Busy weekends is the norm over at Scott Boras Corp. headquarters.  This past weekend was no exception.  Scott Boras has been busy playing with the media concerning Johnny Damon negotiations, but he also had a client fire him and subsequently was hired by a different professional player.

Johnny Damon is not the only Scott Boras Corp. free agent waiting to sign an term sheet with an organization.  Felipe Lopez watched as Orlando Hudson signed a 1-year, $5 million deal with the Minnesota Twins and started wondering when his pay day would come.  No longer interested in playing the waiting game and happily placing the blame on his agent, Lopez fired Boras and picked up Dan Lozano of Beverly Hills Sports Council as his representatives on record.

But Boras also gained a new client.  This one came by way of Hendricks Sports Management, which cannot be having fun defending itself in this pending lawsuit.  The Hendricks Brothers are being sued by Edwin Mejia and Athletes Premier International after Edwin and API lost Cuban defector, Aroldis Chapman, to the Hendricks Brothers.  When Chapman made the switch, many inferred that Hendricks client, Kendry Morales, played a big role in the change of agents.  Interestingly, Morales has now fired the Hendricks Brothers and has signed with Scott Boras Corp.

Is there no allegiance in this business?  Okay, stupid question.

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.

A majority of first round selections are still waiting on that magic number before they sign an agreement to play professionally.  12 players have signed…20 to go.  The last player to sign was Jared Mitchell (CAA client).  Undoubtedly, not every player will sign, but you can expect a lot of deals to get done with hours or minutes left before the actual deadline.

The draft is 50 rounds long and not ALL about the first round.  Many players outside of the first round have not yet signed, either.  For instance, 6 of the 17 first round supplemental picks are still waiting to hear a number they like (Paxton, Davis, Skaggs, Owings, Boxberger, and Scheppers).

First Round Picks

1. Nationals. Stephen Strasburg, rhp Boras Corp. Unsigned. Boras wants $50 million.
2. Mariners. Dustin Ackley, of Boras Corp. Unsigned. Boras wants roughly $9.5 million.
3. Padres. Donavan Tate, of Boras Corp. Unsigned. Boras already has enough on his hands with Strasburg and Ackley. Add Donavan, and it’s quite a party.
4. Pirates. Tony Sanchez, c ACES (Hank King & Mike Zimmerman). Signed. $2.5 million.
5. Orioles. Matt Hobgood, rhp Wasserman Media Group (Lenny Strelitz). Signed. $2.42 million.
6. Giants. Zack Wheeler, rhp Jet Sports Management. Unsigned.
7. Braves. Mike Minor, lhp Bo McKinnis. Unsigned. Jonathan Mayo believes his signing will make many other college pitchers in the first round sign.
8. Reds. Mike Leake, rhp Beverly Hills Sports Council (Dan Horwits). Unsigned. Close to a deal.
9. Tigers. Jacob Turner, rhp Boras Corp. Unsigned. Boras boy #4…also waiting it out.
10. Nationals. Drew Storen, rhp CAA. Signed. $1.6 million. Storen is tearing it up in the organization thus far. He is already with the High A Potomac Nationals, and is closing out games along with Dynasty client, Dan Leatherman.
11. Rockies. Tyler Matzek, lhp Legacy Sports Group (Greg Genske) Unsigned. Signs pointing to him going to Oregon and not signing with the Rockies.
12. Royals. Aaron Crow, rhp Hendricks Sports Management (J.D. Smart). Unsigned. Doesn’t have to sign by August 17.
13. Athletics. Grant Green, ss Boras Corp. Unsigned. The fifth Boras superhero.
14. Rangers. Matt Purke, lhp Select Sports Group (Peter Vescovo). Unsigned.
15. Indians. Alex White, rhp Career Sports (Keith Grunewald). Unsigned.
16. Diamondbacks. Bobby Borchering, 3b SFX (Troy Caradonna). Unsigned.
17. Diamondbacks. A.J. Pollock, of Icon Sports Management (Rob Martin). Signed. $1.4 million
18. Marlins. Chad James, lhp Icon Sports Management (Rob Martin). Unsigned.
19. Cardinals. Shelby Miller, rhp Select Sports Group (Peter Vescovo). Unsigned.
20. Blue Jays. Stephen Jenkins, rhp ACES (Hank King & Brandon O’Hearn). Unsigned.
21. Astros. Jiovanni Mier, ss Legacy Sports Group (Greg Genske). Signed. $1.358 million
22. Twins. Kyle Gibson, rhp Randy Rowley. Unsigned. Stalling because of injury issues.
23. White Sox. Jared Mitchell, of CAA. Signed. $1.2 million
24. Angels. Randal Grichuk, of SFX (Tom Little). Signed. $1.242 million
25. Angels. Mike Trout, of Landis/Seal/Ware. Signed. $1.215 million
26. Brewers. Eric Arnett, rhp Sterling Sports Management (Joe Speed). Signed. $1.197 million
27. Mariners. Nick Franklin, ss SportsMeter (David Meter). Unsigned.
28. Red Sox. Reymond Fuentes, of MDR Sports Management (Melvin Roman). Signed. $1.134 million
29. Yankees. Slade Heathcott, of Frontline Athlete Management (Darek Braunecker). Unsigned.
30. Rays. LeVon Washington, 2b Boras Corp. Unsigned. Boras kid #6…also waiting it out.
31. Cubs. Brett Jackson, of CAA. Signed. $972,000. All 3 CAA drafted players have signed. Now if only they struck a deal with the New Orleans Saints for Malcolm Jenkins.
32. Rockies. Tim Wheeler, of Frontline Athlete Management (Jim Lindell). Signed. $900,000.

For links to many of the agencies listed, please check out our Agencies Database.

Earlier this week, Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight interviewed former MLB player, Desi Relaford.  Jimmy gave me a tip to check it out because the topic turned to Desi’s agents.  Instead of listening to the long clip, I started in that particular area of conversation, which begins around the 27 minute mark.

Desi originally signed Beverly Hills Sports Council before switching to Professional Sports Planners later in his career.  When Desi was released by Colorado in 2005, his relationship with BHSC started to become rocky.  It would take him a couple weeks to a couple months to get calls back from the agency.  Desi felt like he was low on the totem pole, which he says happens to a lot of BHSC clients as their careers begin to start declining.  Desi believed he still had it in him to play professional ball and did not feel as though the two agents (he does not mention specific names) designated to him were truly supporting his cause.  He dropped BHSC and found his next MLB job with the help of his wife.  Desi said that he needed to make a change on representation and that it did not matter who he signed with.  He switched to PSP and is still with them to this day.

Desi Relaford made some strong accusations against BHSC and completely dissed the company’s professionalism.  He mentioned that there was a time where he didn’t talk to his agents for 6 months, even though he had made many efforts to reach out to them.

I bet you Barry Bonds does not feel the same way about BHSC.  I cannot remember a week in the past year that there was not an article published in some paper about Jeff Borris (agent at BHSC) complaining about MLB teams colluding against Bonds.  I bet Desi and others wish they had the same kind of treatment.

And for some old school Desi…