Hockey

• Unlike baseball, hockey’s system isn’t final offer arbitration [Why Shea Weber’s arbitration win was good for hockey].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (8/19/2011) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

When the United Football League (UFL) was just beginning at the tail end of 2007, Michael Huyghue was asked to become the new league’s Commissioner.  Huyghue’s résumé spoke for itself.  He was Senior Vice President of Football Operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars prior to becoming the President and CEO of a successful Jacksonville, Florida based sports agency titled, Axcess Sports & Entertainment.   Upon receiving the offer from the UFL, Huyghue voluntarily relinquished his NFL Contract Advisor certification and focused all of his efforts on building the UFL product.

At one point in time, Huyghue represented NFL stars that included Jon Beason, Vince Wilfork, Kyle Brady and Adam “Pacman” Jones.  It was well known that Huyghue and Axcess Sports & Entertainment recruited players from the University of Miami with the end goal of representing them in the NFL Draft and beyond.  What was not overtly alleged until earlier today, is that Michael Huyghue and Nevin Shapiro, on behalf of Axcess Sports & Entertainment, paid University of Miami student-athletes during the recruiting process.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports performed a masterful investigation regarding the benefits given to University of Miami student-athletes by former University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro.  Michael Huyghue’s name appears a total of 14 times throughout Robinson’s article concerning that investigation.  The following is quoted from Robinson’s article.  It contains all 14 instances of Huyghue’s name.

Also among the revelations were damning details of [Nevin] Shapiro’s co-ownership of a sports agency – Axcess Sports & Entertainment – for nearly his entire tenure as a Hurricanes booster.   The same agency that signed two first-round picks from Miami, Vince Wilfork and Jon Beason, and recruited dozens of others while Shapiro was allegedly providing cash and benefits to players. In interviews with federal prosecutors, Shapiro said many of those same players were also being funneled cash and benefits by his partner at Axcess, then-NFL agent and current UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue.

Shapiro bought plane tickets for two of [Willis] McGahee’s female acquaintances to attend the 2002 Heisman Trophy ceremony and flew D.J. Williams’ mother from California to Miami to spend time with her son and meet with Shapiro’s partner at Axcess Sports, Michael Huyghue.

According to Shapiro, the system for recruiting players to sign with Axcess Sports was actually compartmentalized between himself and Huyghue. The booster would use his close relationship with players to make an introduction to Huyghue, and then he would retreat from agency talk from that point forward and leave it to Huyghue to grow his own relationship and sign the player.

In that vein, Shapiro said it was also up to Huyghue to develop his own financial link to kids, providing his own set of extra benefits to athletes as he saw fit, including cash payments, travel and other inducements. And Shapiro told federal prosecutors that’s precisely what Huyghue did, giving multiple illicit benefits, including cash, to several players at Miami. Claims that Huyghue called “fantasy.”

“He’s a convicted felon,” Huyghue said. “I just don’t want to get into such fantasy. I just wouldn’t want to even go down that path. I don’t even care what he said. Whatever he could say, there’s just no substance to it.”

But while Huyghue denied ever funneling to players, one former Hurricane told Yahoo! Sports he received multiple extra benefits from both Shapiro and Huyghue during his career.

[Former UM running back Tyrone] Moss added that players in the Miami program were well aware how Shapiro and Huyghue worked in unison for a sports agency.

In hindsight, Shapiro says if anything came close to revealing his impropriety, it was his partial ownership in Axcess Sports. After meeting Huyghue in 2002, the booster paid $1.5 million for a 30-percent stake in the company with the implicit goal of transforming his relationships with Hurricanes athletes into something positive for both him and the players. Shapiro was looking to build a successful sports representation business, and he believed the players would benefit from having Huyghue as their agent.

Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal has already reached out to Michael Huyghue for comment, and she Tweeted that Huyghue denies Shapiro’s allegation regarding Huyghue providing any benefits to University of Miami players while he was a part of Axcess Sports & Entertainment.  Huyghue has quite a bit on his plate between the allegations made by Shapiro and the financial trouble that the UFL currently finds itself in.

Miami Booster Claims UFL Commissioner Provided Benefits To Student-Athletes from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The other “cases” that Linton writes about are examples that have been shared with him by his colleagues.  They are certainly worth reading, but I place extra value on that first case, because it was an experience lived by Linton himself.  While I wish that Linton divulged the name of the coach and player, I understand how that act could jeopardize his name in the industry, which is something he needs to protect.

Linton finishes his article with four things he is not too thrilled about: 1) University committees that advise players with the agent selection process, 2) Outside consultants who assist in the agent selection process, 3) Limitations on when agents can contact student-athletes, and 4) State agent laws.  The one area where I think there can be a lot of value is the inclusion of outside consultants, however, those consultants must be vetted and appear to be as non-biased as possible.  No matter what, they will undergo some scrutiny based on the agents the players select, but I truly do believe that these outside consultants could be a very strong benefit to the athletes and their universities.  The outside consultants should be intelligent, respected within the community, knowledgeable about NCAA/players associations/state/federal rules, regulations, and laws, and have an ability to connect with the student-athletes.

I want to end this post by giving props to Linton for writing the article.  He knew that he would be scrutinized for it and that it could hurt him in many ways.  My hope is that he shows it to his future recruits and that they respect him for it – I think a majority of them will.

Football Agent Greg Linton Describes The Dirty Side Of Recruiting from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The Athlete Agent Reform Act of 2011

Texas’ new law could potentially lock a sports agent up in prison for 10 years for violating its athlete agent law; in Tennessee, the new law limits maximum jail time to 6 years.  Meanwhile, no one, including those who are involved in crafting and enforcing the new laws, can explain why individual state athlete agent laws only penalize one party in an illegal transaction (the exchange of benefits from sports agent to student-athlete).  The sports agent is the provider and the student-athlete is the recipient.  Now we have recruiters as the providers and universities as the recipients, as well.  When a drug dealer sells cocaine to a drug user, both parties are guilty of involvement in an illegal transaction.  Tell that to your state legislators.

The new Tennessee law requires all sports agents recruiting in the state to register with the Tennessee Secretary of State.  Failure to even register can result in an agent spending 6 years in prison, in addition to paying a $25,000 fine.  The law also changes the definition of “sports agent” to include runners, managers, marketing representatives, financial advisors, and others working on behalf of an agent.  Further, Tennessee’s law takes into account the Cam Newton Loophole and states that “Athlete agent” does not include a parent or legal guardian, unless the parent or legal guardian of the student athlete accepts a form of a financial benefit or gift on behalf of the student athlete.  If you are going to have an athlete agent law on the books, which I am not totally sold on, at least have it reflect current issues.  In this regard, Tennessee does a good job of including runners, financial advisors, and even parents who are accepting benefits under the scope of regulation.

Nestled into the new law is also a section that I will title the Will Lyles provision.  It provides that any person who knowingly influences, or attempts to influence, any student-athlete to accept an athletic scholarship that is offered by a higher education institution from which such person receives any compensation or any other thing of value shall provide a written disclosure of such person’s relationship with the higher education institution to the student-athlete concurrently with initially making such influence or attempt to influence.  That person must also provide written disclosure of the relationship to the student-athlete’s parent, secretary of state, and athletic director, president and general counsel of the higher education institution within 48 hours of disclosing it to the student-athlete.  Failure to provide the written disclosure is also punishable by up to $25,000 and/or confinement for up to 6-years, but no less than 1-year.  For those of you not familiar with Will Lyles, he is the scouting service owner who says that University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly approved a $25,000 fee to Lyles in exchange for recruiting assistance.  Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel did a great job of describing Lyles’ relationship with Oregon in their recent Yahoo! Sports article.

The new law can be found in the Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-7-2122.  I have embedded the signed legislation at the bottom of this post.

Tennessee Athlete Agent Reform Act of 2011

New Tennessee Athlete Agent Law Accounts For Cecil Newton, Will Lyles, Runners, Etc. from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The following is the letter sent by Jason D. Leonard, Executive Director of Compliance for the University of Oklahoma:

Message for sports agents and those acting on their behalf – READ CAREFULLY:
As you are aware, the NFLPA is currently no longer unionized.  However, it is essential that you are aware that state law still restricts your contact with football “underclassmen”.

The State of Oklahoma Uniform Athlete Agent Act (“UAAA”) and the University of Oklahoma Athlete Agent Policy require agents (and individuals acting as agents) to register themselves with both the Secretary of State and University prior to contacting any student-athlete.  Contact is defined in broad based terms and includes Facebook friending.

Contact of any type with a student-athlete who is not eligible to enter into a professional sports contract is prohibited.  Therefore, any contact by agents (or their associates, runners, etc.) with any University of Oklahoma football student-athletes who are not at least three (3) NFL seasons removed from high school would be a violation of both the State of Oklahoma UAAA and University of Oklahoma policy.  Any conduct contrary to the parameters of state law and/or university policy may subject you to both criminal and civil penalty.

Additional information for agents, including registration forms, can be found on our website (http://www.soonersports.com/compliance/02_agents.html).  If you have any questions, please contact the Athletics Compliance Department at 405-325-7004.  Thank you for your cooperation with this process.

The only thing that really stands out to me is the sentence, “Contact is defined in broad based terms and includes Facebook friending.”  If Oklahoma really wanted to enforce that statement, it would wind up with a lot of agents to prosecute.  Next up, the email sent by Eric Baumgartner of the University of Georgia Athletic Association:

Good afternoon from Athens, Georgia.

With the recent developments between the NFL and its Player’s Association, the University of Georgia Athletics Department has amended its institutional policy regarding student-athlete interaction with agents, financial advisors, or anyone recruiting our student-athletes.

Effective immediately, sports agents, financial advisors, and anyone else recruiting our student-athletes for whatever reason, are prohibited from having any form of contact, either verbal or in-person, with any University of Georgia underclass football student-athlete, their family, or friends.

Below is the University of Georgia agent calendar with regard to its senior and red-shirt senior student-athletes only:

AGENTS CALENDAR

January-March: – NO CONTACT WHATSOEVER

April-June: – Physical contact at player’s home, with parent or guardian present, or at campus facility only

July: – Scheduled on campus agent interviews. By Player Invitation ONLY (Specific Dates to be Determined)

August-November: – NO physical contact with ANY student-athlete

September-December: – Phone Calls; once a week maximum.  Sundays-Mondays ONLY

NO text messages to student-athletes Tuesday through Saturday, during the season.

NOTE: Any agent who was suspended or de-certified at the time of the NFLPA union disbanding, is not permitted to contact our student-athletes, in any manner.

Financial advisors, and ANYONE else, other than sports agents, are prohibited from having any contact whatsoever with our student-athletes, until their eligibility has expired. You may send your information to:  Eric Baumgartner, Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, in the University of Georgia compliance office, to be forwarded to a student-athlete.

As a reminder, ANYONE contacting our student-athletes, must first notify our Compliance Department, as well as be registered with the University.  We encourage you to update your registration with the University of Georgia compliance office and the State of Georgia so as to expedite the registration process.  A notice will be sent to our conference office, the NCAA and the NFLPA, notifying them of such failure to comply with our university policy.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have additional questions please don’t hesitate to contact Eric Baumgartner, Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, in the University of Georgia compliance office at (706) 542-9086 or email, EBaumgartner@Sports.UGA.edu.

Whereas Jason D. Leonard cites the State of Oklahoma’s athlete agent law, Eric Baumgartner discusses university policy.  What exactly happens if an agent violates a UGA rule that is not also embodied within the State of Georgia’s athlete agent law?  The NFLPA cannot discipline the agent.  What can the school do?  Furthermore, what is the definition of sports agent?  Baumgartner states that “Financial advisors, and ANYONE else, other than sports agents, are prohibited from having any contact whatsoever with our student-athletes, until their eligibility has expired.”  Is that entirely clear?  Last, why will UGA even bother sending a notice to the NFLPA if an “agent” fails to comply with university policy?  The NFLPA is no longer concerned with agent oversight.

Oklahoma and Georgia Notify Agents Of State Laws And University Policies from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Basketball agents have been on the grounds of several universities for quite some time, and may have even been recruiting certain players well before they entered their current institutions of higher education.  Lately, we have been running a feature titled, Agent Selection Scenarios, where we look at schools who have made it to the NCAA Tournament, their former players who have professional experience, the agents they chose to represent them in contractual relations, and current players at the school who may be drafted in 2011.  Sometimes we make a prediction as to the agents that the players might be considering.

One agent who has success year after year is Bill Duffy of BDA Sports.  I have heard of a few players that BDA Sports has been focusing on in the 2011 Draft, putting great emphasis on recruiting these gentlemen.  Names like Klay Thompson of Washington State, Nikola Vucevic of Southern California, and JaJuan Johnson of Purdue are prospects that I hear are at the top of the radar.  But I am also hearing that BDA Sports is in the mix for BYU standout Jimmer Fredette, Georgia’s Trey Thompkins, and is also in the races to represent Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris from Kansas.  Rumors have also surfaced that BDA Sports is seeking (and may be in the lead) to represent future lottery pick, Derrick Williams of Arizona, but that Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports Agency and Bob Myers of Wasserman Media Group are competitors.

Bill Duffy has proven his capacity to be an excellent negotiator for his clients over the years.  However, last year Duffy only represented one player who was picked in the first round of the Draft.  That would be a major win for most agents, but certainly was not the norm for Duffy, who represented 6 first rounders in 2009, including the #2 overall pick, Hasheem Thabeet.  Did the OJ Mayo scandal have anything to do with that?  Will his 2011 Draft class look more like his 2010 class or his killer 2009 class?

Looking at the partial list above, Duffy casts his recruiting net far and wide.  The only concern is that it gets difficult when one has to manage so many talented players at the same time.  I suppose it is a good problem to have, but if Duffy already has Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, and JaJuan Johnson “locked up”, will his company also have the time to represent all of the other talented players listed above?

Recruiting For the 2011 NBA Draft Is Heating Up from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Baratz.  The following is the transcript.

Darren Heitner: You started your sports agent career working for Impact Sports of Boca Raton, Florida, yet you were based in California at the time. What were the positives and negatives of being so far away from your company’s home base?

Blake Baratz: We ended up flip flopping the offices in 2004. So our main office ended up being in Los Angeles, while we kept a satellite office in Boca Raton. I was working with experienced agents that taught me a lot about the business.

Heitner: What finally pushed you to create your own firm, The Institute for Athletes?

Baratz: The past 8 years have shown me a lot about this business. I have seen a lot of positives, but I have also witnessed very alarming negatives. I felt that it was time for me to branch out, put my own bulletproof team in place, and begin to change what I consider a very broken culture in sports representation.

Heitner: How did you come up with that name?

Baratz: Trial and error. I didn’t like anything I was coming up with, but The Institute for Athletes just stuck with me. As an agent I pride myself on education and I felt that this was an all encompassing title.

Heitner: How have you distinguished your company from the many competitors going after the same athlete clientele?

Baratz: It’s hard for me to really answer that because I only know what we do. We’re not concerned with anybody else. So many agents get caught up in “who else is he considering, what are they doing, who did they sign” none of that matters to me. We know we do a phenomenal job for our clients and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. We continue to educate daily on every aspect of a clients life. I believe another main reason is also that you get 100% honesty from everyone at The Institute for Athletes 100% of the time. We tell clients what they need to hear not what they want to hear.

Heitner: What was the reasoning behind bringing Jaleel White (known for his role as Steve Urkel on the hit TV show, “Family Matters”) into the the fold? Is he still with your company? If so, what is his role?

Baratz: Jaleel and I became friends when I moved out to LA in 2004 and I felt he would be a great mentor to our young men who are constantly in the spotlight. Jaleel has experienced much of what young professionals go though and he can be a very positive influence for them on how to be professional young men. Jaleel continues to be a mentor to our clients.

Heitner: You recently turned 30-years-old, thus I consider you to be one of the “young guys” in the biz. Has this affected you in any way? Particularly, do you use it to your advantage in recruiting?

Baratz: I see it both ways. I think they are many positives to being young. This business takes an incredible amount of energy of which I have seen is a necessity to being successful moving forward. The world is also changing and evolving and to be in touch with your clientele is an absolute in this business. With the advancement of cell phones, social media, and twitter, the world is simply evolving and I think more than anything you need to be able to relate to your clients on many levels.

Heitner: Wisconsin has been a blessing for you in terms of recruitment. How were you able to get such a strong grasp on the school?

Baratz: It all starts with one player. You get one player, you do a great job for him and his family and they refer you to someone else. The thing that I am most proud of as President of The Institute for Athletes is the fact that we only work off of referrals. This is extremely rare in this business. We have built this business with 100% referrals. No Runners, No recruiters, No Facebook, No cold calls, No Website. Strictly referrals. I think that in and of itself is a testament to what a great job we are doing for these players and their respective families.

Heitner: I have you down as representing a 4th and 7th rounder from last year’s draft. What should we expect from you in the 2011 draft?

Baratz: We signed Adrian Clayborn from the University of Iowa & Jonas Mouton from the University of Michigan. Both incredible young men that we are expecting big things out of in 2011 and beyond.

Heitner: What are you currently doing to prepare your clientele for an NFL lockout?

Baratz: While it started months ago, simply financial intelligence and education. Every player was told to tighten their budget by about 35% over the last 18 months to prepare for the unknown. We are also very active in working with the financial advisors to make sure they are properly educating as well.

Heitner: What would you suggest to those reading this interview who have a dream of one day representing professional athletes?

Baratz: While it is a very difficult business to get into, I would always recommend getting an internship with a company that is willing to give you the time of day. Every company out there needs help, so be patient, do more listening then talking and begin to get a feel for what this business entails.

We are always looking for dedicated, intelligent individuals looking to get into the business. Email all resume’s to joeyhartman@gmail.com or blakeabaratz@gmail.com.  As always Darren, thank you for the time!

Interview With The Agent: Blake Baratz from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The 2009-2010 period  for VSM Hockey was one of intense growth. Just like a child, when a company starts to get bigger, there are most likely some growing pains.

Our recruiting power became much stronger, now that coaches and parents knew about us. We represented a whopping number of players at the Quebec Major Junior Entry Draft. 8 of our guys were selected, including 4 in the second round!

As stated in episode 2, I had to make a change when it came to the person with whom I was working with.

Where there is loss, there are also gains. One of my mentors once told me that life is cyclic and not linear. It is a cycle of expansion and contraction. He also said that the sooner you learn to accept that, the easier the contraction period will be and you will also spend more time in expansion periods. So I took on a couple of partners. Don MacAdam, a legend in hockey, became our Chief Agent and V.P. of player representation. To sum up Don’s career in hockey, I would need at least 3 to 4 pages, seriously! He coached in the NHL, AHL, ECHL, Europe, Japan and Team Canada. Won a Stanley Cup, Coach of the Year in Canadian University, National Championship in Japan and a Silver Medal at the World Championships with Canada. He has also written 6 books about hockey coaching. With more than 35 years of experience, I figured that Don would be an amazing addition to the VSM family. He is first and foremost a highly passionate, respectful and caring person with so much to teach both me and all our prospects!

Now, on to the growing pains. It all started when we tried to open offices in Boston and expand to the East Coast of the U.S. while doing the same thing in Atlantic Canada. Growth is good, but it is also very demanding. Opening up two new regions at the same time is totally crazy, now that I think about it. Things were looking good initially, as we recruited 2 seniors from an NCAA D1 program. But as things went along, it became too difficult to manage everything in the U.S. and in Atlantic Canada all at the same time. See, our partners in both places were all new to the VSM family, so just educating them on our principles and values was a full time job itself. Eventually, we decided to focus on growth in Atlantic Canada and dropped our adventure in the North East U.S. We will be back later though!

Coming back to the whole expansion-contraction philosophy, 2008-2009 saw us grow exponentially. Our mind set was growth is better. Now, in 2009-2010, after trying to grow too much and too fast, our mind set started to change and settle. Small and steady growth is better!

During this season, we actually let go of 8 players from our agency, bringing us back down to around 30-35 players compared to 40-45 players the year before. We decided to become even stricter in terms of recruitment, now that we had made a name for ourselves. Our philosophy has always been quality over quantity, but the problem is that when you are new, you kind of take whatever you can get and the more you get the more people know about you.

The 2010 summer was incredible! All of our players, from Gatineau all the way to Prince Edward Island, came to spend 6 weeks in Quebec City. On the menu: training, nutrition seminars, yoga, tai chi, mental training and on-ice development. To see these young players come from all over Eastern Canada to spend the summer in Quebec City in order to reach their hockey dreams was quite the site!

Don MacAdam and I also went to Los Angeles for the NHL Entry Draft. Even though we did not have any players eligible for the draft, we wanted to show the NHL that we are here and that we are serious. We made some real good contacts and had a great time. Thankfully, one of my mom’s friends let us stay at her amazing home in Malibu. It was so nice that I was fantasizing dropping everything in my life in order to move to Cali and become a surfer, and then I came back to my senses!

The boys all trained hard and were very serious during the summer. As September came along, we saw the first VSM recruits (guys that had been with us since almost day 1), become professionals. We had a goalie sign with the Dallas Stars organisation and a defensemen go to the Montreal Canadians training camp. All in all, we ended up having 4 guys turn pro’!

The guys are all currently having great seasons. Our 2 pro’ goalies are dominating at the young age of 21 and one of our junior players participated in the Canada-Russia super series!

We also started recruiting in Europe, now that our presence is established in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Although we have not signed any players yet, we are almost there!

Aiming For The Top! – Episode 3: Growing Pains from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

At least one person thinks that John Blake (former UNC assistant football coach) could have had something to do with Austin’s selection of Barnes and Maximum Sports.  We already know about the connection between Blake and Gary Wichard, but what about a potential tie between Blake and Maximum Sports?  Here is a Tweet from September 22, 2010, made by ESPN’s Bruce Feldman:

I assume that J-Clowney is Jadeveon Clowney, a 5-star Defensive End from South Carolina.  That guy Suh, Ndamukong Suh, is a Maximum Sports client.  Did Blake ever make that recruiting pitch?  Did he influence Suh’s decision to sign with Maximum Sports?  What else could he have been referring to when he stated, “I got him right?”  How could he possibly be taking credit for Suh’s success at Nebraska?

My thought is that it has nothing to do with a pitch to deliver Suh to Maximum Sports.  Blake was probably recruiting Suh to Nebraska while Suh was still at Grant High School in Portland, Oregon.  Prior to becoming a coach at UNC, Blake was the D-Line coach at the University of Nebraska from 2004-2006.  But I do see why that recruiting pitch makes certain people wonder what Blake was trying to sell.

Was John Blake Involved In Marvin Austin’s Agent Selection Process? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Matt Sosnick

Sosnick has certainly been on a roll as of late.

• He brokered a 4-year, $39 million deal between Josh Johnson and the Florida Marlins, after the Marlins initially refused to sign off on a 4-year term.
• He advised Jesse Biddle, a very good high school pitcher who was drafted 27th overall by the Philadelphia Phillies.
• He recently put together nice deals for Jay Bruce and Ricky Nolasco (3 years, $26.5 million).

Here are the first two Q&A’s from “It’s About The Money, Stupid.”

IIATMS: Jay Bruce is clearly one of MLB’s rising young stars. What’s your thoughts on him locking up a multi-year deal now when he could very easily earn a great deal more through the arbitration process and into free agency? Who leads this process, you or the player?

Matt Sosnick: When a player has ability that merits a multi-year deal, we sit down with him to discuss the pros and cons. The nature of these deals is that the player almost always leaves some money on the table in exchange for the security of a guarantee. Jay is a pretty conservative guy, so in his case he was able to get a guaranteed deal for more than he could ever spend, while still being young enough (30) when the deal expires to obtain one or two more big contracts. Ultimately it is the player’s decision. Our role is to inform him of what he would make if he went year-to-year, what the risks are, and how much we can get him on a multi-year so that he can make an educated decision.

IIATMS: You and your firm have been proponents of these pre-free agency extenstions. Do you recommend this course for all of your players?

MS: Our general philosophy is that if a player can get an early multi-year contract that guarantees him enough money to be set for life, he needs to at least consider it. Baseball careers can be cut short in the blink of an eye, and most players understand that. It’s not so much a matter of what we recommend as a matter of presenting the player with his various options and letting him make an informed decision.

Matt Sosnick Has Been Busy Making Moves from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules