MLB agent
Fred Wray, who counts a number of up-and-coming players, including Los Angeles Angels rookie pitcher
Matt Shoemaker, as a clients, has left
Octagon and joined
Relativity Sports’ baseball division.
Wray also represents Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro, Seattle Mariners slugger Logan Morrison, Mariners relief pitcher Charlie Furbush, Angels pitcher Garrett Richards and five minor league players.
Wray, 35, is a former minor league pitcher; he had worked for Octagon for about 10 years. He said last week that he joined Relativity Sports, which was launched by television and film studio Relativity Media in the summer of 2012, to provide more opportunities for his young clients.
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Jason Castro is among Wray’s MLB clients.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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“I would compare my time and subsequent departure from Octagon to the way one looks at their first car: It will never be forgotten, and I will forever have fond memories,” Wray said. “That said, inevitably everyone comes to a point where they upgrade to a newer car that is a better fit for them at that particular point in their life. My move from Octagon says nothing negative about Octagon, rather that Relativity was the next logical move for my career and to the strategic benefit of my clients.”
Wray will report to Mark Pieper, CEO of Relativity Baseball, which represents about 70 major leaguers, one of the biggest baseball representation practices in sports.
“We are excited to have Fred Wray join Relativity Baseball,” Pieper said in a statement. “His experience as both an agent and a former player are assets to our firm and clients. Fred is a great fit for our group, as he shares our approach to representation both on and off the field.”
Octagon had no comment about Wray leaving the agency.
“We have a very strong group of agents and staff in our baseball division that have always operated as a team,” said Alan Nero, Octagon Baseball’s managing director, in an email. “We have a lot of great things going on in baseball and are excited for the future. Octagon has a solid MLB roster including two of the top hitters from the 2014 season, Jose Altuve and Victor Martinez, and the top pitcher in the American League, Felix Hernandez.”
Octagon hired Wray first as a consultant in 2004 and then as an employee in 2006. He became certified to represent MLB players in 2008. (In MLB, a person must represent a player on a team’s 40-man roster in order to become certified by the MLB Players Association.)
Wray, a right-handed pitcher at the University of North Carolina, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2001 and played in the Braves’ farm system for four years.
Wray isn’t the first agent to make the Octagon-to-Relativity move. NFL agents Doug Hendrickson and C.J. LaBoy left Octagon and joined Relativity Football earlier this year.
> KLUTCH SIGNS CALDWELL-POPE: Klutch Sports Group has signed Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for representation.
Rich Paul, who represents LeBron James and founded Klutch in 2012, will represent him. Caldwell-Pope was formerly represented by Wasserman Media Group.
> ATHLETES FIRST SIGNS BARKLEY: Athletes First has signed Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Matt Barkley for representation. Athletes First CEO David Dunn will represent him.
Barkley was formerly represented by CAA Sports.
> WASSERMAN SIGNS SOCCER PLAYERS: Wasserman Media Group has signed Coy Craft, midfielder for FC Dallas, and Ben Swanson, midfielder for the Columbus Crew, who are both part of MLS’s U-17 homegrown program.
Wasserman agent Spencer Wadsworth represents the players. Both were previously without representation.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
