Basketball

• A nice article on Dynasty’s former head of basketball, Austin Walton [Hooplaw: The Life and Times of a Sports Agent].
• A good lesson for young, talented players [Selby's disappointing college career bad sign for pro future].

Baseball

• At least Brian Peters’ iPad presentation of Carl Crawford was memorable [A PERFECT STORM FOR CRAWFORD . . . AND WELLS].
• Harsh title [The MLB Agents Who Rip Off Teams The Most].
• Scouts are salivating over high school pitchers and outfielders [Stock watch: 2011 class one for ages].

Football

• Supposedly telling future rookies to not attend [NFL attempting to sabotage NFLPA event].
• Ben Dogra sees the plan as a restriction on players [NFL's rookie pitch frees $1.2B by 2016].

Sports Law

• Concerning the top sports transactions of 2010 [Sports Lawyers Association and Sullivan and Worcester Panel: Boom Goes the Dynamite!].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (4/15/2011) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

A lot of money was spent in Washington on Sunday, just not in the typical way. Admittedly, I haven’t done a great job on posting here in recent months. But sometimes a story will come along that screams out to me, and I feel obligated to write about it. The signing of Jayson Werth to a 7 year, $126 million contract by the Washington Nationals is one such story.

When I read about it on Twitter yesterday (follow me at @detroitdan1982), I almost fell off my chair. I don’t really hide the fact that I am a die hard Detroit Tigers fan, and I was hopeful that the club’s general manager, Dave Dombrowski, might make a play for Werth to solidify the middle of the lineup with Miguel Cabrera and the recently signed Victor Martinez. He would have also ben a defensive improvement in right field. But there was no way on God’s green earth that I thought the Tigers should pay $126 million for him. This looks like it could be the newest candidate for worst free agent contract in Major League Baseball history.

It seemed all along that the Boston Red Sox were the front runners for Werth. They reportedly had meetings with him, and all indications were that Werth would soon join the BoSox (who made their own splash on Sunday by trading for Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres). But seemingly out of nowhere, the Nats stepped forward and made the biggest free agent signing in franchise history.

Score another one for Scott Boras, though. He consistently squeezes the most out of teams for his clients. While I’m no expert, I guessed that when free agency began, Werth might be in line for a contract somewhere in the range of $70-$90 million for 6 or 7 years. I also thought the biggest fish on the market, Carl Crawford, would probably get upwards of $100 million for 6 or 7 years, but not significantly more than that. But now that Werth is getting $126 million, it seems as though Crawford is set to receive at least that much, and maybe as much as $180 million according to some sources. I really don’t think either of those guys are on par with Joe Mauer or Mark Teixeira, who have signed $180 million contracts in recent years.

As the title of the article suggests, I think this might be just a bit too much money for Werth. He turns 32 in May, and while he may improve, and it’s possible that he has a few good years ahead of him, he’s never finished a season with a batting average over .300 and he’s never had 100 RBIs. I know those aren’t the only stats that matter, but if I’m paying a guy over $100 million, I think I might want him to be able to do those things.

The contract is the same in years and dollars as the one that Vernon Wells signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in late 2006. While that one hasn’t quite worked out the way the Jays had hoped, Wells had just turned 28 at the time and seemed to have more upside at that point than Werth has now. Only time will tell, but I have a feeling that two or three years from now (or maybe even sooner), the Nationals will regret committing so much money to a player who seems unproven, at least in my eyes.

What do you think? Am I the only one who thinks that the Nationals will eventually end up regretting this deal? I’d love to know what you think!

Insanity in the Nation’s Capital: Is Jayson “Werth” $126 Million? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The MLB postseason is truly one of the best, because unlike football and basketball where the best team usually wins, time and time again we see instances of a wild card or underdog team making a run to the World Series (’08 Rays, ’07 Rockies, ’03 Marlins). There is not a more exciting moment in baseball than the bottom of the 9th inning of an elimination game, where the true character of a team is tested.

• Outdoor October baseball in Minnesota.
• The core 4 Yanks (Rivera, Jeter, Pettite & Posada) going for rings on a second hand.
• The Phillies attempting to make the World Series for the 3rd consecutive year.
• Bobby Cox’s final post-season.

So many great story lines and so much baseball left to play. And with that, I give all you SAB followers a taste of what’s to come this October:

Here are my rankings of the Postseason 8:

1. Philadelphia Phillies – Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt aka H2O (the first release of this new nickname) – A match-up problem for anyone they face. The Phillies have both experience and depth, and have a great chance to repeat as champions of the National League.
2. Tampa Bay Rays – You know the pitching will be there, but this team will go as far as their bats take them. The Rays have played consistently throughout the season despite the lack of support from the hometown fans. Look for Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Evan Longoria to step up this October.
3. New York Yankees – Struggling as of late, but October in the Bronx is a magical place. The veterans must continue to lead and use their experience as they face an unfamiliar situation as the American League Wild Card team. Jeter batted a career low .270 this season, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We all know what the captain is capable of in October.
4. San Francisco Giants – This team has the 2nd best pitching staff in the playoffs, and has been playing great in the last month of the season. Jonathan Sanchez may be the key for this team, as he has delivered time and time again for the Giants in big games. I’m curious to see how rookie Buster Posey reacts to his first postseason.
5. Minnesota Twins – The Twins are a different team with Justin Morneau. Minnesota has had the central locked up for a while now, so it will be interesting to see how they come out in game 1 tonight; especially with the recent struggles of Francisco Liriano. New Target Field should be electric tonight.
6. Cincinnati Reds – This could be the sleeper of all postseason teams. The Reds, after not making the playoffs in over a decade, have been leading their division for virtually the entire season. Not much playoff experience on this roster, but look for Scott Rolen to take the responsibility of clubhouse leader.
7. Texas Rangers – With Josh Hamilton’s injury, Cliff Lee is the only thing keeping Rangers fans optimistic. Lee has the ability to win 2 games in a 5 game series, but how they get that other win over a great Rays team remains a big question mark.
8. Atlanta Braves – With yet another playoff berth, Bobby Cox has cemented himself as one of baseball’s greatest managers. Nobody picked the young Braves prior to the season, but they proved doubters wrong. With Martin Prado and Chipper Jones out, though, there is just not enough power at the plate to find success.

Predictions:

Division Series
Phillies over Reds in 4
Giants over Braves in 5

Rays over Rangers in 4
Yankees over Twins in 4

Championship Series
Giants over Phillies in 7
Yankees over Rays in 6

World Series
Giants over Yankees in 7

Your MLB Playoffs Preview from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Follow-up on Alvin Fall & Carl Crawford from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I have some great news to share early in the game.  The Tampa Bay Rays had expressed interest in Alvin’s work recently.  For weeks, I had been going back and forth corresponding with multiple people in the organization.  Finally, I received word that Carl Crawford had checked out Alvin’s work and liked it, and the Rays had plans to use it.

I am excited to announce that the Rays will use signed prints of Alvin’s original 22″ x 30″ illustration of Carl Crawford, featured at the top of this article, as raffle items for their season ticket holders.  Additionally, I arranged for Alvin to meet Carl Crawford at Tropicana Field in July.  We were told that Carl would sign the original illustration.

The original is a mixed medium piece, with a combination of colored pencil, watercolor, and acrylic.  The illustration presents Crawford batting with a sunburst from the new logo in the background.  Alvin is one of the first artists to capture a Rays’ player in the new team uniform.

It was music to my ears to hear that I made Alvin’s day after I told him the news.  As a sports attorney, I have learned that representation comes down to building good relationships, no matter if it involves an artist, athlete, or musician.  Even though the work can become tedious at times, I really enjoy the personal side of representation.  It was a great feeling to celebrate this milestone with Alvin.  We are heading in the right direction and I hope to establish Alvin as a premier sports artist in the near future.

Illustration of Carl Crawford from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules