Scott Boras Forcing Wait-and-See Twins to Keep Waiting and Seeing

[Cody Christie]

The Twins’ front office has shown a propensity for extreme patience when completing the team’s roster each winter. Baseball’s most well-known agent, Scott Boras, has helped and hurt that strategy over the last three seasons.

Image courtesy of © Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Ask any baseball fan to name a baseball agent, and Scott Boras is likely the first name that comes to mind. Forbes has consistently named him the most powerful agent in sports, including saying that he is in “a league of his own.” At the winter meetings, Boras is the lone agent to hold court with the assembled media to talk about the state of baseball and his clients. He impacts the business side of the game, and it has ramifications felt by teams throughout their planning process.

Boras represents multiple Twins players, including Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, and top prospect Walker Jenkins. Minnesota’s front office seems to have a solid working relationship with Boras, and that must continue in the years ahead, with prominent young players tied to Boras Corporation. However, his control over the Twins’ finances goes far beyond the players he represents. 

Boras has impacted the Twins for three consecutive offseasons, in ways that have helped and hurt the team’s long-term plans. Let’s explore his impact and what it has meant to the Twins. 

2022 Offseason: Lockout and Correa's Surprise
The lockout significantly impacted every team’s offseason plans in 2022. Many top free agents hurried to sign new deals before the lockout stopped the market from moving forward. Some players--including Carlos Correa, one of the top available names--wanted to be patient with the market. It seemed unlikely for the Twins to have an opportunity to sign Correa, but things changed quickly following the lockout. 

On March 13, the Twins traded Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Ben Rortvedt to the Yankees for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. For Minnesota, the deal cleaned up the team’s financial commitments by getting Donaldson off the books. With this financial flexibility, the Twins stunned the baseball world and signed Correa to a three-year, $105.3-million deal with opt-out clauses after the contract’s first and second seasons. Boras got Correa the highest average annual value for an infielder, while the Twins’ patience allowed the club to land a superstar.

2023 Offseason: Correa Returns
As expected, Correa and Boras opted out of the final two years of his initial contract with the Twins to hit free agency for the second consecutive offseason. The Twins struggled with injuries in 2022, but Correa compiled some of his career's best numbers, including a 138 OPS+. It seemed like he was hitting the market at a perfect time, with multiple big-market teams looking to swoop in and add him to the middle of their lineup. 

Correa and Boras had a whirlwind offseason. He agreed to terms with the Giants and Mets before having both deals fall apart due to concerns over a 2014 surgery on his lower leg. The Twins kept in contact with Boras and eventually agreed to a six-year, $200-million contract that can max out at $270 million over ten seasons. Minnesota’s patience paid off for the second straight year, and the team’s familiarity with the player and agent helped get a deal done. 

2024 Offseason: Waiting is the Hardest Part
Correa isn’t on the market again this winter, but Boras is still impacting the Twins. Spring training begins in less than a month, and six of baseball’s top free agents remain unsigned, five of whom are Boras clients. Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman, and J.D. Martinez are waiting to find a new home, and Boras is pulling the strings behind the scenes. So, how does this impact the Twins?

Minnesota is likely staying away from the free-agent market. Still, the club has tried to trade some veteran players, including Kyle Farmer, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, and Christian Vázquez. Teams interested in trading for these players are likely waiting until the free-agent market dries up, so the Twins are left in a holding pattern until the market develops.

Overall, the Twins have been helped by Boras over the last two winters to make two different deals with Correa. Minnesota likely isn’t signing any of the big free agents left on the market this winter, but they also can’t trade players until other teams have a better picture of the holes in their roster not filled through free agency. 

Has Boras helped or hurt the Twins over the last three offseasons? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

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[old nurse]

When the Twins brass said about trading need for need that would pretty much indicate the off season plan and these free agent would not affect each other. There are different levels of performance as well as position 

[Karbo]

Was it Tom Petty who said the waiting is the hardest part?

[tony&rodney]

Boras is really good at his job and he keeps his team of employees constantly searching for positions for any client of his corporation. The goal of an agent is to combine choice and contract for the athlete. Again and again we see Boras find teams willing to pay for guys. Sometimes that happens quickly and at other times Boras and his clients are patient while the market and teams come to a position of filling the roster. Joey Gallo signing with Washington is an amazing contract. Did that seem likely to you?

The Twins and Falvey are not too affected by Boras and his guys this year really. Chapman doesn't fit into the same category as Polanco and/or Farmer. The others are in separate price points and fill different needs for teams as well. My take is that the Twins were never in on any free agent pitcher. I'm not sure that the teams who desire the Twins players are looking to sign those expensive names either.

Every year seems different to me. The Twins have some valuable players they are willing to move in a deal that makes their team better and there are probably a few teams that are interested still in a transaction. The sticking point is cost and whether teams want to gamble a little. The never ending trade chatter  last winter involving Max Kepler seems to be repeating itself. However, this year the names of Polanco, Farmer, and Vazquez join Kepler in discussions.. The Twins are in a good position with their roster. It is still possible that another team which needs one or more of those Twins guys to move their team up a notch in their hopes of competing within their divisions comes calling and meets Falvey's prices.

[Thebigalguy]

Boras is good at what he does. His clients benefit. Down the line, that will make players like Royce Lewis more expensive if he lives up to last year's production and stays healthy. The Twins aren't competing this year, so far as we know, for any of his free agents. I think the FO is willing to wait because the team they have if they do nothing isn't half bad, depending of course on what we see from some of the young players. It wouldn't hurt to have Kepler and Polanco on the team this year if they can't trade them for pitching. If Kep plays the way he did the second half of last season, it's even possible to envision an outfield where nothing falls but rain. (A guy can dream, can't he?) The team isn't likely to get another Sonny Gray unless it's a rehab player who pans out. I'm satisfied with where we're at right now but certainly hope to see a few moves before spring training, which (Glory hallelujah!) is breathing down our necks.

[CRF]

Boras is really the main force in all of MLB. The clubs might as well give up and make him commissioner, but I'm sure there's no way he'd take that big of a pay cut. Calling him a super agent doesn't even come close. The guy is amazing. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

I can’t see any way that the twins haven’t benefitted from their solid relationship with Boras. I have to think rostering Gallo all of last year also was to help with sustaining the relationship with Boras.

The only way Boras has hurt anyone is the fans who want something to happen now. Boras wants his players to get the most money, or at least the most money in their desired location. If the team is fine being patient, that’s not hurting the team at all to do that right?

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Boras has a duty to represent his clients. Period. The most any GM can hope to gain from Boras, or any agent, is accessibility and trust. A man's word is his bond. Hopefully Boras and Falvine have that type of relationship. 

[Doctor Gast]

As you said " Twins aren't in the FA market". So Twins aren't affected by this FA log jam. Teams that are looking to sign big-name FAs , those who lose out will turn to trades. Twins aren't waiting for any big-name FA, they need to trade for a frontline SP. If they come up with a fair deal to get one now we can beat the rush. Delaying to make a deal only hurts our chances.

IDK what unloading Vazquez, Farmer, Polanco & or Kepler has anything to do with our off-season success. On the contrary, It tells me that they have given up on getting front-line SP via trade, therefore punting & picking up Happ & or Shoemaker FA (with all that $ we saved on those players) & trying to sell us what a wonderful deal they made. That would be a great way to kill any momentum we gain much like '21.

[Tiantwindup]

Despite fan impatience I think the delay in the free-agent signings and thus the delay in the trade market benefits the Twins. With the uncertainty in tv deal/payroll, an opening up of the trade market now could handcuff the Twins:  do they make trades that cut, maintain or increase payroll?  If the market opens up after there is better visibility on revenue then they can approach the trade market with better certainty. 

[TopGunn#22]

When year after year you control key pieces of a market, and in the case of Boras, star baseball players, you effectively have that "hammer in your hand" to bring a heavier influence to said market.  He truly IS a market onto himself.  As frustrating as it's been to see the Twins sit on the sidelines this off season, the truth is, it's very much a part of the Twins "character" to do so.  

Coming of a successful season that saw the Twins not only win the division, but also finally win a playoff game (actually TWO) just exacerbates our frustration as fans.  But in all honesty, I don't want to see a trade just for the sake of making a trade.  If the Twins are going to acquire rotation help it at least has to be somebody who would step in ahead of Ober, Paddack and Varland.  Optimally, even ahead of Ryan.  Right now, Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Paddack and Varland are probably the 2nd best rotation in our division (behind Cleveland).  But we are incredibly THIN. 

Festa probably isn't ready, but "might be" by All Star break.  SWR hasn't shown me anything to believe he'll ever be a major league pitcher.  Our other pitching prospects are at least 2 years away.  They need to trade for a SP with a certain amount of success and a track record.  They need to make a value FA signing with some degree of upside.  Someone like a Mike Clevinger.  It's getting late, but I think we all know nothing is going to pop for the Twins until some of those big FA dominoes fall.   

[rv78]

Has he really helped the Twins? Really? Is Correa and his $200M dollar contract really going to help them? Or is it going to hurt them........... over the long term? If we continue to get a Correa that hits .230 and leads the league in hitting into doubleplays then he is grossly overpaid. Before we start singing praise for Boras "helping" the Twins lets see how the so-called superstar Correa does for a few more seasons. His 2023 season was far from being "superstar" caliber. And how about that other Boras client named Joey Gallo? Wasn't that a great move by Boras in "helping" the Twins? ONE OF THE WORST SIGNINGS EVER. Why didn't the signing of that Boras client get mentioned in this article? Boras has hurt the Twins, and in more ways than what actually shows up on the Twins roster. Raising and establishing prices for players to the point that small market teams can't afford them impacts the game. It might be good for his clients but is it good for the game? The verdict of him helping the Twins in any way so far, is very debatable.

[Dman]

Boras is Boras pretty much every year.  Holding out might push things later into the offseason, but that only matters to those of us waiting for something to happen.  TBH given the way things are shaping up it seems harder and harder for me to see Polanco as a player teams really need and getting the value the Twins need to trade him even less likely right now.  I feel the same way about Farmer.  Granted his salary seems high for what he brings but his right handed bat and positional flexibility just fit this team too well to be easily moved. The Twins need Kepler for depth if nothing else.

Injuries can happen and FO thinking can change, but teams have to know it will take an over pay to get Polanco or Farmer and most teams can't afford to give up MLB pitching so the odds look long for any of the available guys moving IMO.

I still think they find some bargain signings of guys who are left standing at the end, but a trade partner seems like it might be hard to find.

 

[Major League Ready]

23 minutes ago, rv78 said:

Has he really helped the Twins? Really? Is Correa and his $200M dollar contract really going to help them? Or is it going to hurt them........... over the long term? If we continue to get a Correa that hits .230 and leads the league in hitting into doubleplays then he is grossly overpaid. Before we start singing praise for Boras "helping" the Twins lets see how the so-called superstar Correa does for a few more seasons. His 2023 season was far from being "superstar" caliber. And how about that other Boras client named Joey Gallo? Wasn't that a great move by Boras in "helping" the Twins? ONE OF THE WORST SIGNINGS EVER. Why didn't the signing of that Boras client get mentioned in this article? Boras has hurt the Twins, and in more ways than what actually shows up on the Twins roster. Raising and establishing prices for players to the point that small market teams can't afford them impacts the game. It might be good for his clients but is it good for the game? The verdict of him helping the Twins in any way so far, is very debatable.

It's hard to argue that the Correa signing is going to hurt the team if he continues to perform as he did in 2023.  I doubt that happens but there have been many just horrible long-term big money deals that have produced virtually nothing. 

Where we don't agree is that the Gallo deal is not even remotely close to horrible.  It's just not possible to hurt the team all that much with a one year deal.  We could recite a very long list of 5-10 year deals that have been complete disasters.  Gallo plugged some holes with an average bat for 1 year.  Big deal!  The problem is already gone at no future cost.  We could still be paying for Bumgarner who was highly touted here when he was a FA.

[DJL44]

29 minutes ago, rv78 said:

Raising and establishing prices for players to the point that small market teams can't afford them impacts the game. It might be good for his clients but is it good for the game?

It's funny how the Twins are the only small market team that can't seem to afford free agents. It's even funnier still that the Twins aren't a small market team, but instead a mid-market team like Colorado, Detroit, St. Louis and Seattle.

[South Dakota Tom]

The delay is not fatal, but there's no pretending it doesn't impact the Twins.  I will use Luzardo as an example - the Marlins might actually like a package that the Twins are offering, but they certainly do not know if that's the best possible offer they will receive.  And they won't know until Snell and Montgomery have signed, and teams with starting pitching needs who don't sign those two players pivot to the trade market.  Same is true of Chapman - not that he's on the Twins' radar, but teams won't put out their highest offer for, say, Polanco or Farmer or Julien or Lee (not suggesting that we trade any of those guys, but the point remains) until one team snags Chapman and the others are left with holes in their (ideal) lineup.

That doesn't prohibit trades, as we've seen, but it does impact the speed and urgency of the market. The shoes are dropping, and the Twins have been (frustratingly, but appropriately) patient.  I know in my bones that they have scenarios played out in their inner circle that "if A goes to B, then C will give us D for our E" in multiple, multiple variables for most of our players.

Just as cases settle the closer you get to the courthouse steps, so too will this play out.  One just needs to be prepared and ready to go to trial/preseason in order to extract the most value and strike at the right time.  I do have confidence in this FO to do that and am excited to see how it plays out.

Excited, too, (off-topic) that I'm headed to the Cities this weekend for Meltdown!  You folks at TD do a great job, and I will be happy to meet you all.

[sweetmusicviola16]

Twins have decided to cut payroll. Boras isn't the one responsible for our lack of moves. They tried to trade Kepler last winter too. Is Boras at fault for that not happening then too? It's time for the FO to take responsibility. Pohlad  said cut so they are. 

Boras isn't stopping us from signing Clevinger or Ryu or Neris. Boras isn't stopping us from trading Polanco either. But it could be the price we are asking. Not that I'm saying to give our players away. I'm not. But Boras isn't the Twins problem.

[Bob Twins Fan Since 61]

Boras has been doing what he does for years. My observation this year is the Dodgers signing the 2 Japanese super stars for over billion dollars.  Really shook up the market.  It caused a significant increase of costs of signing free agents that have followed.  Some pretty marginal players are landing some hefty contracts.  It again raises questions about the big gap of revenue between large market and small market team.  The gap certainly seems to be expanding.

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

It's funny how the Twins are the only small market team that can't seem to afford free agents. It's even funnier still that the Twins aren't a small market team, but instead a mid-market team like Colorado, Detroit, St. Louis and Seattle.

Detroit is still at $17M less in payroll.  Seattle is about $7M more than the Twins and they traded away a very good SP to shed salary.  Colorado is about $20M above.  They will have at least $50M more revenue than the twin this year unless they find a much better TV deal than expected.   None of these teams lost their TV contract and STL has always produced significantly more revenue than the Twins.  

The Twins signed the largest free agent contract in their history last year and extended Lopez after extending Buxton the year before.  That’s not going to happen every year.

[Mike Sixel]

I didn't read the article for a lot of reasons, but blaming someone else for whatever is happening is ridiculous. The owners and FO have all the responsibility here. All of it. 

[Trov]

Boras has always played the game of give me an offer first, or we will hold out for the offer we want.  They have been willing to go into spring training at times too.  Sometimes he gets his clients good deals, but sometimes it seems to hurt their performance when they do sign. 

[DJL44]

21 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

The Twins signed the largest free agent contract in their history last year and extended Lopez after extending Buxton the year before.  That’s not going to happen every year.

Unless they continually find 3-5 rookies who can contribute it kind of needs to happen every year. You can't have a contending team with just 3 good players.

I understand dialing back spending when your team isn't good but not when it was just 2 wins away from the ALCS.

[IndianaTwin]

2 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

It's hard to argue that the Correa signing is going to hurt the team if he continues to perform as he did in 2023.  I doubt that happens but there have been many just horrible long-term big money deals that have produced virtually nothing. 

Where we don't agree is that the Gallo deal is not even remotely close to horrible.  It's just not possible to hurt the team all that much with a one year deal.  We could recite a very long list of 5-10 year deals that have been complete disasters.  Gallo plugged some holes with an average bat for 1 year.*  Big deal!  The problem is already gone at no future cost.  We could still be paying for Bumgarner who was highly touted here when he was a FA.

Not only that, but Gallo provided many on TD with a late-season whipping boy when they needed someone to replace Kepler, since the Twins' patience with Kepler seemed to be paying off.   /s

*"Gallo plugged some holes with an average bat for 1 year."
               To add to your point, during the first half of the year, when he was playing most regularly, he was somewhat of an above-average bat. During the last half of the year
            , when he was struggling offensively, he was disproportionately serving as a defensive replacement. 

[DJL44]

46 minutes ago, Bob Twins Fan Since 61 said:

Boras has been doing what he does for years. My observation this year is the Dodgers signing the 2 Japanese super stars for over billion dollars.  Really shook up the market.  It caused a significant increase of costs of signing free agents that have followed.  Some pretty marginal players are landing some hefty contracts.  It again raises questions about the big gap of revenue between large market and small market team.  The gap certainly seems to be expanding.

I don't buy that explanation. What the Dodgers and Yankees do in free agency doesn't change the value equation for the Twins.

Free agent prices are up because MLB revenues are up. The prices at the beginning of free agency are higher than at the end because there are more bidders. It's simple supply and demand.

[Mike Sixel]

9 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Unless they continually find 3-5 rookies who can contribute it kind of needs to happen every year. You can't have a contending team with just 3 good players.

I understand dialing back spending when your team isn't good but not when it was just 2 wins away from the ALCS.

5 rookies every year? Name 1 team that does that. 

[tony&rodney]

40 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

5 rookies every year? Name 1 team that does that. 

Not to defend anything about the comment that you comment on but  ..... 

Does Tampa Bay seem to get some production from 5 rookies every year? Curious.

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I didn't read the article for a lot of reasons, but blaming someone else for whatever is happening is ridiculous. The owners and FO have all the responsibility here. All of it. 

Do you believe elevating the luxury tax threshold is influencing spending?  Obviously, that is not on Boris but the players union was pushing very hard to expand the gap.  They also actually wanted to reduce revenue sharing.  We needed changes in the last CBA to diminish the disparity.  Boris and the union would have never accepted this type of change and the owners of the top revenue teams were not going to just give their competitors more of their revenue.   

[Mike Sixel]

43 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Not to defend anything about the comment that you comment on but  ..... 

Does Tampa Bay seem to get some production from 5 rookies every year? Curious.

If they did, they'd have no veterans.....on the roster at all in 3 years, give or take. Some production, sure, but that wasn't the post's point, I don't think. The Twins did get production from at least 3 last year......

[rv78]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

It's funny how the Twins are the only small market team that can't seem to afford free agents. It's even funnier still that the Twins aren't a small market team, but instead a mid-market team like Colorado, Detroit, St. Louis and Seattle.

With the spending that the Dodgers displayed so far this off-season the future of major league baseball could be heading down a path that it will never recover from. Small market or mid-market won't matter, They'll all be lower tier teams that won't be able to compete against them. Hope you are happy to go watch them try to win a regular season game because if  they get in the playoffs the big spenders will give them ZERO chance at a WS ring. '87 and '91 will be all there ever will be.

[UK Twin]

Boras is the most influential figure every off season. It's always worth having a good relationship with him as a FO - you just never know what he'll do to get his clients the best outcome. It really wouldn't completely surprise if me if Snell ended up somewhere completely unexpected on a shorter term, high AAV contract with opt outs similar to Correa's first contract with the Twins. 

I'm sure the Twins have had conversations with Boras this offseason even if nothing comes of it. But you never cut off communication with Scott Boras.