Scott Boras Is Well on His Way To Being Back on Top

Last year, a lot was made about Scott Boras’ shortcomings in free agency. His top clients sat at home for most of the offseason, waiting for teams to meet asking prices that were never reached.

Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger were dubbed “The Boras Four,” as some of the top free agents on the market who had to wait until the very end of the offseason to sign.

All four of those free agents signed prove-it deals with opt-outs, as Boras tried to save face with high AAV short-term deals, allowing them all to take another bite at the free agent apple down the road.

Those deals were so underwhelming at the time and had some asking if Boras’ best days as an agent were behind him. I explored this very notion in a story I wrote at the end of March: “Is Scott Boras Falling Off, Or Will He Get to Have the Last Laugh?“

At the time, my theory about Boras’ standing as the preeminent agent in sports was pretty straightforward. As long as the top players keep signing with Boras, there is always a new free agent class that can be his saving grace.

We haven’t even seen most of his big-ticket names come off the board this offseason, and Boras is already starting to show that he is not only back on top. He never left.

Half of the “Boras Four” Got Paid

Considering the fact that most of the flack Boras took stemmed from his patented “Boras Four,” it makes sense to revisit what happened with each of those prominent free agents and look at where they are now.

Blake Snell Landed His Long-Awaiting Nine-Figure Deal

The most noteworthy free agent Boras had last offseason was a newly minted two-time Cy Young winner in Blake Snell. On March 18th, Snell finally signed his first free agent deal, and it was for only two years.

The contract was a two-year, $62 million deal, which included an opt-out after the first season.

Snell was paid $15 million by the Giants in 2024 and also received a $17 million signing bonus, which he still must wait until January 15th, 2026, to collect. In the grand scheme of things, Snell earned $32 million for his lone year in San Francisco.

While he got off to a slow start, Snell made the most out of 12 starts in the second half, pitching to a 1.45 ERA in 68 1/3 innings pitched. After waiting around last year, it was likely important to Snell to get something done early this time, and Boras did exactly that.

The ink is not even dry on Snell’s new deal, which is a five-year commitment from the Dodgers for a whopping $182 million. Sure, some of that contract is deferred, but overall, Snell will have earned a grand total of $214 million across his first six free agent years from 2024-2029.

Matt Chapman Found a Home with the Giants

Snell ended up becoming a teammate with one of his fellow “Boras Four” members, as Matt Chapman signed with the San Francisco Giants as well. Like Snell, Chapman enjoyed a lot of success in San Francisco, even if the team did not.

Chapman hit .247/.328/.463 and matched his career OPS with an identical .790 mark. He blasted 27 home runs, drove in 78, and stole a career-high 15 bases, all while winning a Gold Glove for his play at third base.

Originally signed to what was seen as a team-friendly, three-year, $54 million deal, Chapman earned a raise before he could even trigger one of his opt-outs to hit free agency, signing a six-year, $151 million contract extension.

Chapman went from an AAV of $18 million to an AAV of just over $25 million, while coming just shy of tripling the total value of the deal he signed last offseason over twice as many years.

It’s thanks to a strong season by Chapman, and a perfect marriage with San Francisco, that Boras came away with a big victory on this one.

Cody Bellinger Is Still Playing it Out

Cody Bellinger is a very relevant player this time of year, as the Chicago Cubs are reportedly shopping him on the trade market heading into year two of a three-year, $80 million deal.

The 29-year-old had an opt-out which he could have used to take another crack at free agency before he turned 30. Yet, he thought it best to opt into $27.5 million in 2025 with a $25 million player option for 2026 still looming as another security blanket if he doesn’t have a good season.

Bellinger wasn’t nearly as productive in his second year with the Cubs as he was back in 2023, when he hit 26 home runs, stole 20 bases and posted a 4.4 fWAR in a contract year. In another pseudo-contract year in 2024, Bellinger’s WAR total was cut in half to 2.2.

An above-average hitter who can play above-average defense anywhere in the outfield and at first base, Bellinger is always going to be a commodity, whether in free agency or even right now on the trade market.

With that said, Bellinger will need to put together a very strong season in 2025 or 2026 to get the type of long-term commitment we were all expecting him to receive when he hit free agency at 28 a year ago.

Jordan Montgomery: Firing Boras Says All You Need to Know

If there was one free agent who got most screwed by being part of the “Boras Four” it was Jordan Montgomery. The left-hander is probably looking at the three-year, $63 million contract Yusei Kikuchi signed this winter and wishing he got that deal.

Montgomery might have hit free agency at too good of a time, coming off a World Series run where he excelled for the Texas Rangers. This might have set the ask on Montgomery too high for teams, as Boras looked for frontline money for a really good mid-rotation guy.

Coming off three good seasons in a row, Montgomery should have gotten a deal at least that long, if not one that stretched to even four or five years.

That deal never came though, and Montgomery frustratingly accepted a two-year, $47.5 million contract with the team he just beat in the World Series. When a player signs with a new team and immediately fires his agent, the relationship is not necessarily starting on a good note.

His pitching to a 6.23 ERA was another step in the wrong direction, which was only made worse by the D-backs owner making public comments about how bad the signing was, stating that he takes all the blame for making that decision.

Montgomery, under new representation, is now on the trade block and will seemingly get a chance to make a fresh start somewhere else with one year and $22.5 million left on his contract (which the D-Backs will likely eat a lot of to move him).

If Montgomery can return to form in a new uniform, there is every chance that he can salvage things and still get a nice new deal next winter. At this point, it is on him to make that happen.

The “Boras Juan” > The “Boras Four”

I figured it might be time to take the old pun out of Scott Boras’ playbook and talk about the player that was always going to be his saving grace: Juan Soto.

Or maybe better known as 26-year-old Juan Soto.

The “modern-day Ted Williams” is set to sign a record-breaking contract any moment now, and that will undoubtedly make this one of those patented Boras offseasons in which the world revolves around his clients for the Winter Meetings.

Soto may have a team picked out, or maybe more offers are flowing in. Regardless of the timing, the result is inevitable. Juan Soto will sign a record-breaking free agent contract soon. That should trigger a wave of dominoes that will be felt up and down the free agent market.

Next Record Up: Corbin Burnes

It is rare to hit free agency coming off a better string of seasons than Corbin Burnes has as a starting pitcher. The newly turned 30-year-old could be looking at a contract that spans at least seven seasons and is sure to be worth at least north of $30 million a year.

When you consider where Burnes is at in his career, and compare it to Gerrit Cole five years ago, it is fair to look to the very top when trying to project a contract for the former Cy Young.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto broke Cole’s record for the largest contract ever given to a pitcher last offseason, signing a $325 million deal with the Dodgers. It was exactly $1 million more than Cole’s nine-year, $324 million guarantee.

Is there a world where Boras asks for $326 million or better to try to beat Yamamoto’s deal?

Definitely. The only question is if a team will give it to him.

Corning the Infield Market: Bregman and Alonso

From writing this story, I have begun to understand Boras and why he relies so heavily on puns. He’s got so many clients, it’s the only way to make them all stand out.

If Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes are No. 1 and No. 2, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso being No. 3 and No. 4 on Boras’ client list this offseason is pretty exceptional.

There is a world where both Bregman and Alonso exceed $150 million on their free agent deals as the best free agents at their respective positions. Boras also has Ha-Seong Kim, a middle infielder who is sure to get a ton of interest around the league.

Good Deals Done with More on the Way

Beyond just Blake Snell, Scott Boras has already pushed a few other solid deals across the finish line for his starting pitchers. We mentioned the deal that Yusei Kikuchi signed, which was one negotiated by Boras. He also had Frankie Montas, who just signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the Mets.

Boras still has Sean Manaea waiting on a strong payday after a great season, as are outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Jurickson Profar.

The more you dig deeper and deeper on Boras’ client list this year, the more players you find who could be major contributors next year, like Michael Conforto or J.D. Martinez. A team will surely take a shot at a bounceback from Max Scherzer, too.

As long as Boras’ client list is long, he will always get another chance to control the market. And that is because he has a monopoly over talent in the market.

When it comes to our only true “super agent” in professional sports, the reality with Scott Boras is that he is simply too big to fail.