Agents telling players where to play?

[kantonburg]

Dan Patrick asks Steve Smith if he's going to be a Panther next year and he says he called his agent to find out. He didn't know.

I would think the player has the final say if they want to play for a team. To me when you make that much money I'd much rather play for a team that wins than one that has to rebuild or whatnot.

How much influence does the agent have on where a player plays?

[chrisih8u]

Originally posted by kantonburg

How much influence does the agent have on where a player plays?

For smart players: not much
For stupid players: alot

[AndyCapps]

Some players will play for whatever team their agent can get the most money out of. I'm guessing that the relationship a player has with his agent might influence his decision (maybe an agent has a good relationship with a particular GM and tries to influence his player take an offer). I think a player's choice of agent might affect what teams show interest.

For example, everyone knows Scott Boras expects his players to be overpaid. Maybe he convinces a guy like Greg Maddux that he can get him $30 million over 3 years, so he agrees to hold out. A team may not bother making an offer because they know Boras seems good at finding a sucker.

[kantonburg]

I just can't imagine why Pudge took the Tigers offer. He said it's because the owner showed him respect. I can only imagine that if he went to Baltimore or stayed in Florida he would have been shown some respect. He's flat out earned it. Now he's going to a miserable team that will still have a miserable season even though they have made a few good pickups.

[kvrdave]

Major market helps bring major bling bling via endorsements. Agents might know that. -wink-

[Jericho]

Originally posted by kantonburg
I just can't imagine why Pudge took the Tigers offer. He said it's because the owner showed him respect. I can only imagine that if he went to Baltimore or stayed in Florida he would have been shown some respect. He's flat out earned it. Now he's going to a miserable team that will still have a miserable season even though they have made a few good pickups.

My guess, which I thinkis pretty accurate is that he took the Tigers money because no one else was offering him anything worthwhile. He offer estimated his worth again, turned down decent money from Florida and Baltimore, and got stuck with no options when those closed. For his benefit, the Tigers unwisely gave him basically what he was looking for, but there was nothing left for him to do.

He could have accepted the early offers, but probably thought those teams would offer more money and lost out when they didn't.

[Flashback]

Originally posted by kantonburg
I just can't imagine why Pudge took the Tigers offer. He said it's because the owner showed him respect. I can only imagine that if he went to Baltimore or stayed in Florida he would have been shown some respect. He's flat out earned it. Now he's going to a miserable team that will still have a miserable season even though they have made a few good pickups.

Yeah Pudge did it for respect...just like his other contract...it was only for the money. Everyone and their 'soon to be children' know the Tigers don't have a shot in hell and that it has nothing to do with respect unless you measure it by $$$.

[Low RG]

Originally posted by kantonburg
I would think the player has the final say if they want to play for a team. To me when you make that much money I'd much rather play for a team that wins than one that has to rebuild or whatnot.

How much influence does the agent have on where a player plays?

Reminds me of that Arliss episode in which he trades a client to help benefit his Fantasy Baseball squad!

[Vision Society]

I think a lot. I remember both Howard Eisley and Shannon Anderson left the Jazz for less money. They had the same agent that hated Utah and try to keep his clients away from Utah.