(Editor’s note: What follows is an excerpt from Who’s on First? Everything Baseball Players and Their Parents Need to Know, a book written by Bobby Bramhall, whose bio is below.)
Understanding how to wisely select and maintain an agent is crucial to making the most informed decisions on who the athlete ultimately pays and chooses to represent them throughout the course of their career. After all, agents have incentives and defined measures to determine an athlete’s value for their purposes, so should you.
Scott Boras, the most successful baseball agent in history, once said that 70% of his job was not negotiating contracts or interpreting contract clauses. Instead, his job was to understand the game and its psychology; to aid and grow a player through high school, college, or a professional season; and to advise during the draft to create an environment centered on the player’s needs to succeed and per- severe through a successful Major League Baseball career. Consider Boras’ summary of his duties often to ensure the athlete’s agent has a well-rounded approach and can offer them a multitude of benefits throughout their career.
When evaluating the potential impact an agent may have, it is important to research the following:
• their former and current clients
• results of arbitration case settlements
• contracts they have negotiated for clients
• their reputation among the 30 MLB teams
• relationships with commercial entities who offer marketing deals and sponsorships
• retention and turnover of clientele, and
• opinions of current players
Connecting with both a current client of the agent and a client who has parted ways with them will provide a better understanding of the agent’s strengths and weaknesses, along with a balanced assessment from multiple sources.
The difficulty lies in understanding whether the agent’s particular network or negotiation ability will benefit the specific athlete’s playing career. Will they be proactive or back down when an organization refuses to promote a player, despite statistical evidence and indisputable production? Is the agent a skillful negotiator while building trustworthy relationships? Are they respected by colleagues and the organizations in which they are in communication? The answers to these questions are vital because the athlete’s career opportunities could hinge on timely advocacy and influence by their agent. When a player is deserving of recognition through promotion or opportunity, they need a representative in their corner. If the athlete is simply another client on a long list of obligations, it is doubtful that the agent will be incentivized to go to bat on their behalf.
While it is true that a team will ultimately act in their own perceived best interests, it is important to have an agent who believes in the athlete and has the skills and resources to enhance and accelerate an athlete’s career path or a particular opportunity. The agent, playing the role of intermediary between the organization and the player, maintains the balance between the parties to mediate communication. Tensions will inevitably arise between the player and the organization during negotiations, and the agent-mediator prioritizes the focus on a final mutual agreement, while representing the player’s best interests.
One example of an agent’s value is when the player has a conflict during the season with a coach or the organization. Having representation here is priceless. An issue is more often calmly and effectively resolved with a mediator or liaison standing in the middle to discuss the matter and work toward a solution for both sides. This could be the difference in the outcome during a conflict, and ultimately, a player’s career longevity.
The drafting organization invests in the player, and the player builds equity over their years in the system. Once a relationship is severed, or the athlete has to seek other opportunities as a free agent, it is exponentially more difficult to build comparable equity in a new system. Due to this reality, prior to an MLB contract, differences of opinion without an agent as an advocate can effectively wipe away future MLB opportunities, despite performance.
In most cases, a player must achieve MLB service time before their voice will be heard without career destroying consequences. At this place, on the brink of reaching the summit and in the most difficult portion of the climb, when 90% of all players have fallen away, the player is ironically most vulnerable to losing it all due to an imbalance of negotiating power.
Forty-man roster players receive union protection (MLBPA), fair pay and treatment, and influence for future longevity. This status alone takes care of many everyday conflicts and issues. However, before that moment of protection and respect, the window is narrow, and the organizations hold the power to make or break a career. Without representation to work through an issue to ensure both sides communicate effectively, differences of opinion can often escalate to detrimentally impact an athlete’s career. In this scenario, the agent serves as the career-preserving advocate and spokesperson.
Another example of an agent’s worth is when they serve as the chief marketing officer for the player when the player has produced results on the field. The decision makers of an organization generally have many factors that influence personnel moves as they evaluate the hundreds of players within the system. Given the number of players, accurate value judgments are challenging and special performances can go unnoticed.
Many statistical achievements in a single game or over the course of a season that are not flashy (like home runs or strikeouts) may easily be overlooked yet can be indicators of success. Examples include: hits with runners in scoring position, WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging), or pitches that elicit a swing and a miss, to name a few. These successes must be brought to the attention of the organization or a media outlet to create maximum exposure and drive value and income opportunities in the forms of playing time, promotions, endorsements, appearances, and personal branding opportunities.
The decision makers of an organization generally have many factors that influence personnel moves as they evaluate the hundreds of players within the system.
BOBBY BRAMHALL is an Adjunct Professor of Sports Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law, a sports attorney, co-founder of Athlete Licensing Company, a former NCAA Division I Assistant Athletics Director (Texas A&M), and former professional baseball player. After receiving 2nd Team All-American honors at Rice University as a left-handed pitcher and appearing in back-to-back College World Series, Bobby was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2007 MLB Draft following his junior year. He went on to play with four MLB organizations over seven seasons in the United States, and in Puerto Rico in La Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC), before attending law school at the University of Tennessee. He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.
