Posted by John Brattain on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 4:12 pm

I cannot help but wonder if this offseason might be a blessing in disguise for MLB.

Think about what is transpiring: teams are hoarding young, inexpensive talent and worrying about draft picks; clubs are looking at the totality of a given player’s skill set as never before and not just focusing on home runs, on base and slugging percentage–they’re wondering about their defense, their base running…the works.

More well rounded young talent are being considered for jobs over one-dimensional sluggers that are 35 or older.

Is the economy going to bring down the curtain on the “chicks dig the long ball” era as teams pinching pennies want to spend their money on things other than the ability to drive in three runs while giving up four?

Sadly, I think while the trend may be beginning I do think there will be some stupidity yet to come in the hot stove league. While I do not begrudge the players what they can get it is nice to see guys like Manny Ramirez and Adam Dunn begin to sweat, I like the fact that the Rays seemingly got a real deal on Pat Burrell (I use the word “seemingly” in that a slugger like him would generally command a lot more but let’s face it–he can hit and that’s his only skill) and it appears that teams are realizing that defense wins ball games as well.

Look at the Toronto Blue Jays–how much has their vaunted pitching of the last two seasons been the result of airtight defense? If that is indeed the case, why can’t Brett Cecil, David Purcey and possibly Scott Richmond or one of the Romero boys duplicate what Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan and Jesse Litsch did so superbly in 2007?

Of course, it would also look so good on Moby Boras–the great blight Dick (or something like that).

I know it only takes one sucker (see: Jones, Andruw circa December 12, 2007) for Boras to make a big score for one of his clients but the uncertain economy might be accelerating teams’ learning curve in dealing with the agent and more closely scrutinizing his tactics.

It may be that the Jones’ deal–a coup for Boras at the time–might have backfired in that it serves as a powerful object lesson regarding the hazards of not being exceedingly careful in their interactions with him; Barry Zito likewise. The current economic climate would make duplicating such a mistake a major catastrophe for many teams. The fact that Boras helped the Dodgers restructure the contract speaks volumes when you couple it with the Manny-to-the-Giants rumours.

Yes, San Fran might be serious about acquiring the enigmatic slugger but the club has been burned badly by Boras before (alliteration unintentional but cool nevertheless) with Zito and probably aren’t interested in committing 4-5 years at Boras-level compensation for a superb slugger that offers nothing else to a team. However, if you wish to build a fire under Ned Colletti and the Dodgers, the Giants are the fuel that needs to be utilized.

Now Boras is about as altruistic as the recently deceased Carl Pohlad who is rumoured to have a specially designed burial vault that require night crawlers pay a toll before entering which means that he didn’t restructure Jones’ contract out of the goodness of his heart. I’m guessing he did it to free up money for Manny Ramirez.

What makes it funny is that after November 14, Boras stated that he and Manny were now prepared to hear “serious offers” for his services but the only confirmed one is the less than serious offer made by the Dodgers when they had an exclusive window for negotiations for Ramirez. Now Boras is in the unenviable position of going back to the Dodgers and seeing if he can squeeze more money out of the club through redoing Jones’ contract and desperately trying to the Giants involved.

If Ramirez does indeed go back and for less than what was offered (or in the ballpark of) in early November I predict the following Boras’ spin: “Manny really wanted to stay with the Dodgers, he loves it there and there really was no second choice in his mind. A lot of teams offered a lot more but Ramirez was willing to take less to remain where he is comfortable. It wasn’t about the money for Manny as events have clearly demonstrated but his desire to remain in LA. As his agent I have to abide by my clients’ wishes” (or words to that effect).

Of course, there also remain Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez and I will be shocked if one of them doesn’t land a completely ridiculous contract that will join Zito in the economic aviary with the other albatrosses that Boras is noted for; let’s face it–the man feels he has failed his clients if they do not become a sunk cost at some point during the contract. Unfortunately for him, teams are desperately trying to avoid these as never before.

Getting back to the original premise of the post; it could be that teams finally understand how to work the system to their advantage and this will both improve the product on the field and hurt Boras. Clubs (hopefully) will be mindful of what players can and cannot do and Boras is a master and painting what a player can do as proof of his inner circle Hall of Fame greatness and what he cannot do as an irrelevant trifle not be worried about. If teams objectively assess talent in an ongoing basis then Boras is in trouble.

What I really like about this potential change is that while I enjoy the occasional barn-burning slugfest, I love baseball for a myriad of things: the 3-6-1 double play, Ichiro gunning down a player at the plate, watching Devon White (back in the day) glide effortlessly into the gap to turn extra bases into a routine out. I adore watching John McDonald play defense, while I hate it as a Blue Jays fan–I love watching Jacob Ellsbury turn a walk into a double and there’s little anyone can do about it. Baseball was about Rickey and Rock Raines, Alan Trammel and Lou Whitaker (or Robbie Alomar and Omar Vizquel) up the middle, the Mets’ defensive infield of John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordonez and Robin Ventura; there was Terry Mulholland’s pickoff move, Pudge Rodriguez gunning down base thieves, Greg Maddux throwing a complete game using little more than fastball in/fastball out impeccably spotted in the strike zone.

Getting away from the era of the monster slugger and the so-called “Moneyball A’s” of long at bats and three-run jacks and getting back to the fun of the 1970’s and 80’s suit me just fine (AND GET OFF MY LAWN!!).

Best Regards

John