MLB agent Scott Boras could see around 10-12 teams going over the luxury tax thresholdGetty Images
MLB agent Scott Boras predicted that more teams “may go over the luxury tax threshold to get great players,” according to Liz Mullen of SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL. Boras said now there are “only three to four teams that are well above” the threshold, but more will go because “that is what it is going to take to have a contending team at the highest level.” He added as many as 10-12 “will be well over the threshold because it’s going to take that to bring in a club that is of great value.” Boras said, “Revenues have increased dramatically in the game, and when you see revenues increase and franchise values increase, you give owners aggressive and good business reasons to bring a roster of championship talent to their team. That’s just good business.” Boras said that although paying taxes is “not favored,” teams may “take the risk because they must do it to make a ‘championship caliber’ team.” He added teams can “afford it because they have an increase in revenues,” so the choice now is “not that I don’t have the money, it’s now the idea that I’ve got it and what choice do I have in how to use it.” Meanwhile, Boras said that the long-term future for baseball is “bright, especially because of the advent of gaming and streaming.” Boras: “Baseball, because it’s played in 162 games, it’s going to be vastly more popular because of the fact that people on their handheld will have more interest in players. They’ll have a reason to follow players that they didn’t have before” (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/14 issue).
HOLDING ON: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Lindsey Adler wrote the “broader story of this offseason is shaping up to be about player retention,” with a “number of stars potentially departing clubs that have expressed an interest in keeping them” (11/11).
HEDGING IS BETTING: Fox Sports’s Deesha Thosar said the Mets “are already expected to topple” $300M in payroll for next year and “really exceed the limit.” Thosar said of re-signing P Jacob deGrom, “Steve Cohen has already shown he’s not afraid to go that distance when he wants to keep a star player on the team” (“Hot Stove,” MLB Network, 11/11).