On Sunday, Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant slipped on a wet base while running at Wrigley Field causing injury. Furthermore, Bryant will probably be on the shelf for the remainder of the season.
Now mega-agent Scott Boras is taking the powers that be of the sport to task. While Boras is best known for negotiating mega-deals like the one he wrote up for Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies this past offseason – he’s not a guy you want on the opposing side.
“How many MVPs have to go down?” Scott Boras is tired of seeing star players injured on the bases, writes Tom Verducci https://t.co/OPKYTuAFlq
— SI MLB (@si_mlb) September 23, 2019
Boras feels that if baseball doesn’t do something about the bases, more injuries will happen to star players. And let’s face it, even if you love baseball; September is a rough product to begin with. While the Cubs season is all but over in terms of contention, there’s even less reason to go see them play without Bryant in the lineup now.
“How many MVPs have to go down? We are in between Collective Bargaining Agreements. The office of the commissioner has the authority to legislate matters of the game relating to weather … We were put on notice about this issue years ago. Where is the protocol for it? It borders on negligence. They did nothing. Zero.”
Now to be fair, baseball probably hasn’t done anything in regards to the wet bases simply because they don’t know what to do yet. Surely, they have more pressing needs. However, don’t be surprised if this has a ripple effect that induces some type of change or examination from commissioner Rob Manfred’s office.
Boras didn’t stop after his first statement.
“I’ve got a player who can’t play at the end of the season,” Boras said of Bryant. “How does that affect his team? How does that affect his salary going forward? The potential impact is enormous. And why? Why is there still no protocol?”
Certainly, baseball has a ways to go in terms of getting things just right. And who knows if they will ever get there. Moreover, Boras gives mention to a collective bargaining agreement that looms large and could lead to the next work stoppage that many fear in the sport.
It’s hard to say if a figure like Boras is good or bad for the game of baseball in terms of holding it back or furthering it. Without question though – if a history book is ever written on the sport – he is deserving of at least a good mention in a prominent chapter.
