MLB player agent Scott Boras, who has "always claimed owners are a lot richer than they say, said the recent sales of the Dodgers, Cubs and Padres have made a lot of fat cats even fatter," according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. Boras said, "This last year we had a re-appraising of the baseball industry. We had the Cubs' sale for $750 million to $800 million. Then when the Padres sold for $800 million and the Dodgers for over $2 billion, the range of evaluation has changed." Boras: "Now we have owners who have become instant billionaires, or have made over a billion dollars by this re-evaluation. Those top-level franchises that were worth $700 million in the early 2000s, are worth well over $2 (billion) or $3 billion based on appropriate evaluation of the industry." Boras said of MLB's new TV contracts with Fox, Turner Sports and ESPN, "The new TV contracts will bring each club $25 million to $26 million annually." Hoynes writes, "All of which means a lot more money for Boras and his clients" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 11/9).
HEAD GAMES: CBSSPORTS.com's Danny Knobler noted MLB is "in the early stages of testing Kevlar inserts that could go inside caps and help protect pitchers from head injuries." MLB GMs were "briefed Thursday morning on the Kevlar tests, and preliminary results could be presented to team medical personnel at next month's winter meetings in Nashville." Any requirement to wear more protection "would need to be collectively bargained with the players' union, but the first step may be to provide inserts that players could choose to either use or not use" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/8).
THE SEARCH FOR TOMORROW: Columnist Kevin Blackistone said MLB has done "in total a pretty good job over the last few years in terms of how teams bring people in to run their teams," and nobody is "really getting passed over” for managerial positions. But ESPN’s J.A. Adande wondered, “Why aren’t there more Latino managers?” Adande said about 27% of players on MLB rosters are Latino, so “we should see that reflected in the managerial ranks.” Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said teams are “thinking outside-the-box with the GM position with young business-types who look at baseball a different way." Cowlishaw: "The key is find a compatible manager to go with that GM” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 11/8).
