THE NEGOTIATORS:The man behind the deals

It is one of the rare days of the baseball season. Scott Boras has no game to attend.

The sports agent looks stranded, like the base runner on the nearby 60-inch flat-screen TV trying to score the game-winning run. Ninety feet seems so distant, almost as far as the nearest baseball game in San Francisco for Boras.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and San Diego Padres are all on the road.

“This only happens five times a season when we don’t have a game in Southern California,” Boras said. “My wife and I are going out to dinner. First time in seven weeks.”

So what is one of most powerful men in Major League Baseball going to do for the next four hours before dinner?

Snap, snap. He’s posing for photos.

A photographer from Japan is taking shots, trying to get that million dollar shot for an upcoming feature on Boras in GQ Japan. The photographer just needs to focus on the walls of Boras Corp. in Newport Beach. The millions are on display, like prized works of art inside a sleek modern building. Pick your shot in the lobby, many to choose from the items hanging from the two-story-high ceiling.

To the left is pitcher Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants. Almost in the middle is the big-ticket item, third baseman Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.

Price tags only owners can afford. Zito went for $126 million in 2006, Rodriguez $252 million in 2000, the largest contracts for a pitcher and player in baseball history.

The man behind the deals is Boras. A 54-year-old charming, yet shrewd, former minor leaguer who cuts unprecedented contracts as the on-site chef does organic meats. The food is free for employees, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Boras charges a 5% fee for his clients. Smaller than the local sales tax, but Boras’ reputation is to squeeze the most out of an owner’s pockets.

Makes sense to the man from Elk Grove, near Sacramento. Boras, a son of a farmer, calls it getting fair market value for his clients. Players praise his due diligence. The more lucrative the contract he negotiates, the happier his clients usually are. It’s like a cow pumping out more milk. Boras made sure of that by milking cows correctly as a child.

Credit goes to the 31 years in the business in which Boras said he’s negotiated $2.5 billion in contracts. Boras’ formula for success is still on target as often as his Future Hall of Fame client Greg Maddux hits the strike zone.

“We do not practice sports agency like other agents because we’re rooted [in the game] by being former players,” said Boras, who has three other attorneys working with him, including former major league pitcher Jeff Musselman, a Harvard University graduate, who played for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets from 1986 to 1990. “We don’t offer valet service, we don’t do this traditional sales approach that you see from a lot of the agents and what people expect them to be, you know the Arliss kind of guy.

“Our primary objective is the success and goals of our clients. It’s not to be their friends, but we end up being their friends. I always tell players, ‘When your career is over, we’re going to be great friends. But now I represent and guide you.’ That requires a standard the players know we’re going to ... have some tough conversations.”

Easing the tension between client and agent is talk of how Boras can secure the player’s future.

The potential to strike it rich is there. Major League Baseball is a $6 billion-a-year industry and Boras said it has doubled since 2000, when he inked Rodriguez’s deal with the Texas Rangers.

Reaching that level of success Boras said requires the proper tools and guidance. All of which he said are readily available to his current roster of 70 major leaguers.

Players can choose from seeing a sports psychologist, a physical fitness trainer, a legal or certified public accountant advisor, a marketing guru for endorsement opportunities, and there are researchers there to inform a player of his latest milestone.

For access, just buzz Boras Corp. and wait. Someone will respond through an intercom.

WELCOME

“Welcome to the Boras Corporation. May I help you?”

One needs an appointment to walk through the massive door that resembles part of a leg belonging to Megatron, a Transformers robot.

Once in, Boras’ dream home brings the past, the modern and the future of baseball together. All stored in a state-of-the art database downstairs, where three giant servers are located. The database has it all, going back to the first major league game in 1871 to the ones that are being played on the dozens of high-definition TVs hanging throughout the 23,000 square foot high-tech compound designed by Boras.

The TVs are on to keep track of Boras’ clientele. His players not only make history with contracts, but also on the field. Big or small, the milestones receive their do, from Maddux’s 300th career win three years ago while with the Chicago Cubs to Tampa Bay Devil Rays first baseman Carlos Pena’s 500th career hit recently. Rodriguez just hit his 500th home run.

So who follows all of this? Look around and you won’t find the 14 researchers. They’re hunkering down. Crowding their respective workspaces are multiple 13-inch HD monitors turned on to practically every baseball game featuring a Boras player. Dave Hardee is one these market and research analysts. The surveillance makes him look more like a security guard.

Two days before, Hardee watched one of Boras’ former clients, Barry Bonds, closely. That night the slugger became the game’s home run king, blasting No. 756 and surpassing Hank Aaron. Boras did not attend the game.

Three years from representing the game’s most maligned star, Boras talked about went wrong with the left fielder who once gave his two sons All-Star rings. Bonds and Boras went their separate ways around the time the steroid allegations against Bonds began to ring true.

“Philosophically, sometimes we represent a player that doesn’t fit, we’ll let them know. At the end with Barry Bonds, we felt philosophically we didn’t,” Boras said. “When you represent, you have to have an approach and tact, and Barry came to me, he hired me to do his baseball contract [in 2002]. He had a number of other people around him that were providing other services. I frankly would’ve done some things differently. He felt that he wanted his people that he had previously. I just felt as the baseball contract is done, so we’re good. Basically kind of go in a different direction.

“There [are] a lot of players with a lot of talent, but some don’t have character, and who we really don’t want to be involved with. The great thing about success in business, you really philosophically choose your clients, and also say no to others.”

Around draft time, Boras said more than 100 calls from potential draftees come in desiring his services. Five or six are lucky to get Boras each year. Boras’ record of securing top money for first-round picks is impressive. Check Mark Teixeira’s $10.5 million deal with Texas in 2001. That figure explains it all. A player’s earning potential grew since Boras revolutionized baseball’s annual amateur draft in 1983.

“Officially, we were really one of the first people ever to represent drafted players,” he said. “Bonuses did not change for 17 years. The first player drafted, Ricky Monday, signed for $100,000 [in 1965 with the then Kansas City Athletics]. Seventeen years later, the first player drafted [Shawon Dunston], even though the revenues of the game had gone up to about eight to 10 times, got $100,000 [from the Chicago Cubs]. So I realized that these drafted players were not [getting compensated].

“We tell players out of high school you may double or triple your bonus. We had that recently happen. Teixeira was offered a couple of million dollars to sign and he went back to school. He came out the next draft, and he got $10.5 million to sign. Obviously the team that drafted him isn’t going to be happy when he goes back to school.”

Boras has reshaped the game of baseball. He still wants to implement more changes — a nine-game World Series, instead of the seven-game series, played in a different city every year, making it baseball’s version of the Super Bowl. A new stat he calls “EP,” standing for exceptional play, which will allow fans to recognize a player’s defensive contribution in a sport where offense gets more of the spotlight.

What Boras wants, he usually gets. Those around him see it daily. For the most part, employees and clients reap the benefits. Owners, presidents, general managers, managers and fans are more often than not left startled by his demands.

Look at Boras’ power.

He made good on a guarantee that former Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown have a private jet for his family to fly to and from Los Angeles and Georgia. For Boston Red Sox rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka, he landed another treat: getting the pitcher to play a round of golf at a country club on the road.

There’s more. Boras made sure Seattle Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre’s workout regimen wasnt’ altered by the team. And he got Rodriguez the right endorsement deal.

Event when it comes to getting the photographer to take his picture at the correct spot, Boras has a say.

“Over here,” Boras guided a photographer toward a 10-by-16-foot display, with his logo “B” in the middle of a baseball field and surrounded with enough baseballs to take 1,500 swings during batting practice. The baseball glove holders are down the hall, where replicas of some of the 16 Gold Gloves his players have won are on exhibit.

No playing glove to slip your hand into today. Last week, there were. Five Red Sox signed to Boras were in town as Boston played the Angels for a three-game series. Some big names, Matsuzaka, catcher Jason Varitek, and former Dodgers, outfielder J.D. Drew, reliever Eric Gagne and infielder Alex Cora.

The popular glove belonged to the Boras’ most expensive Red Sox — Matsuzaka. Getting him to play catch was worth it — without the throng of Japanese media around this time.

MARKETING

The first time Russell Chase, president of the marketing and personal management consultation groups, saw Matsuzaka all he remembers is the paparazzi waiting for him outside of Boras Corp.

Back when Boras began his dealings for Matsuzaka’s six-year, $52 million deal with the Red Sox brass in November, when Boston paid $51 million for just the rights to sign him in 30 days or risk seeing him go back to Japan to the Seibu Lions, there was practically no place to park a car outside.

A crowd of 145 Japanese reporters and seven TV trucks took the spots during what Boras thought would be secret negotiations with the Red Sox.

“Once the Japanese press found out, we were, ‘Watch out!’ It was quite an ordeal,” Boras said. “We sent them pizza, we had coffee, we tried to do whatever we could, but it was a really very interesting dynamic.”

One that gave Chase a clear picture of Matsuzaka’s marketing potential.

Matsuzaka’s nickname is “Dice-K.” But Chase knew Boras Corp. wasn’t rolling the dice with signing the right-hander, who proved his worth during the World Baseball Classic in 2006 as he was named MVP and Japan beat Cuba for the title. With as many pitches, eight, Dice-K throws, the endorsement opportunities are high.

“Let’s put it this way. What Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are in our perspective in the U.S., I believe that in Japan that’s the type of top-shelve guy that is available,” said Chase, who before joining Boras Corp. five years ago ran the sales organization for a global petrochemical business for most of his 20 years with the company. “You look at Dice-K. Why do they like him? He’s likeable. What does he do before he throws? He’s out there playing catch down the third-base line and everything. He’s smiling. He’s having fun with his teammates. That’s that personality piece, that’s that extra piece.

“You might have someone who is a great performer and they might be in a great market, but when you have a great performer in a great market that also has that special personality, when someone says, ‘You know what? He looks like a good guy,’ that overlays on a product.”

Chase said Boras Sports Marketing has a stake in Dice-K’s deals in the U.S. that don’t conflict with his endorsements in Japan.

Last month, A CD, titled “Music From The Mound,” came out with Dice-K’s favorite and inspirational tunes. Since the album’s release through EMI, he hasn’t lost a beat. He’s 13-10 with a 3.76 earned-run average and 172 strikeouts in 170 innings. These are numbers that sing to Boras’ ears when he hears them from a researcher.

As of now, Dice-K is on pace for a successful campaign with the American East leading Red Sox. Continuing to strive for the best is what Boras discusses with his clients whenever they’re in town, or free to visit after their respective teams have played the Angels, Dodgers or Padres.

The most recent example came with the Red Sox players and over a Cuban plate of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and empanadas (stuffed pastries). After eating together, it’s time to catch up in private on business.

MEETING

A meeting with Boras turns serious right away. The man behind the desk knows everything you’ve been up to. Beltre’s been there before.

Beltre said he frequents the office. During the offseason, he makes his home in Los Angeles. During the season, he comes on trips to Anaheim.

When Beltre met Boras for the first time, Beltre said, “I was intimidated.” Thirteen years ago, the 15-year-old from the Dominican Republic said he knew as much of Boras as the English language. Little.

Carlos Rios, a friend of Beltre, introduced Beltre to Boras. The two exchanged handshakes and a friendly “hola.” Three years later, the Dodgers called up the highly-touted prospect from Double-A San Antonio. At 19, the youngest major leaguer in 1998 said he felt jubilant and lost at the same time. He was out of his realm.

Who made the Santo Domingo kid who dreamed of making the “grande liga” like every other Dominican feel right at home? Boras.

“He would come out to my apartment when I was a rookie and he would just be like one of the guys,” Beltre said. “People think he’s all about Scott. But he’s a low-key guy and doesn’t make you feel like he’s smarter than you. He’s helped me out a lot.”

Beltre needed Boras, especially in his full rookie year in 1999. An investigation by Commissioner Bud Selig found that Beltre lied about his age when the Dodgers signed him at 15, a year younger than baseball’s minimum.

Selig punished the Dodgers and Beltre. The Dodgers were banned from scouting and signing a first-year Dominican player for one year and ordered to stop operations at their prestigious baseball academy in the Dominican Republic for one year.

Beltre lost his chance at free agency. Five years later, the opportunity to test the open market came. This time an MVP-type season, a .334 batting average, 48 home runs, 121 RBIs, demanded MVP-type compensation. The Dodgers’ bid fell short. Seattle’s offer — $66 million for five years — won.

Beltre never lived up to the contract the next two years, coming up four homers short of matching that 2004 campaign. The best average during the two years, never higher than .268. The RBIs, never higher than 89.

Boras blames it on a league change, moving from the National League to the American League. For Beltre, adjusting and living up to the high expectations proved to be tough.

“I would be lying to you if I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I wanted to have a quick impact. You want to make sure that the level you play is high, and all this [pressure] gets you in a slump.”

The numbers are around the same in Beltre’s third year. He’s at 20 homers and 75 RBIs, closing in on what Boras envisions Beltre as a “30 home run and 90 RBI kind of guy.” Thirty-eight games left in the regular season to reach those expectations.

Defensively, Beltre is stellar on the hot corner. Talk of the 28-year-old snagging a Gold Glove for the first time and ending Oakland Athletics Eric Chavez six-year run is growing.

“He’ll probably win a Gold Glove very soon,” said Boras of an area Beltre said he takes joy in when he’s not excelling offensively.

One of those aiding Beltre, and other Boras clients, is well-known sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman, who works for Boras Sports Training Institute. Beltre points out the key to a prosperous career. Just read the cover of one of Dorfman’s books: The Mental Game of Baseball.

“I talk to the mentor all the time,” he said. “He’s the best in the business because he makes everything so simple. He tells you, ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself.’”

Let Boras do all the pushing.

NEGOTIATION

Negotiating with Boras is no easy task. There’s a reason Esquire has called him the “Most Hated Man in Baseball.” He has a history of taking a small-market team’s best player away to greener pastures.

A former client, Gary Sheffield of the Detroit Tigers, once said Boras “has an ego the size of L.A.” Boras sued Sheffield, not for the comments in the book “License to Deal,” but for the agent share he never received when Sheffield did his own three-year, $39 million contract with the Yankees before the 2004 season.

During that season, Sheffield countersued, alleging Boras had bad-mouthed him to other teams causing him to sign for less. Then Sheffield gave a classic quote, one any general manager would ask: “He didn’t get enough money for Alex Rodriguez?”

Even some of Boras’ employees have to deal with Boras.

“He’s tough. He’s well prepared,” said a smiling Chase, who joined Boras after the two met working out at a local fitness center. “He stays in shape.”

Boras is not in the tip-top shape as before, but still in jeans, a white collared shirt and blue blazer, the man is ready to fight for his clients. Even the underperformers like Drew, a player involved in negotiations with the Dodgers this past offseason that still leaves Boras shaking his head when it comes up.

Drew, 31, signed a five-year, $70 million contract with Boston after an escape clause in his deal allowed him to test the free agent market.

“The club just said economically they were going to invest $[44] million in a center fielder in [Juan] Pierre rather than the best thing they had,” said Boras, whose 6-foot-1, 200-pound right fielder has driven in 45 runs, 15 more than the Dodgers’ No. 2 hitter, and is batting .264, 27 points lower than the 5-foot-11, 180-pound center fielder Pierre.

In the magnitude of contracts, those two players are nowhere close to Boras’ top athlete, Rodriguez.

Is A-Rod the first $30-plus million a year player? Boras set it up that way after making Brown the first $100-million player in 1999, and a year later, Rodriguez the first $200-million player.

“I more than see it. When I did his contract the last time, I put a clause in there that if he were to stay with a club that it would escalate to $32 million the last two years of the contract,” Boras said, smiling.

The Yankees want to sign Rodriguez to an extension past 2010 to avoid having to bid for his services if Rodriguez opts out after the season. He has the right to opt out and become a free agent. But Boras balked at negotiating during a season in which Rodriguez is leading the majors with 42 home runs and 121 RBIs.

“I rarely, if ever, negotiate contracts during the season,” Boras said. “I don’t want to interrupt a player’s focus.”

In New York, there isn’t a day without disruption, whether its fans questioning if A-Rod will snap out of his recent postseason woes come October, or why a married man is hanging out with strippers.

Another distraction surfaced in New York last week. General Manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees wouldn’t resign Rodriguez if he opted out of his contract. The response is a far cry of the type of encouragement Boras received when in attendance at Yankees Stadium on Aug. 4, a historic day for Rodriguez.

Boras watched the 32-year-old become the youngest player to reach 500 home runs. A big feat, as only 21 other players have hit 500 homers, an amount almost good enough to make into Cooperstown after his career is over.

“When I was there, their must have been 10,000 people coming up to me, ‘Please keep Alex in New York,’” Boras said. “Like it was my decision, right?”