Pitt Post-Gazette: Kovacevic: Coonelly faults Boras for Royals’ involvement

The charge:

The Pirates have been charged in some corners with having dragged the Kansas City Royals into the Pedro Alvarez dispute, by virtue of last week citing the Royals’ negotiations with their first-round draft pick, Eric Hosmer, as an example of a similar case.

The countercharge:

“Eric Hosmer was dragged into the process by Mr. Boras, not the Pirates,” Coonelly said. “The Pirates feel badly that Kansas City’s agreement with Hosmer is now subject to the legal proceeding initiated by Mr. Boras, but that is a necessary consequence of Mr. Boras’ actions, and he knew when he asked the union to file a grievance in an effort to renegotiate Alvarez’s contract that he was putting Hosmer’s contract at risk.”

If we assume Boras knowingly risked Hosmer’s contract, and it is not unreasonable to make this assumption, one wonders if the ends Boras is pursuing is worth this risk. The risk for Boras, of course, issues from the public burning of Hosmer. It’s the danger signal the event sends to future draft classes.