Sports super agent Scott Boras joined Dan Patrick on Wednesday morning for a discussion on Cubs super prospect Kris Bryant.
Boras told Patrick that Major League Baseball is “injured” if Bryant isn’t on the Cubs’ roster come Opening Day.
The Cubs are expected to send Bryant back down to the minors because doing so would gain the organization a year of control before Bryant hits free agency.
Bryant is putting together one of the best spring training performances (maybe ever?), and has already shown he’s got nothing left to prove in the minors with his 43 home runs last year.
“I think every fan will look at the Cubs differently and every opponent will look at them differently,” Boras said. “That’s not what we want. When we go to the ballpark we want to know the greatest players are on the field.”
Obviously, Boras has a vested interest here — particularly when the decision involves a massive future payday.
“I think the integrity of the game requires that we do not let advantages to individual clubs get in the way of the overall scope of what Major League Baseball stands for,” Boras said. “It’s the principle. The best players play in the big leagues. … [Fans] know the team is not whole because one of their best talents is not on the team because of business practices. I don’t think that’s good for Major League Baseball.”
Boras pointed to examples of other teams handling a similar situation differently.
“Other owners, like in [Troy] Tulowitzki’s case or [Jason] Heyward’s case, ownership said we’re going to put our best team on the field now and try to win this year and that is our annual obligation,” Boras said. “And I assure you, Dan, the drafters of the collective bargaining agreement, when they put these rules in place, I don’t think anyone in that room said to one another this gives the unilateral right to teams to go out and do something for an individual club that is injurious to players and Major League Baseball by not having the best talent in the league.”
Watch the full interview:
