Valenti And Foster With Super Agent Scott Boras
Super sports agent Scott Boras chatted with Valenti and Foster in the wake of landing Prince Fielder a nearly quarter-billion-dollar deal to join the Detroit Tigers -- and he managed to never once shout "show me the money!" Jerry Maguire-style.
Rather, Boras downplayed Fielder's nine year, $214 million deal, describing it as "a bit of economic security."
"It's certainly a privilege to watch a team come together," Boras said. "When we did this deal for Prince ... A city you know, a chance to win, and a bit of economic security, I think this all worked out well."
Boras praised Tigers' owner Mike Ilitch, describing him as passionate and saying he "knows what it takes to win."
"His personal goal was to watch his team win a world championship ... We've just had success with Pudge and Magglio, Kenny Rogers, Porcello, with Turner, Manny Oliver, with many, many dynamics and trades, relievers we sent here, the players become all stars, they play well."
Boras described three key things that he said make Detroit a top players' town. The attractions are: a committed ownership, a modern ballpark, and a great fan base.
"Because of that, Detroit is getting some of the best players in the league to come here," Boras said. He also described a great relationship between himself, General Manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch.
"Mr. Ilitch wants to hear things from me (about) the player, his drive, the psychology, the commitment, he wants to know this personally," Boras said. "The relationship is one where the general manager basically comes in and says, 'We think this player works for this team,' then Mr. I gets involved. He wants to know, and do his due diligence and develop an instinct for the decision."
Valenti asked Boras about the rumor high-priced free agents don't want to come to Detroit, asking "Are your clients OK with the city of Detroit?"
They are, Boras said.
"The players have never, ever said anything to me about the city of Detroit except they love the suburbs surrounding the city, they love the ballpark," Boras said. "This team is winning and you have an owner who's committed to doing everything he can to help the team win.
"...Frankly, in professional sports there aren't a lot of franchises that can offer all of those dynamics. That happens to be in the city of Detroit. When the Detroit Tigers are in the World Series, I can't think of any player I represented who (would) say anything other than they were happy to be in the city of Detroit."
