Yes, But in healthy ownership/management relationships, the big free agent decisions are "yes/no." Yes/No on whether to pursue the guy and then Yes/No on the terms of the contract the GM negotiated.
The owner stepping in and directly negotiating with an agent is toxic and dumb. And probably appeals to these guys' egos as successful businessmen in whatever arena they made their fortune in. Boras used to have a couple of guys he could pull this crap with usually to bad results (See: Fielder, Prince). But now that Ilitch is dead he has to rely on the Lerners.
The last Forbes valuation had the Nats at 1.6 billion. Harper is supposedly seeking 400 million plus- no business owner in their right mind is going to step aside and delegate a salary negotiation equal to a quarter of their business’ vale
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