"MLB Free Agent Frenzy-No Purchase Necessary"--NY Times

On Boras' media blitz last week aided by ESPN News on behalf of Arod:

• "His words and explanations convinced nobody of his innocence in the matter. The more he talked, the more guilty he sounded....

....In fact, Boras’s words and deeds had other agents saying they wouldn’t mind if the owners engaged in collusion against Rodriguez, which is a pretty severe reaction from people whose clients were victims of the owners’ collusion in the mid-1980s....

• ...."Three decades into free agency, Major League Baseball has accepted it... but they did engage in illegal collusive activities in the mid-1980s, which cost them $280 million, and officials have always been less than thrilled with the expensive (free agent) system.

• ....Now, however, baseball is embracing free agency, using it as a marketing tool, no less.

In an e-mail message to subscribers to its Web site, baseball urged viewers to “sign up now for the MLB.com Free Agent Frenzy.” Entrants can predict where the top free agents will go and have a chance to win tickets for opening day next season.

“No purchase necessary,” the announcement of the contest added. Maybe that means fans don’t have to buy their own free agents to participate."

• From NY Times column by Murray Chass, "Timing of Boras's Bluff May Prove Costly," 11/4/07

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