Always an objective source of information when speaking about his clients, Scott Boras chimed in on the value of Rays 1B Carlos Peña to the media today. Perhaps seeking to pre-emptively raise Peña's value in the court of public opinion before the Rays begin negotiating a deal, Boras had a few interesting things to say.

There is no getting around the fact that Boras is one of the most successful people in his career field. His ability to extort money out of teams across the world of sports has been well-documented. From draft picks to NFL holdouts, Boras has been ridiculously successful in representing his clients over the years. What is his motivation for speaking up now on Peña? Well, it is probably partly him getting in the first salvo before the free agent period kicks off. Another part of it might be Peña's lack of reluctance to lavish the Rays with praise and to state his desire to stay. Boras may view that as potentially limiting his flexibility in negotiations, so he probably wanted to step forward and make clear that Peña's commitment to the Rays is by no means open-ended. I wonder if Peña's tune will change somewhat following this first remark from his agent.

That's not to say that I don't think that Carlos is sincere about wanting to stay here. But from Boras' standpoint it is just smart business to leave as little implied obligation on the table as possible. I will be curious to see if Peña perhaps got a reminder on this point from his advisor. Obviously Peña is the boss in that relationship and still makes the final call, but I think he would certainly listen to any suggestion that allows him to earn as much money as possible while remaining in Tampa Bay. My read on this is that it is all a little battle in a war for perception.

In any case, Boras' remarks themselves certainly aren't factual truth themselves in the details. Calling his client the best player to ever wear a Rays uniform is very far short of true. Now, the best season of anyone in a Rays uniform? He may have a better case there. And I suppose it ultimately relies on what you consider the qualifier for that remark to be. Certainly from a career standpoint there have been several greater players to wear a Rays uniform; Peña isn't even the greatest first baseman to wear a Rays uniform in that respect. And due to his lack of tenure here I would argue that several more players have contributed greater amounts to the Rays than has Peña himself.

But as is the case with any Boras statement, building a case for his player using that player's merits simply isn't enough. First he has to take a back-handed swipe at the organization and argue how a large part of their future is somehow beholden to his client. Then he goes on an unsubstantiated, paragraph-long rant about how the team has the financial wherewithal to afford an inflated price for his client, which I'm sure is true. I think that the Rays certainly have enough money to pay his client and they probably do make a tidy little black mark on the ledger in most years. However to argue specific numbers without substantiation in trying to push across that point, especially when you are Scott Boras, is irresponsible. It lacks credibility. For fans to hypothesize about that in the comments here or at a forum is one thing, but Scott Boras is a major player agent with an ethical responsibility, albeit a very loose one for him, to not get fact-based information wrong by guessing it to his advantage. He doesn't have any more of a clue than we do about Tampa Bay's financial status, and he shouldn't be so cavalier in tossing those numbers around. I happen to think that the Rays make a profit, but it certainly isn't to the level he is implying I'm sure.

An important thing to remember though is that while Boras attempted to place a value on Peña's season, he didn't really speak about a suggested range for his future contract. There is a difference. I personally don't feel that Peña is a premium player yet, and it has everything to do with sustainability. He has not produced a season remotely like this before, and I just don't feel comfortable in grouping him with top tier players without sustained success. I absolutely believe that bringing him back is of the utmost importance, but unless the contract is for two or three years at $5-8 million, I think that the team is better off giving him a one year deal and seeing if he can sustain it. I am not expecting him to replicate his season this year, but if he can again perform in the top tier, then we can talk about $10, $11, $12 million dollars for multiple years. Until then, I don't feel fully confident in expending large money tied to a multiyear commitment on essentially one season, albeit a spectacular one.

What are your thoughts? Not just on Boras' remarks, but what do you think the Rays should do with respect to Peña's contractual status this offseason? We can debate the semantics of his remarks all we want, but ultimately it comes down to a length and a dollar agreement as far as his status goes. What type of deal should they be offering, and for how long? I'd be interesting in hearing what the consensus of Rays Nation is.