One thing I've been wondering about Boras for a while is how he gets his players to all disregard any benefit of taking the money right now vs the risk of waiting 2-5 years for a marginally higher amount. In some of these cases, they are saying no to 400-450 million guaranteed in hopes of 450-500, but risk getting a whole lot less if they have a career altering injury or hit a slump they can't get out of. There's no way this can make logical sense at the individual level. I can see it making sense at Boras's level. He can take a hit if he maximizes everyone's value and one out of every 10 doesn't pan out.
How does he convince his players to all disregard that risk? I get they can get some insurance for a career ending injury, but is it going to pay out 500 million if Soto has a career ending or altering injury? Does Boras take a 5% tax on everyone to put in a kitty that pays out when a player holding out for free agency is a bust? Is that legal? Would it be public knowledge?
It breaks the market factors of the CBA when he has his players disregard any benefit to re-signing. It's his right to do so, but it is bad for baseball in the long run. Teams losing their star players they've grown attached to kills fan bases. Teams paying stars for years after their prime is not ideal for anyone either.
I wonder this all the time. The response is usually “insurance policy,” but no insurance policy is going to pay out that kind of money.
It just really seems irrational to turn down generational wealth that one can’t possibly spend in 3 lifetimes for the possibility of getting more than you can spend in 4 lifetimes. Especially when there is a non-zero chance of getting nothing.
That being said, I realize that I don’t have the mentality of a professional athlete, where ego likely puts significant value on setting a record or getting maximal value. I don’t understand it, but it’s this attitude that probably let them succeed in professional sports.
But their advisors shouldn’t also be feeding into that ego. Unless they have the financial incentive to do so. Hence the ethical issues mentioned above.
