Scott Boras and company have landed another top MLB client. Two league sources confirmed that Mike Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves has switched to Scott Boras, leaving Dan Lozano of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

According to Mark Bowman of MLBBlogs, the move to Boras is not suspected to cause any problems between Gonzalez and the Braves in re-signing Gonzalez. Boras and Braves GM Frank Wren are on good terms. So don’t expect a bidding war like Boras is sometimes known for. The Braves might not even attempt to re-sign him. It will all depend on the level of interest he receives from other clubs and the price they offer.

However, it seems almost definite that the Braves will give Gonzalez salary arbitration. He is a Type – A free agent, meaning the club will receive draft pick compensation if he signs with another club. The Braves would get a first round selection and another compensatory pick between the first and second rounds.

Gonzalez made $3.45 million in 2009. He posted a 2.42 E.R.A. in a career high 80 appearances for the Braves.

Drew Rosenhaus has had his fair share of clients that he represented prior to and during the NFL Draft, but he is mainly known for the sheer number of players who switch to him when it is time for them to re-negotiate their contract or sign their big second contract.  Rosenhaus’ competition hates it, and so they should.  As an NFLPA certified advisor, you most likely have to pay for your clients’ training, food, and housing prior to the draft (and anything else that comes up).  Then, if you are lucky enough to have your clients drafted, you will take a meager 3% at tops (many agents charge less just so they can compete with guys like Rosenhaus) of their professional contracts.  For non-first rounders, that figure does not come out to much.  Last, you can’t sleep at all because you are always worried that your clients will make a switch to a different agent before you are actually able to negotiate the big contract and make some sort of money to live off of.  Only to possibly lose your client to a guy like Rosenhaus.  Rough life, but you chose to live it.

In baseball, we rarely discuss a guy like Rosenhaus, who players flock to once they are ready to negotiate a big contract.  Scott Boras grabs all the bonus babies before they are drafted and rakes in his nice 5% advising fee early in their careers.  Sure, some players leave their agents for Boras, especially right before becoming arbitration eligible, but we don’t hear about it ALL that much.  In fact, Boras recently lost a big fish to a rival agency; one that might start making a name for itself as one that picks up players after they make it to the pros.

Hendricks Sports Management is run by Randy and Alan Hendricks.  The brothers started the firm in the 1970s, sold it to SFX, and then re-formed the agency in 2003.  They have been in the business for a very long time, are connected to basically every important person in the business of baseball, and have seen their fare share of arbitration cases.  There’s a certain comfort factor for players who are looking to make a switch in representation.  And they are quiet about the clients they actually represent (their website does not list any).  Once a team that represented 16% of all Major League players, after they re-formed the agency in 2003, they say that they are more selective about who they represent.

So why the possible relation to the Rosenhaus brothers?  Well, last year, the Hendricks brothers grabbed Rick Porcello from none other than Scott Boras Corp.  Recently, they signed former Cuba defector, Kendry Morales, who used to be represented by David Valdes.  Is this the start of a new business model for the Hendricks brothers or did they just offer to represent two players who were upset with their previous representation?  Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Tim Hudson and the Atlanta Braves agreed to a 3-year/$28 million contract yesterday. Hudson agreed to take a pay cut in order to stay with the Braves, since he is from Alabama, which I guess it close enough to ATL.

Here is how the contract is laid out:

• 2010 – $9 million
• 2011 – $9 million
• 2012 – $9 million
  • If Hudson pitches 600+ innings over the next 2 seasons, he will take home a $500,000 bonus after the 2012 season.
• 2013 – $9 million club option/$1 million buyout

By signing Hudson, the Braves have shown faith in their pitcher that he will bounce back from his elbow injury which ended up in Tommy John surgery. Among the other active pitchers in Atlanta are Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson.

Ken Griffey Jr.

Although not finalized yet, sources say that Griffey will be signed to a contract close to the one he signed before this past season – that contract gave Griffey a $2-million base salary and when everything was said and done, he took home $3.15 million after incentives.

I will update you all when the deal is finalized.

Cuba is known for producing remarkable talent on the diamond.  Its players are followed by every single MLB organization, and many agents dream about getting their hands on the next Cuban-born prospect.  Recently, the baseball world has been caught up with what team Cuba’s most recent defector, Aroldis Chapman, will sign with.  Chapman is just the newest Cuban player to clog the headlines, but in the past, many others have been in the spotlight, and unfortunately, so have their agents.

Representing Cuban defectors is risky business.  Gustavo “Gus” Dominguez, co-founder of California-based Total Sports International Inc., was handed a five-year prison term in April 2008 for smuggling prospects out of Cuba.  Juan Ignacio Hernández Nodar, was a Miami-based sports agent who received a fifteen-year sentence for the same thing: helping Cuban players defect from the island.  Nodar was recently released one-and-a half -years earlier than the full length of the sentence.  You can thank Nodar for being able to watch Orlando “El Duque” Hernández over the years.

The U.S. and Cuban governments tried to make examples out of Gus and Nodar, and for a long time, we have heard little about Cuban baseball defections.  It makes me wonder how closely government officials have been monitoring Aroldis Chapman’s defection.  I assume that his agents were especially careful in the way they managed his affairs.  One would hope so based on the penalties handed down to guys like Dominguez and Nodar.

Mark Kotsay has inked a new deal with the Chicago White Sox on November 5th (15 days before he is slated to become a free agent and hit the open market).

According to RotoWorld.com (my #1 source for contract info), Kotsay and the Sox agreed to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract. This contract total was for the same amount that Kotsay made this past season. The thirty-three year old first baseman was acquired by the White Sox in a trade during the 2009 season with the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Brian Anderson.

Brian Anderson made near the league minimum in 2009 which is roughly around $400,000.

This is my first post on Sports Agent Blog after getting my start at Entertainment Agent Blog.  Being from outside the Philadelphia area, I’m heartbroken the Phillies lost to the Yankees.  But now that the season is over, the Phillies should reflect on their season and think about who will be returning next year.  The Phils got Cliff Lee along with Ben Francisco on July 29^th, in a trade for SS Jason Donald, P Jason Knapp, P Carlos Carrasco, and C Lou Marson in no doubt the best bargain of the season.  Without question, the trade paid immediate dividends for the Phils and at a bargain price.

The Phils didn’t give up that much in return for Lee.  None of the prospects did much of anything this year.  Carrasco went 0-4 for the Indians with an ERA close to 9.00.  Lou Marson batted .250 in 14 games, Knapp went 0-0 with an ERA of 5.40 in the minors and struggled with injuries, and Donald batted .257 with one R.B.I.  In 10 games for the Indians AAA affiliate. While some of these prospects may make it to the Majors, none of them have really shown potential to be everyday players.  On the other hand, Lee had a stellar second half with the Phillies and arguably one of the best postseasons in recent memory, all for a bargain price of their share of the $5.75 million he was due this year.

What makes the deal even sweeter for Philadelphia is that Lee also has an $8 million club option for 2010.  That means the Phillies could have at least one more year with Lee before he becomes a free agent.  The club option is relatively cheap for someone who went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in the regular season and 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in the postseason.  Management would be stupid to not pick up the option.  Letting Lee become a free agent will almost assuredly mean that he can command big money in the free agent market.

I think it is inevitable that the Phils will pick up the club option for next season.  The real concern for management is locking him into a long-term deal with the club.  If he performs next year like he did during the later part of this season and postseason, there is no telling what kind of price he is likely to demand in free agency.  He could demand a contract similar to what C.C. Sabbathia received from the Yankees.  There are only a handful of teams able to dish out that kind of cash.  If it comes to that, I hope the Phillies are one of them.

Don’t tell Creative Artists Agency (CAA) that the company is #2 to anyone in any sport.  They just don’t want to hear it.  Even in baseball, where Scott Boras is known as the king of the diamond.

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reported earlier this week that in a phone interview with CAA baseball agent, Joe Urbon, the agent stated that Jason Bay is “the most complete player on the market.”  Quite a bold statement by Mr. Urbon, who was well aware that some guy named Matt Holliday is also a free-agent going into the 2010 season.  Should Bay be given the edge because he had to compete in a very tough AL East while Holliday went from a mediocre AL West to a soft NL Central?  It is true that Holliday did struggle quite a bit in the AL.  He only hit 1 homerun in the first month of the 2009 season

Boras’ response: “Holliday is the only young complete free agent player available.”  I added the emphasis.  Interesting sly tactic by Mr. Boras, who subtly noted that his client, Holliday is 29-years-old, while Bay is 31-years-old.  You better believe that this factor, alone, drives up Holliday’s price.

I think it is smart for Urbon to make comparisons between Bay and Holliday.  It will only drive up the price of his client.  Let’s just hope that this is not an Urbon vs. Boras competition that stems from past experiences like the notorious case of Tacoby Bellsbury!

In Game 1, Cliff Lee went a full 9 innings to pick up a complete game win.  He gave up 1 unearned run and fanned 10 batters, while walking none!  Then, yesterday in Game 2, the Yankees were desperate for a big game from Burnett.  And he delivered.  Burnett went 7 innings, giving up only 1 earned run, fanned 9, and walked 2.  Braunecker is definitely happy with both pitcher’s strike-out/walk ratio.

So now Braunecker can relax for a few days…until Lee takes the hill again.  Next time, Darek won’t have to worry about Lee actually making it to the game he is scheduled to pitch.  NY traffic can really make things difficult.

Darren Rovell has a very interesting piece on his blog that describes the development of Jack Marucci’s bat company, which has its products used by some of Major League Baseball’s best hitters.  Marucci’s clientele includes Pujols, Howard, Ibanez, and Teixeira…hitters who come to mind when you think of “power swing”.  I agree that it is interesting that Marucci has not paid any players to use his bats or endorse his product.  There is no stronger endorsement than a person using a product out of pure choice, with no monetary consideration involved in the equation.  It is also very rare that a professional would do this, and actually pay for the product (or have his team pay for it), instead of getting free product at a minimum (and possibly being paid to use the product, if it is a prominent player).

Not everyone has a product that players may willingly purchase, however.  With that statement in mind, I thought that this was a particularly telling part of Rovell’s piece:

As for whether big hits by players using his bats help out sales?

“We see it,” Marucci said. “Someone watches Jason Werth hit a home run last night. They see our logo in the paper or during the replay -– HD has helped us a ton -– and they find us.”

So while Marucci does not pay for this beneficial publicity, the quoted passage says a lot about endorsements, in general.  Players and fans have no idea whether Jayson Werth is paid to use the Marucci bat when he steps up to the plate, but they are paying attention to the equipment that successful players are using.  This should be of use to companies deciding whether it is worth it to supply free equipment to players and their agencies of record, in exchange for the use of such equipment in the hope that someone will notice it and possibly make a related purchase, or at least spread word about the company.  For the higher-end players, free equipment may not be enough, and actual payments to the player may be justified by the increase of exposure, especially in an era where practically everyone has an HD TV.