Scott Boras and Joe Urbon are just two guys trying to do their jobs which just happen to be squeezing millions of dollars out of MLB owners for their clients, Matt Holliday and Jason Bay.
Agents for free agent outfielders Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, the marquee bats in this winter's free agent class, fired their first shots in recent days as the offseason baseball circus begins in earnest.
Scott Boras started to drop hints that Holliday should be in line for the same deal that Mark Teixeira got from the Yankees last winter (eight years, $180 million). Joe Urbon called Bay "the most complete player" on the free agent market this winter.
If this process was left in the hands of the two agents entirely, it would likely take until mid-February to be resolved. The first real move however will have to be made by the Red Sox and Cardinals when they state their intentions with re-signing Bay and Holliday respectively.
Boras will eventually drive a harder bargain for his client and get a bigger/longer deal for Holliday. If Vegas was hanging lines on that prop the opening odds would be -450 on Boras and Holliday with the Urbon/Bay coupling drawing +350 on getting a bigger/longer contract of the two.
While rumors are very cheap right now with the general managers just wrapping up their recent "meeting" (*cough*PR Event*cough*) in Chicago, the other teams reportedly interested and willing to spend a good $18 million per season or more on either Holliday or Bay right now include the Angels, Giants and Mets.
Another prop on the deal might be the player most likely to re-sign with their most recent clubs, and on that one I'd make Bay a better bet to return to Boston over Holliday with St. Louis. I just don't trust Boras, have seen how he played others over the years -- Carlos Beltran in 2004-05 comes to mind -- and I see Holliday moving to newer grounds.
New crew for Brew?
One team that did make a little noise before and during the Windy City gathering was the Brewers.
Milwaukee and Minnesota got together on a heads-up trade on Nov 6 that sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez. It was a move that made very good sense -- and cents -- between a pair of mid-market level teams.
Hardy is off a horribly-bad season following up on his 2007-08 campaigns that saw him average 25 bombs a season, 77 RBI and 83+ runs scored. He played just 115 games with 11 HR and a .659 OPS.
Of course, it's not like the Brewers got a ton of proven offense in Gomez who has a .292 career on-base mark though at 24 on Opening Day next April, does have a little time on Hardy (27 when season starts) and will come much cheaper.
The trade also gives Milwaukee the opportunity to give their shortstop job to the highlt talented Alcides Escobar while opening up some of the OF jam for Ron Gardenhire in the Twin Cities.
Milwaukee GM Bob Melvin is also ready to make some moves on the mound, with Matt Capps and Doug Davis on their rumored list.