Esquire is republishing a fantastic article that originally appeared after the initial A-Rod/Rangers deal. It is really a well written article that provides insight into all of the players - Scott Boras, Alex Rodriguez & Tom Hicks, and gives a good sense of just how things went down. Given how the relationship between ARod and the Rangers soured, and the news about ARod's positive steroid test, the article is even more interesting to look back on.
The article kicks off with a bang. This is like the literary version of the opening to Like a Rolling Stone:
Scott Boras -- Scott Freakin' Boras, the Most Hated Man in Baseball, the heartless bastard hell-bent on destroying our National Pastime, the keen-eyed pimp of ball-hogging, bat-whipping, splitter-hurling youth -- he walks among us, here in the lobby of the elephantine Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas, during the long December weekend of the game's annual winter meetings, in his blue sweater-vest, blue denim shirt, and jeans, his cloven hooves hidden in soft brown shoes, toting a tan leather satchel as battered as Yogi's old catcher's mitt. Boras has a suite upstairs, but nowhere does he ride -- not even the elevator down to the hotel café -- without the satchel. The satchel doesn't touch the floor, either: It gets a chair all to itself.
Is that great or what? Devil in a sweater vest! Love it! Here is his take on what makes Scott Boras so effective:
Owners dread him because he shapes his monster deals and arbitration battles with a database that includes every pitch thrown in every major league game since 1979 and because when an owner says, "Well, those are some impressive numbers, Scott, but the truth is I just can't afford to pay that much for this player," Boras will say, "Then let's take a peek at your balance sheet and see how we might make it work."
Lets hear from A-Rod. Does this sound like a guy who wouldnt want an extra edge?
"I've got a lot of work to do," he says, "a lot of motivation. I'm chasing all those things -- internally. It's not good to talk about it. It's hard to compete when you don't have a place in the game now as a shortstop, so you have to look years back to find someone to compete against. That's what I do. I'm playing against guys like Ernie Banks or Hank Aaron or Ozzie Smith."
Tom Hicks. Hope springs eternal:
"Our model is to keep payroll to 50 to 55 percent of revenue," Hicks says, "real payroll, real cash. We're gonna be a little over $80 million, and our revenue this year will exceed $160 million. Our payroll goin' into free agency was $49 million. Compare that to where the Yankees were, where the Dodgers were, the Mets or Atlanta or Boston. We knew there was a bumper crop of free agents, and we didn't like the team we had. We got cheaper, we got younger, and we put ourselves in a position to have the flexibility to do what we've done."
Hicks opened the A-Rod book and didn't see only the shortstop who'd shatter Henry Aaron's records and deliver another ring or three unto his hammy fist: He saw Tiger, too, and Michael, and ol' Roger Staubach himself, all rolled into one.
"I read in one of the New York papers that I fell in love with Alex. I didn't fall in love. Alex Rodriguez is a good asset, and he's gonna own this city. Traditionally, the marquee athlete here has been a Dallas Cowboy. Alex will wear that cape. At his age, with his success and potential, he deserves to be the highest-paid guy in baseball -- no question. After the first time I met him, I knew he wasn't goin' back to Seattle. I only worried about Atlanta and the Mets."
How it went down:
"Scott's a good negotiator," Hicks grins. "He was tryin' to get a twelve-year contract that could be repriced after three years. If we were gonna invest in Alex, we wanted to give our team a chance to really benefit from what he brings. And if our fans are gonna fall in love with A-Rod, we want him to be here for a while. The most important thing was to lock him in for seven years, particularly in the early years, at reasonable numbers."
What Big Tom did -- "Very smart of the guy," says Boras, "very smart" -- was to jack up the salary, all the way up to $242 million for ten years, with $36 million of it deferred. Slowly they worked out the deferral schedule and interest rates, the option and escalator clauses, and a list of twelve award bonuses so minutely crafted by Boras as to guarantee Rodriguez an extra shiny nickel for each time he appears on camera in uniform without spitting or tugging at himself.
"The last thing he put on the table," says Hicks, "was this signing bonus. He said he talked to Alex and that it was important to Alex -- he needed $10 million to get situated, he wanted to buy a home in Dallas. So we swallowed hard and said yes to the $10 million on the basis that it would be deferred over five years."
Hicks gulped it down, but something still sticks in his craw.
Arod on Scott Boras' recruting tactics:
"A lot of Latin kids have nothing," he says. "They love it. But to me it was insulting. The limos -- they came into my living room trying to wow me with all these things. And Scott never once said anything like that. He was factual: 'Let me tell you why you and I make a great combination. Let me tell you why if you do your job, I can do mine.'
"Those other guys were just a bunch of baloney -- they shot themselves in the foot. I don't want to hear stories. I want to hear facts. I don't need you as a friend. I need you as my attorney. The advantage I have with Scott -- like I already told him, I can fire you now, because you've got your job done for the next ten years -- but seriously, not only do I think that I have the best negotiator in the big leagues, but I have a good human being, a family man who sets a good example for me. The contract's over -- now I'm paying for the advice he can give me on a daily, weekly, yearly basis as I go through my career."
This was pretty ominous:
"Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him," Alex says. "He's never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. And he hits second -- that's totally different than third and fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie and O'Neill. You never say, Don't let Derek beat you. He's never your concern."
Ok, I think I posted more than copyright laws allow, but again, I would highly recommend read the entire article. Ill drop off with this - from Boras after his failed professional career:
"I wasn't going back to that farm," Boras says. "I hated it. I was in jail. Out on that damned tractor all day long. I didn't mind the cows so much. But I wasn't going back."
