I have a couple of thoughts.
First, from the Nats Journal:
All spring, it has been assumed the Nationals will keep Stephen Strasburg out of the majors until June both for reasons pertaining to his development and the business of baseball. By keeping Strasburg in the minors until June, the Nationals would pause the clock one year for when he becomes eligible for free agency. Rizzo shot down that notion.
"That has nothing to do with it," Rizzo said. "It's the development of the player, for the long-term success of him and for the franchise. Those things, when you're trying to win ballgames, they don't enter a general manager's mind. Believe me."
Rizzo’s strikes me as a load of BS. GM's manage rosters within the rules of the CBA in order to balance long term desires for player control, with a need for maintaining a current competitive team on the field. So it begs the question - just who are these GM's afraid of offending? Their very short sighted fans, who want wins and want them now? The players themselves, who seemingly never fail to be shocked at the criticism leveled against their performance in arbitration hearings? Or is it the all powerful agents the GM’s really fear antagonizing, thinking that next time the player may be steered elsewhere?
This whole avoiding of the subject seems such a transparent charade, as if players, fans, agents, and media are too simple to grasp the real factors at play. I am not suggesting you comment on Rizzo’s comments specifically, but am using them to illustrate my contention that GM’s are often far less than forthcoming about their real motivations, but for reasons to me that seem rather silly.
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Next, I wonder how agents are able to deal with the conflicts of interest that arise when they represent multiple players who are legitimate candidates for the same open position. This past offseason, Boras represented a number of outfielders (Damon, Holliday for two) who might have been marketed to the same team. If I am Damon, for example, how am I being served by my agent marketing Holliday’s services to the team I want to sign with? How can I be assured my agent’s goals and incentives are aligned with mine?
