Scott Boras Rips Into Blue Jays Ownership

Oct 26, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew fields a ground ball in the 5th inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during game three of the MLB baseball World Series at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays have upset and bewildered a lot of people this winter, fans, media, and players alike. Despite all signs pointing toward Toronto being in a good position to make a move this winter, the Blue Jays seemingly sat out the hot stove season, save for the signing of Dioner Navarro.

But that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Fans have been irate with both Toronto’s ownership and front office. They aren’t the only one though.

In an interview with Ken Rosenthal, uber-agent Scott Boras calls out the Blue Jays ownership group, Rogers Communications, saying that they are hamstringing what could be a good team.

"“They’re a car with a huge engine that is impeded by a big corporate stop sign . . . a successful and committed ownership that needs to give their baseball people financial flexibility.”"

Those are big words to use against a team that ranks 9th in Major League Baseball in team salary heading into spring training. With $117.53 million committed to the 2014 team, it would be tough to proclaim the Rogers ownership group as “cheap”. However, after going “all-in” a year ago, the Blue Jays spent next to nothing this winter. That’s lead to a lot of those words flying around this winter, as fans haven’t seen the team take the next step toward improving the team that fell on its face a season ago.

As for Boras, this is simply a money grab that he repeats every year when his free agents are languishing on the market. He convinced the Washington Nationals to pick up Rafael Soriano under similar motives a season ago. This winter, he is still sitting on two prominent free agents, Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew, both of which have draft pick compensation tied to them.

Toronto has been tied to both free agents at some point this offseason. Stephen Drew would have a little bit of value to Toronto, as he could fill the hole at second base, currently slated to go to Ryan Goins. However, it is doubtful that Toronto will give him the money Boras wants, or surrender a draft pick to land him.

Morales is even less of a fit for Toronto. While the switch-hitter would be a nice bat in the line-up, the team would have to make further moves, notably with Adam Lind, to free up a position and roster space for Morales. Again, the same concerns about contract and draft pick compensation come back around for what is essentially a lateral move for the Blue Jays.

But leave it to Scott Boras to at least stir something up.