might be a weird sort of fit given the way the timing factor is going here. San Diego is currently in stasis, and Boras takes his time reading the market. Could that lead to an eventual fit?
The good news here is that A.J. Preller has done more than his share of big deals, so he knows the terrain. The rest of it is a complete crapshoot right now, so stay tuned until the Preller extension watch is finally resolved.