Firewall? Can't they just download one?

Unless clocks are synchronized or there is a recognized clock used by the parties for such matters, a four minute spread (two minutes before or two minutes after) would seem easily disputable. ("Our clock said 11:58 PM when we sent it in.")

How does something like this get resolved?

Even if the union is correct--all it means is that Alvarez goes back into next year's draft. An arbitrator can only use collectively bargained remedies in making his decision and the remedy for going past the deadline is returning to the draft.

Hardly a grand victory for Boras.

Best Regards

John

The phone records that will be entered, the source said, will show a call coming to the office of Alvarez's agent, Scott Boras, at 12:02 a.m. That call, the union will maintain, was the one that resulted in Alvarez's acceptance.

Surely Boras and Huntington can keep track of time. Perhaps Boras called after midnight with the intention of disputing the legitimacy's of Pedro's contract later on, but I'm sure Huntington would have realized that it was too late at that point and cut negotiations. The better question is whether an extension was granted and is it legit.

The union will contend further that the Pirates’ case was the only one in question.

The Union doesn't want to eff with Hosmer for no good reason- Hosmer signed a contract- KC signed a contract- both say it was timely- no issue- the Pirates have no standing to contest the Hosmer/KC contract (though they can use it as evidence of selective enforecment)

Okay, this post title is a little less vague than the last one about Boras. Thanks.

The phone records that will be entered, the source said, will show a call coming to the office of Alvarez's agent, Scott Boras, at 12:02 a.m. That call, the union will maintain, was the one that resulted in Alvarez's acceptance.

But all the other stories say it was Boras who called Huntington- not the other way around...

4:

It's the selective enforcement problem which is the issue here. The timing and object of their grievance makes them appear to be Boras' tool or just clumsy opportunists.

Why, after all, did the Player's Association wait so long to file a grievance? They learned of Boras' claims not long after the deadline. If the Association intended to file a grievance over a post-deadline deal, as a matter of principle and contract enforcement, it should have adopted this path right from the start and without regard for Boras' interests. Instead, it has acted in such a way that it looks to be a tacit partner in Boras' schemes. The Association may wish to clarify it's stance on this issue. It may also wish to inform the public of the reasons for their delay in filing a grievance.

But all the other stories say it was Boras who called Huntington- not the other way around...

Yup, good catch. Unless an extension was granted, it still doesn't make sense to negotiate unless they both misunderstood the time or Boras had other motives.

Why, after all, did the Player's Association wait so long to file a grievance? They learned of Boras' claims not long after the deadline.

Corroborating facts probably created the delay. Nothing moves fast in a bureaucracy.

All I can say is I hope Alvarez's contract is ruled null and void, he's returned to the draft, and then quickly suffers a career ending injury. I almost always side with the players in disputes but this is ridiculous. If he didn't want the $6mm contract he shouldn't have agreed to it before or after midnight. I hope Hosner's contract ends up getting thrown out as well.

MLBPA seeks to build a firewall around Alvarez

Man, thats going to cost a lot of mana.

Man, thats going to cost a lot of mana.

A Magic: The Gathering reference?

i believe that would only cost 1RR. that's really not that expensive.

Luke Hochevar, part 2.

Surely Boras and Huntington can keep track of time.

Depending on how their servers are arranged, I find it likely that their e-mail hosts have NTP configured, so the timestamps for receipt and delivery should be very, very accurate.

#7 -- my principle problem with all of this, too.

$15, all I can say is that in my experience an awful lot of places don't use NTP. Pet peeve of mine.

i believe that would only cost 1RR. that's really not that expensive.

Depends on how much R they want to pump into it to strengthen it up too.

The Union doesn't want to eff with Hosmer for no good reason- Hosmer signed a contract- KC signed a contract- both say it was timely- no issue- the Pirates have no standing to contest the Hosmer/KC contract (though they can use it as evidence of selective enforecment)

The Pirates do have standing, I think, based on several different theories...at least, standing to ask the arbitrator to review Hosmer's case. They will argue that Boras waived any violation in their case and in Hosmer's case and Hosmer's situation is relevant to that determination.

They also have standing to the same degree MLBPA does, in that they are affected by Hosmer's signing in terms of the market for draftees and (potentially) the market for Alvarez if a new window is opened. There's a counter there that MLB holds that standing, not the Pirates, but I suspect MLB is aligned with teh PIrates here anyway

Pkb33,

I haven't read enough to be sure that it's the Pirates who are contesting the Hosmer signing, but if they are, somehow trying to pressure (or cut the legs out from under) Boras would seem like a good idea.

Group,

What I really, really, really don't understand is what this kid Alvarez thinks he's going to achieve by this.

Let's say he's tossed back to the draft next year. That's a year of his finite playing career thrown away. That means he'll be another year away from FA (if this kid is the real deal, that's what he's aiming for to get the big moolah. And if he's not the real deal, how could he possibly walk away from $6MM?).

I really, really, really don't get it....

What I really, really, really don't understand is what this kid Alvarez thinks he's going to achieve by this.

You assume that it's the kid's doing. From everything I have read thus far, this is first, last, and always about Boras' ability to maintain his reputation as a must-have guy for top-drawer talent. If he has to torch Hosmer's contract, so be it, apparently, though so far I tend to think that was a wrinkle he didn't think of prior to pulling this shenanigan.

You assume that it's the kid's doing. From everything I have read thus far

...presumably all written by people with intimate knowledge of Boras's thinking on the subject.

Alvarez' angle is that he believes, or has been convinced, that he can be a free agent (which will get him a ton more money and some choice in where he plays) and/or that he decided he doesn't want to play in Pittsburgh.

If Alvarez has been convinced (by Boras) that he has a reasonable chance to be a free agent then Boras may be staring down the barrel at the mother of all malpractice suits.

The kid is losing extremely valuable development time, to say nothing of the money he is losing. I'm not a Boras fan at all but I'm also not going to criticize him or anyone else in this mess at this point due to the incomplete picture that we all seem to have. That said, the only one clearly losing right now is Alvarez- and as a fan of good baseball and good baseball players- I think that stinks.

This is one of the many times that I wish we had an "old-time" commissioner who could pull the "Best Interests of the Game" card and order all parties into a room, lock the door, and get this garbage worked out.

I always wondered what Jaya Ballard was doing with her time. Working for the MLBPA: who knew?

This is one of the many times that I wish we had an "old-time" commissioner who could pull the "Best Interests of the Game" card and order all parties into a room, lock the door, and get this garbage worked out.

Except that said hypothetical commissioner would always rule in favor of the ownership.

This is one of the many times that I wish we had an "old-time" commissioner who could pull the "Best Interests of the Game" card and order all parties into a room, lock the door, and get this garbage worked out.

I wish the same thing, except that the result was the scrapping of the draft.

MLBPA seeks to build a firewall around Alvarez

They should talk to this guy. He did this.

I wish the same thing, except that the result was the scrapping of the draft.

Given that pretty much every sport uses a draft, I would love to hear how people who are against the draft expect to keep competitive balance and help bad teams get better. Are you just expecting the free market to sort everything out?

I always wondered what Jaya Ballard was doing with her time.

Does laughing at this make me the biggest nerd ever?