Red Sox Want Long-Term Deal With Ellsbury, May Not Happen
July 21, 2011 - 3:08 pm by Ryan Phillips
The Boston Red Sox have made it clear that they want to ink outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury to a long-term deal. Unfortunately for the Sox, Ellsbury’s agent has said that kind of talk must wait for the offseason, and it may not come at all. I’ll give you two guesses who Ellsbury’s agent is, but you’re only going to need one…
Referring to his client, Scott Boras told the Boston Herald, “These things are offseason discussions. Whenever people ask me midseason about contracts, you have to make sure the players finishes the season. Only then is it the right point.”
Translation: Ellsbury’s value will be higher this offseason or when he’s finally eligible for free agency in a few years, talk to us then.
Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein has made Ellsbury a priority saying, “He’s somebody we’ve long believed in, we’ve long seen as a core young member of the organization that we would love to keep around.”
Yes you committed to and believed in him, cultivated his talent, carefully brought him along, gave him his shot and didn’t give up on him when he struggled…but Scott Boras needs another yacht, so you’re going to have to wait to talk about a contract.
Ellsbury is having another excellent year in Boston. He’s currently hitting .316 with 15 home runs, 54 RBI and 28 stolen bases. He’s had a great bounce-back season after missing all but 18 games of 2010 with rib injuries suffered in April that saw him bounce back and forth to the disabled list all season.
Ellsbury is under team control through the 2013 season, but the Red Sox clearly want to lock the 27-year-old up far beyond that. With Boras in charge of the negotiations, they may not get that chance for a while.
4 Responses to “Red Sox Want Long-Term Deal With Ellsbury, May Not Happen”
Good luck for the rest of the season from another Elsberry
By Lucille (Elsberry)York on Jul 21, 2011
Scott Boros is an asshole!
By Alan Mitchell on Jul 22, 2011
I’m just happy to see Elsberry performing at the level he was clearly born to achieve. I was totally impressed from the first time I saw him walk to the plate. I’m not going to get sidetracked by his agent’s hype, but I hope he stays with the Sox.
By . David H. Gover on Jul 23, 2011
Boras ALWAYS does what’s in HIS best interest. Although he usually gets excellent financial results for his client, some end up not being happy (i.e., Rodriguez in Texas, Beltran (until this year) in NY) and every once in a while, his client does suffer financially. He’ll never suffer because his losses can be made up on his next client. Timing is everything. It’s true that Jacoby’s value has never been higher but there is also the saying “strike while the iron is hot”. What if his free agent year was 2010? There are always risks and if the Sox make a genuinely fair offer (see Pedey, Yukie, etc.), the guaranteed contractg has to be worth something.
By Sam from Long Island on Jul 25, 2011