Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 14, 2007
A-Rod and the CBA

Ken Rosenthal points out that the Yankees can't refuse to negotiate with Boras:

"That clearly is a violation of the Basic Agreement," Michael Weiner, the general counsel of the players' union, told FOXSports.com on Wednesday.

"Once a player designates an agent, a club cannot refuse to meet with that agent."

Earlier post here. If A-Rod went behind Scott's back, then their relationship is over anyway. This is, by the way, another reason not to trust third party rumors. The Yankees, of course, could have expressed their unwillingness to negotiate with Boras by saying, "We won't negotiate as long as Boras is your agent," which may be perfectly legal. The Daily News gets the quote at the end of a game of telephone.

Thanks to Tom for pointing this out in the comments to the previous A-Rod post, linked above.

Update: If people aren't clicking through to the article, the quote causing trouble is:

"We will not negotiate with Scott Boras," a Yankees source told the paper. "He cannot be in the room."

The Yankees can't say we will negotitate with you but not your agent.


Posted by David Pinto at 03:42 PM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

The Yankees can't say we will negotitate with you but not your agent.

Actually, I think they can. The CBA, in Article IV, says, in part: "If the Association has notified the Office of the Commissioner that a Player has designated a certified Player Agent or Agents to act on his behalf for the purposes described in this Article IV, no Club may negotiate or attempt to negotiate an individual salary and/or Special Covenants to be included in a Uniform Player's Contract with any Player Agent(s) other than such Player Agent(s)."

This Article doesn't say about a player's ability to cut out the middle man. In fact, I don't think A-Rod or the Yanks are violating the CBA by talking to each other. A-Rod and Boras though are probably through, as you said, if this is true.

Posted by: Ben K. at November 14, 2007 04:10 PM

Andruw Jones negotiated without his agent this summer, if I remember correctly. It's been done before, it will be done again.

Posted by: sabernar at November 14, 2007 04:22 PM

I believe what a team can't do is, if a player says meet with my agent (or I want my agent in the room), they can't say, "we're only going to meet with you without your agent."

Posted by: ben at November 14, 2007 05:11 PM

Shorter Rosenthal:

"I'm no lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Xpress last night . . ."

Posted by: Yankee Fan in Chicago at November 14, 2007 05:38 PM

Newsday reports:
Michael Weiner, general counsel for the Players Association, told Newsday's Ken Davidoff, "the union has been assured that the Yankees will respect Alex's decision to designate Scott Boras as his representative."

Posted by: James at November 14, 2007 06:37 PM
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