The Players Association has informed Scott Boras that his plan to pay his released minor-league clients would violate the union’s agent regulations.
So, Boras said he put the money to good use in another way, committing it as a donation to VoteRiders, a non-profit that strives to ensure all U.S. citizens can exercise their right to vote.
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Boras declined to say how much his agency would be donating to VoteRiders. Kathleen Unger, the organization’s chairman of the board/president, described it as “a significant amount.”
“We focus on voter ID to ensure American citizens can vote with confidence, knowing they cannot be turned away,” Unger said. “At least 25 percent of black voters do not have a current government-issued photo.”
The union viewed Boras’ idea to help his released minor leaguers as well-intentioned, but told him not to proceed with his pledge to pay them their expected salaries for the year, sources said. Boras will not be fined or disciplined by the union, which effectively stopped him from paying the players before he started. Jon Heyman reported the agent’s plan on Twitter last Tuesday.
The union is exploring ways to help minor leaguers, but is not yet ready to reveal details, a source said.
Other agents expressed concern to the PA that Boras would be violating regulations if he paid his minor-league clients, believing the union would set a bad precedent if it allowed him to go forward. The relevant portion of the regulations, a copy of which was obtained by The Athletic, states that “Any gifts or promise of gifts, of money or of any other thing with an aggregate value exceeding $500 U.S. in any calendar year, by an Expert Agent Advisor to any single player, or any persons related to or associated with such player, are prohibited.”
Boras said he understood the union’s policy, but did not believe paying the minor leaguers was outside the rules. Released players generally are not prospects, and Boras was not recruiting them – they already were his clients.
Other agents, however, said a refusal by the union to stop Boras from paying minor leaguers might have created openings for agents to pay players in other circumstances – in an effort to retain them as clients, for example.
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A lack of action by the union also might have pressured other agents to pay their released minor-league clients, and enabled Boras to use his act of goodwill as a recruiting tool.
Boras has added four major-league clients since baseball shut down on March 12: Rays left-hander and former Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Reds lefty reliever Amir Garrett, Tigers right-hander Matt Manning and Phillies third base prospect Alec Bohm.
(Photo: Kiyoshi Mio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
