How Much Money Is Scott Boras Costing His Clients?

Major League Baseball agent Scott Boras has not had a great month.

Boras, long known for representing some of the biggest players in the sport, saw one of his biggest upcoming free agents, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.

READ: DODGERS PITCHER JULIO URIAS ARRESTED FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, WON’T TRAVEL WITH TEAM

Then another one of his signature clients, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, saw his retirement plans suddenly change. After initially agreeing to pay Strasburg the remainder of his contract after his announcement, leading to huge commissions for Boras, the Nationals changed course, reportedly after conversations with the commissioner's office about setting a poor precedent.

Max Scherzer and Anthony Rendon, while already on huge deals, are now out for the season with injuries. While Cody Bellinger has had a resurgent 2023 season, Boras made headlines by inaccurately blaming the Dodgers for his poor performance in 2021 and 2022. Despite him famously having his own, much hyped, sports performance institute to help clients train and recover from injury.

READ: SCOTT BORAS ACCUSES DODGERS OF MISHANDLING CODY BELLINGER’S INJURY

But that's just a few of the issues that have popped up around the once invincible Boras universe in recent years.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JULY 27: Scott Boras watches batting practice before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 27, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Does Scott Boras Push Clients In The Wrong Direction?

Boras is famous for advising clients to turn down extension offers in favor of reaching free agency. His agency, like all modern baseball businesses, employs teams of people to show players the analytics behind how much money they could earn on the open market.

But turning down extensions, clearly, isn't always the best strategy for each individual player. And for a few of Boras' past and present clients, it turned into an unmitigated disaster.

One example is San Francisco Giants outfielder Michael Conforto. Conforto had an outstanding start to his career, from 2017-2020 he never had an OPS+ lower than 122, with 2020's shortened season reaching 154.

Prior to the 2021 season, it was widely reported that Conforto, as Boras clients frequently do, turned down a "nine-figure" extension offer from the Mets. Sure enough, he struggled in 2021, and in the ensuing offseason wasn't offered a deal in free agency anywhere close to the $100 million mark.

The Boras company did not respond to OutKick's request for comment.

After sitting out all of 2022 with an injury, Conforto was forced to take just a 2-year, $36 million offer from the Giants, albeit it with a player option. Now heading into his age-31 season, with an OPS+ of 105 and 0.8 bWAR, there's little chance for Conforto to come anywhere close to matching the Mets' offer.

And there are plenty of other examples.

Urias The Latest Mistake

Matt Harvey was never able to agree to an extension with the Mets. After a hot start to his career, he struggled on and off the field -- including an issue with cocaine use. He bounced around after New York, never able to rekindle the success he had as a younger pitcher. Signing early may have been a necessity, given his behavioral issues, but with no deal, he left millions in career earnings on the table.

Dallas Keuchel is another Boras client who turned down an extension from the Houston Astros that would have paid him close to $100 million. Keuchel declined soon afterwards, bouncing around several teams, before being DFA'd by the Chicago White Sox.

Juan Soto was also famously offered a monstrous extension from the Washington Nationals that would have paid him $440 million over 15 years. While Soto's been typically excellent at getting on base in 2022 and 2023 with the Padres, his batting average and slugging percentage have dipped significantly. Despite being just 24-years-old.

Combined with several years of extremely poor defensive metrics, it's not a guarantee he ever receives an offer for that much money again. But Boras almost certainly told Soto to reject the extension, hoping to set records when he becomes a free agent before his age-26 season.

And now there's Julio Urias.

While it's not clear if the Dodgers ever offered Urias an extension before his arrest, there's little doubt Boras would have advised him to reject it. Given his arrest, the reported details and possibility of a second domestic violence-related suspension, there's a nonzero chance that Urias' MLB career may be over.

Sometimes, it's better to take yes for an answer.

Boras' Priorities May Be Questionable

Boras has made an exceptional career for himself, and his agency continues to be one of the biggest and most successful in baseball. But all too often it seems like his priority is to set records in free agency or push for a one size fits all approach to extensions.

Sometimes, it's not just about extracting every dollar, it's about knowing the client. And Boras doesn't always seem to know his client.

Some of the blame has to go on the players; after all, at the end of the day it's supposed to be their decision. But Boras clearly has the reputation and ability to push players in one direction or another.

Unfortunately, it seems like all too often, it's not the right one.