New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has replaced his agent, Bobby Barad, with high-powered sports agent Scott Boras.
Cano finished third in AL MVP voting in 2010 and was awarded the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.
Scott Boras is the founder, owner and president of the Boras Corporation, which represents about 175 professional baseball clients. Boras represents fellow Yankees Mark Teixeira and Rafael Soriano, and other big names around the majors such as Matt Holliday, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran and Jered Weaver.
He is also the former agent of Alex Rodriguez and negotiated both of A-Rod’s record-breaking contracts, as well as some other massive contracts around the league.
So what does this mean for the Yankees now that Boras will be representing Cano?
The Yankees will look forward to a painful and frustrating negotiation over Cano’s next contract. The 2011 season is the final year on Cano’s previous contract, but the Yankees have options for $10 million and $14 million in 2012 and 2013. Should the Yankees choose to exercise these options, and they will, then the negotiations will begin soon after the deal is over.
If Cano can keep up his outstanding production from the first six years of his career, he will be in line for a hefty raise, and Boras will make sure he gets it. Of course, the Steinbrenners will have the money to make this deal, and of course, they need to sign Cano when his contract is up, but this is part of the reason the Yankees will be digging into their farm system over the next few seasons.
When Cano is up for a new deal, the Yankees will still be paying the enormous contracts of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Derek Jeter. Many teams in the MLB have payrolls for their entire team that comes out to less money than the Yankees will be paying these guys in each of the next few seasons. Adding whatever deal Cano will be asking for to the pile will be overkill for the Yankees.
The fans will suffer from Boras taking over as Cano’s agent as well. Like I mentioned before, Boras has negotiated some of the largest contracts in Major League Baseball’s history. Some of these contracts are the reasons why ticket prices have skyrocketed around the league, especially at Yankee Stadium.
A higher payroll leads to a higher need for income, therefore ticket prices, as well as concession and souvenir prices, will continue to increase as long as contracts keep breaking new barriers.
I am not here to argue for a salary cap. There will never be one in baseball. But the way things are going, the middle class will be struggling to attend baseball games and fans will only be able to express themselves in the streets and in front of televisions.
One can only imagine what prices will be like at Yankee Stadium by 2014; a reality that many fans will be dreading.
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