Scott Boras joined Bob McCown and Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 590 The FAN’s Prime Time Sports on Monday evening to discuss his new client, Toronto Blue Jays‘ starter Aaron Sanchez.
Boras, the well-known MLB player agent and president of the Boras Corporation, represents several top young pitchers including Stephen Strasburg, who signed a seven-year, $175 million extension with the Washington Nationals prior to the 2016 season.
“The fortunate aspect of Toronto and Aaron Sanchez is that he’s very young and very talented,” Boras said, giving particular attention to the potential that the Blue Jays have organizationally, especially with Sanchez. “They are one of the top six or seven franchises in the game. They have have success, they have an ownership structure, and they have a 40-million fan base.”
Sanchez, 24, overcame a potential mid-season move to the bullpen in 2016, pitching 192.0 innings in the regular season and an additional 11.2 in the playoffs. This increased workload from his previous career totals could be an even bigger part of the conversation with Boras entering the equation.
Matt Harvey’s career is a prominent example of Boras’ involvement when it comes to inning totals, and the friction that created with the New York Mets is well documented. Boras did cite the Mets, who he believes were forced to push their bevy of young pitchers beyond their ideal workloads due to the “mandate of winning” in recent seasons.
Unlike some other agencies, the Boras Corporation has built a complex set of data and guidelines for handling young pitchers based on the input of medical professionals and experts in the field.
“We collect this information, meet with doctors, do a lot of research, and then our job is to share that information with the teams. Frankly, it’s been received very well by ownership and everyone involved because I think everyone wants the best available information and in this case… it’s not an opinion that’s based upon anything from our offices, it’s a collection of medical expert opinion we’ve provided. We’ve put the doctors on the phone with the teams, we have discussions.”
Though Boras would not reveal any details on potential negotiations with the Blue Jays on a possible extension, he did say that the two sides sat down for a long discussion after Sanchez joined his agency.
“Aaron Sanchez has the tools to be someone who can be one of the most prominent Blue Jays in history,” Boras said. “He has that kind of ability, and we certainly want to do everything we can to build the foundation to allow that to happen.”
