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.

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.

This World Series defense stems from the actions of an over eager Philadelphia fan who is using the Phillies World Series appearance as part of her defense against a misdemeanor charge of promoting prostitution from an advertisement on Craigslist.

Susan Finkelstein, a 43-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate student, wanted to take her husband to a World Series game between her darling Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. Mrs. Finkelstein wanted to get tickets for game one of the World Series so badly that she posted an advertisement on Craigslist describing herself as a “buxom blonde” looking to meet up with someone to discuss getting tickets to a World Series game. Unfortunately for Finkelstein, an undercover officer responded to the ad and arranged to meet her in a suburban Philly bar on Tuesday, October 27^th. The two had a few beers and discussed Finkelstein’s ideas about a ticket exchange. The specific facts about what was said at the table between the two are unclear as both sides have different accounts.

According to Finkelstein’s attorney, William J. Brennan, the Craigslist ad may have dropped double entendres but never explicitly offered sex. Brennan said, “If somebody read into that posting a sexual connotation, that’s on them. There’s no overt sexual reference.” Mr. Brennan also said that his client was “a nice lady overcome with Phillies fever.”  Finkelstein told the Associated Press that she was hoping to get cheap tickets, as she had in the past.  “Maybe meet someone, and talk, and bat my eyelashes and maybe get some tickets.”

On the other side, the prosecution believes the advertisement on Craigslist and the conversation with the undercover officer at the bar clearly show Finkelstein’s true intent.  The officer said that she never offered him any money for the tickets, but declined to further elaborate on the conversation and the offer.

Finkelstein has a preliminary hearing in Bucks County Pennsylvania on December 3^rd. In the mean time, the notoriety and press, although embarrassing, has given Finkelstein and her husband some positives. A radio station and car dealer offered her and her husband a pair of tickets to a weekend game of the Phillies. Other reports have her and her husband attending game three of the World Series, but failed to mention how she got the tickets.

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.

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.

If you haven’t heard about the scuffle, here is a semi-brief recap:

Around three months ago, when the Phillies played the Florida Marlins in Miami, Ryan Howard hit his 200^th homerun, making him the fastest player to ever reach that milestone in MLB history.  Twelve year-old Miami resident, Jennifer Valdivia, was fortunate enough to beat her older brother and everyone else to the homerun ball hit into the stands.  This was Jennifer’s first ever MLB game.  She attended the game with her 17 year old brother and grandmother- who does not speak any English.  Shortly after gathering the ball, the Phillies sent someone from management to seek out Jennifer in order to procure the ball for Howard.  Individuals from the Phillies ended up taking only twelve year old Jennifer and her seventeen year old brother to the clubhouse to “talk” about a trade for the homerun ball (emphasis added).  After some tough negotiating, the Phillies made an agreement with Jennifer that had her receiving a signed Ryan Howard ball after the game, in exchange for the ball she had caught in the stands.  Once Jennifer had returned home and told her mother about the deal with the Phillies, the family sought out attorney and memorabilia enthusiast Norm Kent.   Only days later, Kent filed a complaint and within hours, the Phillies called Jennifer and returned the ball the same day.

After first hearing this story, I had the same initial thought as Mark Conrad from Sports Law Blog. The foremost thing on my mind was the first couple of weeks of Contracts class where we discussed contracting with minors or infants.  I remembered the duel edged sword that minors can have when forming a contract.  The rules of “infancy” state when a minor forms a contract, he/she can rescind that contract at any time without approval by the other side.  That is why contracting with a minor can be a very silly thing, like in this situation.

My response to this situation is one of disbelief.  Who in the Phillies organization would make a deal with a twelve year old girl regarding a supposed piece of MLB history (if you categorize “the fastest to” as a legitimate baseball record) without her parents or someone who is NOT a minor present?  If the Phillies brought the grandmother into the clubhouse with the girl, they probably would have the ball now.

How could this individual not feel like he was doing something wrong, or taking advantage of this child by making such a deal?  Although there are two sides to every story, the Phillies quickly recognized the ramifications and bad press that keeping the baseball would cause and made the right decision by giving it back.

The Minnesota Twins have signed Miguel Angel Sano, a 16-year old Dominican shortstop who is rumored to be one of the best (if not, the best) teenage prospects in Latin America. According to Sano’s agent Rob Plummer, the Twins have signed him for a $3.15 million bonus; however, this is based upon Sano acquiring a visa from the U.S. Consulate in the DR.

Sano is second on the list of the highest paid players from Latin America — first is Michel Ynoa who was signed by the Oakland Athletics last year for $4.25 million.

So, with this signing, a big question arises: Will teams be investing more time and effort into scouting foreign players than domestic? What does this mean for the American sport of baseball?

In 1993, Gilbert was sharing headlines with Scott Boras in publications like Sports Illustrated.  He was able to achieve record breaking deals for clients whose names you have heard a few times before: Bobby Bonilla, Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds.  He also represented George Brett.

Beverly Hills Sports Council (BHSC) still exists today, and over a decade ago, Gilbert was the head honcho at the agency.  He started the company with Jeff Borris and Rick Thurman, who along with Danny Lozano and Dan Horwitz, are still in charge of BHSC today.  And Gilbert did not pay much attention to the draft.  He left that chore for Scott Boras to handle, a competitor of Gilbert’s, who was even loathed by owners back then, sixteen years ago.  Boras used and continues to use a claiming negotiating approach, while Gilbert was known by owners as someone who could create value for both sides in a cooperative style.

In 1999, Gilbert retired and put his sports agent hat in his closet.  Immediately, he took on his current role of special assistant to Jerry Reinsdorf.

In 2002, Gilbert funded a baseball field in South Central L.A. that cost $1.5 million to build (now the home to MLB’s RBI Youth Program).  That is pennies compared to what he will have to pay to own the rights of the much larger Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

For those players who continue to play in the offseason, some will play in their organization’s Fall Instructional League.  There are also players who have been invited to play in one of the prestigious Fall/Winter leagues.  There are the Arizona Fall League (AFL), Puerto Rican Winter League, Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, and Venezuelan Winter League.  These are the leagues recognized by Major League Baseball.  In addition to the leagues mentioned, there are a few that have recently sprouted and are hoping to attract talented players to their offerings.

The Florida Winter Baseball League (FWBL) has four teams that cater to Rookie and Single A level ballplayers.  The leagues listed above attract many higher level players.  The FWBL started only a year ago, and will start play in October this year.  Competition will last until January.  Sixty games will be played, with opening day scheduled for October 30.

There have also been rumors that a Junior Arizona Fall League will be developed in the future.  In the meantime, players on the West Coast who were not invited to the AFL may want to look into what people are calling the Advanced Instructional League and the Arizona Parallel League.  Several Farm Directors have put together this makeshift league, which will play all of its games in Arizona.  Play begins two days from now and ends on October 16.  Most players will be taken from Class A and Double A squads.  Only players from the following organizations are invited to participate: Royals, Rangers, Padres, Mariners, Reds, Indians, Dodgers, and White Sox.