According to a report by ESPN.com, baseball agent Scott Boras’ company supplied “tens of thousands of dollars in loans and payments” to the families of needy prospects in the Dominican Republic.
The report cited people with ties to Boras. The Times said the loans and payments raise questions about whether his company broke Major League Baseball Players Association rules governing the conduct of agents.
Domingo Ramos, a former big league player who works for Boras’ company, told The Times that the company typically represented a few top Dominican prospects each year and made loans to a majority of them. The money was usually used for food, housing and other needs, he said.
“Sometimes we get it back, sometimes we don’t,” Ramos told The Times. “Sometimes, it’s tough to get it back. It’s as simple as that.”
The Times said Boras’ company loaned teenage client Edward Salcedo and his family about $70,000 from 2007-09, according to the shortstop’s brother, Thommy, and Martiris Hanley, a former Boras employee. They said the money was to be repaid out of Salcedo’s future earnings.
In a way, it’s nice to see that Boras’ company provided money for food, clothing and shelter. But the only reason they dished out money was so that these players would sign with Boras, so it’s not like he’s Mother Teresa here.
If the report is true, this is just another example of how far agents will go to secure a client.
