There’s been a lot of chatter surrounding Dylan Cease over the last month, and the Braves have been right in the middle of it. The level of interest is unknown, but one major factor in all of this is Cease’s agent, Scott Boras, who spoke to the media at the Winter Meetings this week and answered a question about the possibility of his client being traded.
“You know, whenever you have power arms, and there are a few of them – top five Cy (Young Award) guys, historically, they’re just so hard to find,” Boras said, via Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “And so you start looking at the rosters of clubs and what it would take to move that type of player. And obviously, a lot of teams think they have those players. I’m not sure that (White Sox general manager) Chris (Getz) will agree with that, but the idea of it is that they are certainly gonna cross the bridge, no doubt.”
Boras is the most well-known agent in all of sports. Go look up the top contracts around the league, and it’s likely the player is represented by Scott Boras. He’s the best in the business at getting his guys the most money, and it’s why some teams — particularly the Braves — don’t like dealing with his clients.
The best organizations are all about value. The Braves, even before Alex Anthopoulos, have never been a club to pay sticker price on anything. By doing that, they’ve been able to sustain success year after year. They aren’t going to change their ways now, because it’s gotten them to where they are today, which is why some are skeptical that they would make a trade for Dylan Cease.
However, a frontline starter with multiple years of control has to be attractive to Anthopoulos. It would make the Braves heavy World Series favorites for the next two years, and there would be plenty of time to work out an extension. Locking up Cease wouldn’t be easy, but as Alex Lord wrote right here at SportsTalkATL, several Boras clients have worked out lengthy contract extensions in the past.
Jered Weaver, Elvis Andrus, and Xander Bogaerts are three examples of Boras clients who signed extensions. Moreover, Boras works for Cease; not the other way around. In a perfect world, the Milton, Georgia native, who surely grew up a Braves fan, would force his agent’s hand at the negotiating table.
There’s a lot of hurdles to get over if you are Alex Anthopoulos, but eventually the Braves are going to have to go out of their comfort zone if they want to land a frontline starter in free agency or via a trade.
Scott Boras was also asked by Justin Toscano if Dylan Cease would be open to an extension with any team that traded for him, and let’s just say Boras left the door open.
“We have not proposed any of those questions to Dylan because, obviously, nothing has happened,” Boras said.
Getting a long-term deal done with a Scott Boras client is never going to be easy, but as they say, the best things in life aren’t easy. Boras represents many of the biggest names in the sport. Refusing to consider his clients because he is difficult to deal with would be negligent. I don’t believe that’s how Alex Anthopoulos operates, even if that has to be taken into consideration when pursuing a trade for Dylan Cease.
—
Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.