Meyerson began his career as a tennis agent at ProServ in 1987 alongside Donald Dell (who is now a part of Lagardère Unlimited).  Early in his career, Meyerson represented some of the best in the game of tennis.  Stefan Edberg, Jimmy Connors, and Yannick Noah were all represented by the team of Meyerson and Dell.  After ProServ, Meyerson worked at MBD and MS Consulting prior to founding Sports Advisor Services in Miami, Florida in 1997.  He then became President of SFX’s tennis division in 1999.  In 2006, Meyerson became a part of Blue Equity, LLC (BEST) and was named President of Lagardère Unlimited Tennis when BEST was acquired by the conglomerate.

Meyerson’s clients loved him, which is the best sign of a great agent.  This is what Andy Roddick tweeted earlier today:

Ken. I love you and miss you I will be forever grateful for your faith&loyalty You will forever be my brother.. As always “thanks meyerson”

RIP Ken Meyerson, President of Lagardère Unlimited Tennis from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Ivan Nova is not the only professional athlete who was almost on to the next one.  However, Nova’s case, he actually left his agent and signed with another representative prior to returning to his original agent.

A couple of weeks ago, Philadelphia Eagles runningback LeSean McCoy fired Drew Rosenhaus, seriously considered signing with Mike Vick’s agent Joel Segal, but returned to Rosenhaus within a day of sending in his paperwork to terminate the relationship.

Yesterday, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN and Baseball America tweeted that Ivan Nova recently terminated SFX and is now represented by Greg Genske at Legacy Sports Group.  Someone at SFX was probably immediately informed about that tweet, because soon thereafter, Crasnick clarified his statement with a follow up tweet stating that Nova actually terminated SFX, signed with Genske for a couple of days, but then decided to make his way back to SFX for representation.  Thus, Nova is still an SFX client.  I wonder what led Nova to leave SFX and then influenced him to return two days later.

[Almost] On To The Next One: Ivan Nova from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

First Round

1. Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates) – Boras Corp. – I assume this negotiation was not as brutal as Pedro Alvarez’s?
2. Danny Hultzen (Seattle Mariners) – Creative Artists Agency
   
3. Trevor Bauer (Arizona Diamondbacks) – Wasserman Media Group
   
4. Dylan Bundy (Baltimore Orioles) – Jay Franklin (BBI Sports Group) – I hope he will look as good in Oriole Orange as he would have looked in Royal Blue.
   
5. Bubba Starling (Kansas City Royals) – Boras Corp. – He had the opportunity to be a quarterback at Nebraska.
   
6. Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals – Boras Corp. – The Nationals love them some Boras.
7. Archie Bradley (Arizona Diamondbacks) - Jay Franklin (BBI Sports Group) - Lots of happiness at BBI Sports Group by this point of the draft.
8. Francisco Lindor (Cleveland Indians) – Sportsmeter
9. Javier Baez (Chicago Cubs) – Jet Sports Management
10. Cory Spangenberg (San Diego Padres) - Jet Sports Management
11. George Springer (Houston Astros) – Greg Genske (Legacy Sports Group)
12. Taylor Jungmann (Milwaukee Brewers) – Hendricks Sports
13. Brandon Nimmo (New York Mets) – SFX
14. Jose Fernandez (Florida Marlins) – Ken Turkel and John Agliano (Team One Management)
15. Jed Bradley (Milwaukee Brewers) - Greg Genske (Legacy Sports Group)
16. Chris Reed (Los Angeles Dodgers) – Boras Corp.
17. C.J. Cron (LA Angels of Anaheim) - Moye Sports Associates
18. Sonny Gray (Oakland Athletics) – Bo McKinnis
19. Matt Barnes (Boston Red Sox) – SFX
20. Tyler Anderson (Colorado Rockies) - Greg Genske (Legacy Sports Group)
21. Tyler Beede - Octagon (unsigned – will be attending Vanderbilt)
22. Kolten Wong (St. Louis Cardinals) – PSI Sports Management
23. Alex Meyer (Washington Nationals) – Boras Corp.
24. Taylor Guerrieri (Tampa Bay Rays) - Greg Genske (Legacy Sports Group)
25. Joe Ross (San Diego Padres) - Wasserman Media Group
26. Blake Swihart (Boston Red Sox) - Greg Genske (Legacy Sports Group)
27. Robert Stephenson (Cincinnati Reds) – Matt Sosnick (Sosnick/Cobbe)
28. Sean Gilmartin (Atlanta Braves) – No advisor?
29. Joe Panik (San Francisco Giants) – Andrew Lowenthal (Proformance)
30. Levi Michael (Minnesota Twins) – Creative Artists Agency
31. Mikie Mahtook (Tampa Bay Rays) - Creative Artists Agency
32. Jake Hager (Tampa Bay Rays) – Paragon
33. Kevin Matthews (Texas Rangers) – Bobby Barad

Notes:

• Greg Genske and Legacy Sports Group had the same amount of clients taken in the first round (5) as Scott Boras.  The two of them account for almost one-third of all players selected in the first round (both companies also had superb offseasons).  Creative Artists Agency was next in line with a total of 3 clients selected, followed by Wasserman Media Group, SFX, Jet Sports Management, and Franklin-Frye Sports, each with 2 advisees drafted in the top 33 picks.
• Speaking of Creative Artists Agency - the company does not seem to be taking a hit in recruiting after the departure of Casey Close…or is it too soon to make such a statement?  No one knows just how much of an influence Close had in recruiting Mikie Mahtook, Levi Michael, and/or Danny Hultzen over the years, but they all have  stayed with CAA.
• Back to Genske vs. Boras.  While Genske tied Boras with regards to the number of clients selected in the first round, no one compared to Boras when it came down to signing bonuses negotiated.  Combined, Gerrit Cole ($8 million), Bubba Starling ($7.5 million), Anthony Rendon ($7.2 million), Chris Reed ($1.589 million), and Alex Meyer ($2 million) received a total of $26.289 million.  Genske’s clients – George Springer ($2.525 million), Jed Bradley ($2 million), Tyler Anderson ($1.4 million), Taylor Guerrieri ($1.6 million), and Blake Swihart ($2.5 million) – received a total of $10.025 million, which is absolutely nothing to scoff at.

2011 MLB Draft Round 1 Advisors/Players List from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

While Nick Swisher did not sign Scott Boras (he ended up going to Dan Lozano), Michael Bourn has made the move to Boras Corp.  Bourn was previously represented by SFX.  Prior to SFX, Bourn was represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council.  Some guys really have a problem picking an agent and sticking with him.

Boras gets Bourn at a great stage of his career.  He is going into his 2nd season as an arbitration eligible player and should be heading towards the most productive years of his career, as he is only 28-years-old.  Bourn has already established himself as a great fielder, racking up 2 Gold Gloves, and is a speed demon, owning the stolen base record for the past 2 seasons.

Take a look at this list of Scott Boras clients.  It makes you realize just how powerful he is in the business of baseball.

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

Wilson Chandler, the 3rd year New York Knicks forward from DePaul University, has made a switch of representation.  He was formerly represented by Chris Luchey of CGL Sports.  I’m still a big fan of Luchey’s website – at least it is different than the run of the mill sports agency webpage.

Prior to starting up his own firm, Luchey was a Senior Manager of Client Services at Wasserman Media Group, and before that, Director of Player Personnel/Scouting at SFX Sports Group.  The first link on his LinkedIN page is a link to an article about Wilson Chandler’s stock rising.  That needs to be changed, pronto.

As for Chandler, RealGM reports that he is considering Dan Fegan, Arn Tellem, Leon Rose, Andy Miller, and Happy Walters as his new agent.  Tellem would be a stinger, as he is the head honcho at WMG (Luchey’s old firm).  Walters would be an interesting choice – he is the man behind Amar’e Stoudemire.

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

One consequence of the 2010 Regulations is that the MLBPA will need a lot more manpower to ensure proper oversight of the new rules.  In my future article, I will attack many of the 2010 Regulations’ provisions based on a variety of reasons, most importantly that they are not in the best interests of the players that the MLBPA is supposed to represent.  But I digress.

The 2010 Regulations call for Michael Weiner, the current Executive Director of the MLBPA, to appoint a Player Agent Advisory Committee “for the purpose of reviewing and discussing the MLBPA’s implementation, interpretation and enforcement of the Regulations, any potential amendments to the Regulations and relations among Players, Players agents, and the MLBPA…”  This information may be found in Section 9 of the 2010 Regulations, which is page 40 of the document (if you were brave enough to click on the link above).  Section 9 states that the Committee will consist of 5-7 active, certified Player Agents, yet Mr. Weiner has appointed a total of 9.  The following individuals were recently appointed:

• Casey Close, CAA (New York)
• Keith Grunewald, Career Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta)
• Damon Lapa, All Bases Covered Sports Mgt (Valencia, CA)
• Sam Levinson, ACES (Brooklyn, NY)
• Alan Nero, Octagon (Chicago)
• Mike Nicotera, Sparta Group (Parsippany, NJ)
• Jim Munsey, Munsey Sports Mgt (West Palm Beach and Durham, NH)
• Mark Pieper, SFX (Northbrook, IL)
• Larry Reynolds, Reynolds Sports Mgt (Riverside, CA)

Each of the aforementioned agents will serve on the Committee for 2 years; however, the first 3 members appointed will have a 3 year term.  There has been no indication as to who were the first 3 agents selected.  Jay Reisinger has been asked to serve as outside legal advisor to the Committee.  Scott Boras’ name is nowhere to be found.

Mr. Weiner had the challenge of creating a diverse Committee representing various categories of the agent population such as experience level, geography, size of agency, etc.  How would you grade Mr. Weiner based on the committee listed above?

MLBPA Player Agent Advisory Committee Established from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The NCAA requires that a player selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft pay his advisor at his or her normal rate for such services if the player hopes to maintain his eligibility at an NCAA school.  Thus, if Troy Caradonna of SFX was to follow that rule, which many people say goes ignored by quite a few baseball advisors, Caradonna could have expected to earn quite a bit of money based on Karsten Whitson’s signing bonus.  Whitson was selected #9 overall in the 2010 Draft by the San Diego Padres.  An offer of $2.1 million was not enough to convince Whitson to go pro out of high school instead of attend my alma mater, the University of Florida.

Soon after the signing deadline passed, Padres owner, Jeff Moorad, stated that he was disappointed that Caradonna first gave the team a number concerning what was needed to sign Whitson only 15 minutes prior to the deadline.  Moorad said that he felt sorry for Whitson and felt that he was misled by Caradonna.  But maybe Moorad should not feel that bad for Whitson.  Apparently, Whitson’s decision is working out for the best (although maybe not the best from the Padres standpoint).

Baseball advisors have the very difficult task of advising their clients whether they should take the offer presented by the drafting team or forgo the offer and go to college.  It is very rare to see a high pick like Whitson decline an offer in excess of $1 million, but no two players are the same.  Players come from different socio-economic backgrounds, have different levels of physical and psychological development, and have different needs and desires.  As reported by Yahoo!’s Kendall Rogers, Whitson flat out did not think he was ready for pro ball and wanted to play baseball for the Florida Gators.  I’ll take a stab at it and assume that his family is not hurting for money.

Whitson might not make $2.1 million again in 2013, which is the first year that he will once again be eligible to be selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, but maybe that is not such a big concern to him.  Three years from now, he will hopefully have received a good education, excellent training, and had the chance to mature and become a great professional athlete.  His arm could blow out before then, but maybe he is the type of man who thinks there will be other opportunities out there for him should the unfortunate occur.

None of us can comment on whether it was a good or bad decision, because it was a personal decision that was unique to Karsten Whitson.  These decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis; there is no objective answer based on money and slot alone.  That is why having a competent advisor to help out is so very important.  I hope that Whitson is happy with his decision; he is the only person that he has to please.

Case Study: Karsten Whitson’s Decision Not To Sign With The Padres from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I want to start this article by stressing that the point of this article has nothing to do with getting any player in trouble.  The reason that I wrote this post is to once again try to point out how ludicrous the NCAA’s no-agent rule continues to be.  It was struck down by a court of law, only to be re-instated after a player (Andrew Oliver) settled with the NCAA so that he could move on to focus on becoming a Major League baseball player (which he did very fast!).  Even since the rule’s was re-established (the NCAA would like you to believe that it was never actually off the books), it has proved to be nearly impossible to enforce, yet the NCAA continues to try to find ways to use it.  I know that because advisors tell me about some of the questions the NCAA has asked the players they are advising over the past year.

Yesterday, I talked about The Continuance Of Advisor/Club Communication.  I discussed James Paxton’s punishment for not complying with NCAA demands after the NCAA had reason to believe that his advisor had direct communication with the Blue Jays, the likelihood that the same could have happened to Jameson Taillon, had he not signed with the Pirates, based on what was said in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and concluded with the statement that advisors are going to continue to talk directly to teams, no-agent rule or not.

While Taillon is immune from the NCAA coming down on him for what was written in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, might Karsten Whitson not be as lucky after he failed to sign with the San Diego Padres?  The tall right-hander from Chipley, Florida could not come to terms with the Padres, and will instead play at least three years at the University of Florida.  People are already clamoring about how college hitters will have no chance against his slider.  But a couple of articles mention that Whitson might not have been doing his own negotiating, having his advisor, Troy Caradonna of SFX Baseball do the talking.

From Corey Brock of MLB.com,

“San Diego owner Jeff Moorad, a former agent himself, said he was disappointed that the first number presented to the team by Caradonna was just 15 minutes before the deadline and was $2.7 million, and that he felt sorry for Whitson in the end.”

And from Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune,

Moorad: “… We feel were misled by the agent, and it’s something we won’t forget. Lesson learned.”

If Caradonna was not doing the negotiating, Moorad should have known better than to say those words to a reporter, since it was not all that long ago that Moorad was in Caradonna’s shoes.  The NCAA follow up on this with some questions for Whitson.  I am hoping that Moorad’s statements do not end up hurting Whitson, though, and not only because he is committed to play at my alma mater.

Will Advisor Communication Hurt Karsten Whitson? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

1. Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) – Boras Corp. – Interesting to note that Bud Selig referred to Harper as an outfielder even though he has played mostly catcher his entire life.  Get this kid on the fast track through the Minors.
2. Jameson Tallion (Pittsburgh Pirates) – Hendricks Sports Management – Big high school arm clocked as high as 99 mph.
3. Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles) – Boras Corp. - Hard to see Machado passing up signing to go play at Florida International University.  Interesting that FIU is his college commitment.
4. Christian Colon (Kansas City Royals) – Boras Corp. – Yesterday, I had reported that the Royals wanted to sign Yasmani Grandal.  Perhaps his price tag was too high.
5. Drew Pomeranz (Cleveland Indians) - Beverly Hills Sports Council – He was drafted in the 12th round out of high school.
6. Barret Loux (Arizona Diamondbacks) – SFX – Jumped up boards a lot recently.
7. Matt Harvey (New York Mets) – Boras Corp. – 4th Boras client selected in the top 7 picks.
8. Delino Deshields Jr. (Houston Astros) – Wasserman Media Group
9. Karsten Whitson (San Diego Padres) - SFX – Committed to my alma mater, the University of Florida.
10. Michael Choice (Oakland Athletics) – Franklin-Frye Sports – Went undrafted out of high school.
11. Deck McGuire (Toronto Blue Jays) – SFX – Also undrafted out of high school.
12. Yasmani Grandal (Cincinnati Reds) – Legacy Sports Group – Slipped because of signability issues.
13. Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) – Jet Sports Management – Didn’t play at a major school (Florida Gulf Coast University), but put up great numbers there and played very well in Cape Cod last summer.
14. Dylan Covey (Milwaukee Brewers) – Wasserman Media Group
15. Jake Skole (Texas Rangers) – Unknown – Won’t be compensated if they don’t sign this pick (most likely why Skole was taken here).
16. Hayden Simpson (Chicago Cubs) - Hendricks Sports Management – Great numbers this past year in Division II baseball.
17. Josh Sale (Tampa Bay Rays) – Creative Artists Agency – Don’t worry, different advisors than the people at CAA who have to worry about where LeBron will play.
18. Kaleb Cowart (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – SFX – Boras Corp. has higher drafted clients, but at this point of the draft, SFX and Boras tied in number of players picked.
19. Michael Foltynewicz (Houston Astros) – Octagon
20. Kolbrin Vitek (Boston Red Sox) – Pro Star Management - Joe Bick also represents Kevin Youkilis, one of my favorite players.
21. Alex Wimmers (Minnesota Twins) – ACES – Undrafted out of high school.
22. Kellin Deglan (Texas Rangers) – Double Diamond Sports Management – Canadian catcher committed to Florida International University with Manny Machado.
23. Christian Yelich (Florida Marlins) – Creative Artists Agency – Committed to the University of Miami, so he will be in the state of Florida no matter what.
24. Gary Brown (San Francisco Giants) – Boras Corp. – And Boras re-gains the lead in clients selected with a total of 5 at this point.
25. Zack Cox (St. Louis Cardinals) – SFX – A draft-eligible sophomore.
26. Kyle Parker (Colorado Rockies) – Career Sports Entertainment – Also the quarterback for Clemson.  Will be a tough sign.
27. Jesse Biddle (Philadelphia Phillies) – Sosnick & Cobbe – Matt Sosnick represents some big time pitchers; add this stud to the list.
28. Zach Lee (Los Angeles Dodgers) – Unknown – Committed to play football at LSU. Queue the signability discussion.
29. Cam Bedrosian (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – ACES
30. Chevez Clarke (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – ACES – 2 ACES clients drafted in a row, and a total of 3 ACES clients taken in the first round.
31. Justin O’Connor (Tampa Bay Rays) – SFX – Committed to Arkansas.
32. Cito Culver (New York Yankees) – SFX

Comp Round A

1. Mike Kvasnicka (Houston Astros) – Sterling Sports Management
2. Aaron Sanchez (Toronto Blue Jays) – West Coast Sports
3. Matthew Lipka (Atlanta Braves) – Franklin-Frye Sports
4. Bryce Brentz (Boston Red Sox) – Jet Sports Management
5. Taylor Lindsey (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – Unknown
6. Noah Syndergaard (Toronto Blue Jays) – Xclusive Sports Management
7. Anthony Ranaudo (Boston Red Sox) – Boras Corp.
8. Ryan Bolden (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – ACES
9. Asher Wojciechowski (Toronto Blue Jays) - SFX
10. Drew Vettleson (Tampa Bay Rays) – Creative Artists Agency
11. Taijuan Walker (Seattle Mariners) – Reynolds Sports Management
12. Nick Castellanos (Detroit Tigers) – SportsMeter
13. Luke Jackson (Texas Rangers) – Unknown
14. Seth Blair (St. Louis Cardinals) – Boras Corp.
15. Peter Tago (Colorado Rockies) – Wasserman Media Group
16. Chance Ruffin (Detroit Tigers) – Unknown
17. Mike Olt (Texas Rangers) – Wasserman Media Group
18. Tyrell Jenkins (St. Louis Cardinals) – Select Sports Group

The MLB Draft Day 1 Broken Down from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Baseball

• One scout thinks the chances of Paxton’s stock going up is very slim [Former Blue Jays pick James Paxton aims to rebuild draft status at Grand Prairie].
• He’s a lot different than many other agents – he looks like a rabbi [Batting 1.000].
• I don’t think the union will take up the Barry Bonds issue, but it will be interesting to see how the union confronts the other two possible instances of collusion [More MLB Collusion in 2010? Unions' Claims Keep Coming].
• The current state of the super-two salary arbitration designation may not make it past negotiations regarding baseball’s next collective bargaining agreement [Strasburg’s station based on dollars, not sense].
• Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors shows no love for SFX in their representation of Bengie Molina [Baseball Players Looking At Wrong Numbers].

Tennis

• Andy Roddick has turned the fact that he sweats a lot into an opportunity to make money [Roddick To Endorse New Sports Beverage].

Basketball

• Would be a huge win for LRMR [Wall could soon join LeBron’s marketing firm].
• LeBron James signing for NBA minimum salary? [Bob Hunter commentary: Cavs star can make more by making less]

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (4/16/2010) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules