Hey Kobe Bryant.  Here is your official, public invitation to come ball at my local Jewish Community Center (JCC).  You know, in case you get tired of the one in Irvine, California.  I am heading to Memphis, Tennessee tonight to host the University of Memphis’ first Agent Day with Jason Belzer tomorrow.  We will also be organizing the school’s first Professional Sports Counseling Panel.  University of Memphis is a client of start-up Collegiate Sports Advisors, which I strongly suggest you pass on to your colleagues at various university athletic departments.  With so much talk about all the things that universities could be doing to better inform and protect their student-athletes, out-of-house Collegiate Sports Advisors is an excellent choice for schools to take a step in the right direction.  Okay, I’m off my soapbox.  Here are some stories I missed from the past week:

College Sports

• About that need for Professional Sports Counseling Panels.. [Time for Transformative Change in Intercollegiate Athletics].
• Class action Complaint alleges that the NCAA has engaged in a long-established pattern of negligence [College Athletes Move Concussions Into the Courtroom].

Baseball

• I provide an in-depth look into how and when MLB players compensate their representatives (unfortunately it is behind a pay wall) [Darren Heitner on MLB Player-Agent Comp].
• The new collective bargaining agreement supposedly reduces the number of rounds in the Rule 4 Draft from 50 to 40 [CBA Links: Michael Weiner, Draft].
• I have a feeling this fight is not yet over [Checking In With Albert Pujols’s Agent, Who Threatened To Sue Us Before He Knew What We Were Going To Write].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (12/2/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

When I was contacted over the weekend by Brian Walton of TheCardinalNation.com and Scout.com with about six questions related to the baseball agent profession, I had no idea just why he was asking me those specific questions.  Now, after Walton published his piece titled, Dan Lozano and Albert Pujols’ 2004 Contract, it all makes sense.

Walton’s piece stemmed from an accusation embedded within the Deadspin story about Pujols’ agent Dan Lozano, which has attracted the eyes of everybody in the sports agent industry.  The accusation was that Lozano’s unfortunate financial situation led him to negotiate an unfavorable, below-market value contract for Pujols in 2004.  Walton’s article digs deep to try to determine whether that was actually the case.  Based on his findings, it appears that even if Lozano was truly interested in making a quick buck to save himself from financial straits, he certainly did not display such through his negotiation of Pujols’ contract.

Go ahead and read Walton’s article, because he does a fantastic job of looking into the 2004 Pujols deal, and he provides some nice space for my contributions.

Looking Back At Albert Pujols’ 2004 Contract from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Baseball

• “I am embarrassed for the people who are behind this. I want to make sure that people hear that.” [Pujols sticking with Lozano as his agent].
• Can’t wait to see the policy governing the use of Social Media [Summary of MLBPA-MLB Labor Agreement]
• It may be difficult for teams to justify drafting two-sport stars [CBA Reactions: Marlins, Twins, Amateur Draft

Basketball

• Bartelstein says what we all know – it’s not fun to not be getting paid [NBA lockout costs Chicago agent, but he says it’s worth it
• Key question: Is the disclaimer of interest enough to end the non-statutory labor exemption and lower the antitrust shield? [NBA Lockout: The NBA’s Nuclear Winter — Where Do We Go From Here?
• Maurice Clarett’s counsel could be involved [Extended NBA lockout could lead to legal challenges of draft eligibility rule

NCAA

• It would be nice if states then decide to drop their registration systems.. [NCAA nears revamp of sports agent oversight to include runners, eyes national registration
• More pub for Arkansas [UAAA Summit reinvigorates agent oversight

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (11/25/11) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Sports Agents

• Bill Duffy of BDA Sports will be honored [BESLA Announces 2011 Conference Theme: "INCEPTION: Mastering Entertainment and Sports Paradigms in a Digital Universe"].

Social Media

• Now you know why JR is tweeting with the #YearoftheFan hashtag [How Sports Agent JR Rickert is making this the Year of the Fan].

Skateboarding

• “Skateboarding is really insular. They don’t like their own, much less outsiders coming in.” [AN INTERVIEW WITH CIRCE WALLACE, AGENT]

Basketball

• Arn Tellem visited Lithuania and provided labor updates to his client [European title in hand, Marc Gasol ready to return to Memphis].
• Prominent agent: “The union hasn’t been listening to its players.” [Battle lines drawn for NBA, players, agents].
• Falk isn’t part of the group of agents who want the NBPA to decertify [David Falk implies there'll be a full season or no season at all].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (9/23/2011) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Swisher has already been taken off of Bick’s website.  His client list also includes New York Yankee Brett Gardner, and his biggest client is Boston Red Sox great Kevin Youkilis.  Losing Swish has to sting.  He is not only a great player, but he has created a great following on Twitter, which could translate to huge marketing opportunities, especially if the Yankees are fighting for another championship next year.  While baseball agents typically take 4-5% commissions on team contracts, marketing cuts typically range between 15-25%.  No word on whether Lozano will direct Swisher’s marketing campaign as well.

On To The Next One: Nick Swisher from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Beverly Hills Sports Council (BHSC) probably could not care whether Enright has a good 2011 or struggles in his second year.  That is because Enright has dropped BHSC for Greg Genske and Kenny Felder of Legacy Sports.  Add Enright to the list of losses for BHSC in 2010.  Others include Dan Uggla, Albert Pujols, and Mike Gonzalez.

On To The Next One: Barry Enright from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Pujols agent, Dan Lozano, probably dreams about it every night.  Jeff Borris and others at Beverly Hills Sports Council were probably also counting down the days until it came time for Pujols to sign a new contract.  But Lozano found the exit door, and left the rest of BHSC behind.

Last night, Jerry Crasnick reported that Dan Lozano left BHSC and will likely take his other high profile clients like Jimmy Rollins and Michael Young with him.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the ability to look at Lozano’s employment contract with BHSC?  I wonder what kind of noncompete clause was written into the agreement.  Will BHSC just let Lozano leave and join another agency or set up shop on his own without any kind of fight?  If there is a noncompete, does it even matter?  California rarely enforces such clauses as the state is very anti restraining employment.

Albert Pujols Agent Leaves Beverly Hills Sports Council from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Edmonds starts his article by looking back to the very first arbitration hearing in Major League Baseball, between pitcher Dick Woodson and the Minnesota Twins.  While teams have a better record in arbitration hearings than their players, Dick Woodson won this round, giving the players an early 1-0 lead.  That first arbitration season; however, the teams would win overall by a count of 16-13.

Here are a couple of sentences in Edmonds’ first section that I feel deserves to be quoted.

To fully understand the salary structure of a MLB team’s roster, one must appreciate the component parts and the impact of the arbitration-eligible players’ place within that structure. Players in this category occupy the middle group between players with no leverage and those in the free agent group with substantial leverage.

Something I did not know – It was not until 1995 that hearings were decided by panels of three arbitrators (before it was decided exclusively by a single arbitrator).  It started off as an experiment that eventually became a permanent change in 2000.

One point that many people forget is that salary arbitration is not only for players who are super-twos or between 3 and 5 years of Major League service.  Those who have 6 years of service and may attain free agent status, may also accept arbitration from the team they played for last year (if the team offers it).  Most of these players offered arbitration prefer to decline and test the free agent market.  If the player declines the arbitration offer, he is then ranked as a Type A (the top 20% of a position grouping), Type B (the top 40% of a position grouping who are not Type A), or unranked free agent.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about salaries for players who have not reached arbitration eligibility.  Edmonds discussed Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Tim Lincecum, and Evan Longoria.  Fielder missed out on being a super-two, and felt that he was underpaid as the Brewers kept signing him to low paying 1-year deals until he was arbitration eligible.  Pujols received more than Fielder prior to arbitration (much more than minimum salary), but still less than $1 million per year.  Lincecum barely made more than minimum salary after his first year, and received a modest increase the year after, before becoming arbitration eligible.  The Rays and Evan Longoria took an interesting approach.  Instead of signing Longoria to year-to-year deals before he reached arbitration eligibility, they signed him to a 6-year deal worth a minimum of $17.5 million and a maximum of $44 million.  Encompassed in that deal were small salary figures that Longoria would have received in the years prior to arbitration, had he not signed the long-term deal.  It was definitely an interesting approach.  One question that I wonder after reading this section is what determines the amount of money given to players before they reach arbitration eligibility?  Why not force all restricted players to take minimum salary?  Is it the team trying to keep the player happy and create good will so that that player doesn’t ditch the team as soon as he becomes a free-agent?  Is there a concern that the player might take an offer overseas in Japan?

There is a huge distinction between being a player who has not yet reached arbitration eligibility and one who has.  That’s why many players hope to become super-twos and become arbitration eligible one year earlier than most of their colleagues.  Teams are smart, though, and may limit a star player’s MLB time when he is young, to prevent him becoming arbitration eligible as a super-two.  Case-in-point is how the Rays acted with David Price.  Those Rays are also known as one of the few teams that subscribe to a file-and-go strategy, which means that once figures are exchanged by team and player, the team will proceed to the arbitration hearing without any future attempt to negotiate a settlement.  Besides the Rays, the Marlins and Astros are known to be supporters of this strategy.  That does not mean that the teams will not budge at all from that stance.  In fact, the Rays did sign Dioner Navarro to a multi-year deal after he and the Rays submitted figures leading up to a potential arbitration hearing.  The two sides had such a small gap between their numbers in the first place.

One thing many of us forget is that the true purpose of making the process bound by final offer arbitration is to actually encourage settlements before a hearing is necessary.  Both sides incur costs of preparation and actually performing at the hearing, not to mention the psychological cost of the player hearing about why he is not worth what he thinks he is worth.  Interestingly, there have been more multi-year deal settlements between player and team that exchange figures, compared with the past.

Very few settlements (roughly 10%) are above midpoint (the number between the team’s and the player’s exchanged figures).  You better believe that agents who are able to secure deals above midpoint try to use that to their advantage in the recruitment of potential future clients.  Most settlements actually occur below the midpoint, not even at the midpoint.  This could either be based on the player’s submitting a figure that is a little bit far from realistic, or the fact that teams do so well in arbitration hearings that it may be worth it to settle just below midpoint and avoid a hearing.

Discussing the few arbitration eligible players who went to hearings in 2009, Edmonds points out that parties rarely discuss multi-year deals to try to win their case.  Instead, they try to focus on players who are comparable in statistics and have signed one-year deals, for the most part.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the article.  If you want to pull it up on LexisNexis or Westlaw, the citation is: 20 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 1 (2009).

A Deep Look Into Baseball’s Salary Arbitration System from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

St. Louis Cardinals GM, John Mozeliak, opened his pocketbook two days ago and gave free agent outfielder Matt Holliday a 7-year deal worth $120 million. Although this put many St. Louis constituents’ worries to rest, it raises just as many questions as it answers in the Cardinals front office. The deal, negotiated by who else but Scott Boras, is worth around $17 miilion a year for Holliday and includes a no-trade clause. This ties a significant amount of Cardinal money up through 2017, which could turn out to be problematic. Albert Pujols is up for free agency after the 2011 season and could be commanding up to $25 million a year. Pujols has publicly stated that he loves St. Louis and would prefer to remain a Cardinal for the rest of his career. He has also publicly stated that he measures success not by personal statistics, but by World Championships. At the 2009 All Star Game, Pujols openly expressed envy for Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter. Although Jeter’s stats pale in comparison to Pujols, Jeter has four rings compared to Pujols’ one. This desire to play for a contender would likely override Pujols’ comfort in St. Louis if the Cards weren’t willing to do what it takes to keep the team in contention throughout the rest of his career.

This is where the conundrum lies. The signing of Holliday shows Pujols that Cards management is serious about winning another World Series, but it also locks up a large chunk of funds for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the Cards are not going to be able to offer Pujols what he could bring in on the free agent market. The Cardinals management believes that Pujols’ desire to stay in St. Louis and remain an area icon for the rest of his career will take precedent over the dollar signs which will be thrown at him in next year’s free agency period. They believe that because they have shown their commitment to build a winning franchise around Pujols as their cornerstone, he will return the favor by accepting less money when that time comes. The Cards management took a risk in signing Holliday, but they, as well as I, believe that this risk will pay off when Pujols shows his loyalty to the team and the city by signing for significantly less than he could make if he chose to test the free agent waters

The only thing that could go wrong in St. Louis is if Holliday suddenly stops producing or suffers a career threatening injury. This would put the Cardinals right back where they started except for the fact that they still wouldn’t be able to show Pujols the money. If Holliday lives up to the expectations and performs anywhere near the level he did in last year’s second half, Mozeliak and the entirety of the Cardinals management will come out looking brilliant. Only time will tell…

Taking a Risky Holliday from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

In many’s eyes, Albert Pujols is the best baseball player around and quite frankly, his numbers support that claim.  Pujols’ career statistics are superior  than many of the other players that hold down spots on the highest-paid list in the MLB; names such as Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, Derek Jeter and Carlos Beltran.

Here is a list of these players and their current contracts:

• Alex Rodriguez – $238 million, 9 years
• Carlos Beltran – $119 million, 7 years
• Mark Teixeira – $108 million, 8 years
• Derek Jeter – 2009: $20 million, 2010: $21 million
• Manny Ramirez – 2009: $25 million, 2010: $20 million

Seeing as Albert Pujols’ career stats (.334, 40/122, 1.053) are better than A-Rod’s (.305, 42/122, .966), I think it is safe to say that Pujols should be a $200+ million man in the immediate future. Anything less would be tragedy!

Albert Pujols: Cash Flow Under-Achiever from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules