Is this sports agent really going to be charged with theft?
In today's world, sports agents aren't exactly the most sympathetic figures out there. When you are the guy who is the middle man between billionaires and millionaires, most regular people are not going to be able to relate to you. I would argue that most fans who don't want to hate their team or their favorite players find it very easy to direct their anger over skyrocketing contracts and ticket prices on to those "dirty agents".
But that doesn't mean we should root for these agents to go to jail for theft.
Well that is unless you happen to be Chris Sale.
His agent B.B. Abbott has stolen millions from Chris Sale... and both the White and Red Sox are still laughing.
In the least shocking and nearly laughable move of the MLB off-season, this week the Boston Red Sox exercised their $15 million option on ace pitcher Chris Sale.
Now I realize that us normal people $15 million to play a game seems like a ridiculous amount of money. But Chris Sale is not a "normal" person. He is a freak of nature who can perfectly place a 90 something MPH fastball anywhere he wants. He can make other freaks of nature look like fools waving at his lights out slider. When you are talking money, you can only compare freaks of nature with other freaks of nature.
Back in the off-season of 2014, then 25 year old ace Cris Sale signed one of the worst deals (from a player's perspective) that anyone had ever seen. Here is what Sale, the 13th overall pick in the 2010 draft did during his first 4 years in the majors.
After 3 all-star game selections and 3 top 6 Cy Young Award finishes in your first 3 seasons of Major League Baseball, most would expect an agent to secure a mega deal for such a hot commodity. But for some odd reason, Sale's agent allowed him to sign a 5 year $32.5 million contract.
Again, please don't compare that $32.5 million to regular people. You can only compare it to the other athletic freaks.
So let's do that.
Here are the top 10 salaries for next year (the last year of Sale's contract).
That is right all of these guys will make similar salaries (or more) than Sale will earn during his 5 years combined.
By the way Sale has made the All-Star team every full year of his career and has been named the AL starter for the past 3 years in a row. He's also finished in the top 5 for the Cy Young Award in each of the last 5 seasons.
So should B.B. Abbott go to jail for leaving so much of Chris Sale's money in the pockets of the team owners?
Nah.
But he sure as hell better make it up to him with his next deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 to $200 million.
Something tells me, as soon as Sale inks that next deal, he will be "made whole".
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Hey Hanshotfirst...
I'm from Boston and a huge Red Sox fan (former season ticket holder). Sale's contract isn't comparable to those you listed because they were for his arbitration years. He couldn't get $30 million a year (Like David Price) no matter how hard his agent negotiated. The $15 million option the Sox just exercised was for the year he gave up to earn more than he would in arbitration for the length of the previous contract spanning his arbitration years.
Yes he is a tremendous value for the Sox but they gave up 2 great prospects to get him.
He was worn down last season and didn't pitch well in the play-offs and this year has had shoulder issues since the All Star game. I'm hoping he is healthy and can get his $30 million per year, but like all young players he had to work through his arbitration years to earn the right to get paid..jpg)