Dodgers Off-Season: Olney Talks Scott Boras-isms with Free Agents Cole, Rendon, Strasburg

With the winter meetings just nine days away, the center of attention will almost certainly be none other than Scott Boras. The MLB super agent represents several of the top free agents in this year’s class, including stars like Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, and Anthony Rendon.

Boras will meet with several executives from multiple teams around the major league who are interested in his clients’ services and will also have the opportunity to address the media, or — as Buster Olney put it in his latest column for ESPN+ — put on a performance.

Sunday notes: What agents say — and what they really mean. https://t.co/qRuijqbBWD Plus, the Orioles make a tone-deaf decision; Rich Hill's future.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 1, 2019

Olney broke down several quotes that Boras and other agents are known to say when discussing their clients. He explains what the agents are actually saying behind their coded way of speaking.

For example, “there are ____ (fill in the blank with a number between 1 and 30) teams interested in ____ (fill in the blank with a player’s name), according to a source,” really doesn’t mean anything.

Olney explains that the source is almost always an agent trying to create more interest for his player. The number of teams interested is meaningless, Olney says, because many teams will always have varying degrees of interest in a player, some of it just passing.

Of course, the Dodgers have already been linked heavily to some big names in the off-season hot stove — namely Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon. With Rendon, another ESPN writer put LA and the third baseman together early and often before backing off.

With Cole, talk of his preferred coast to play on was early November fodder. Moreover, it fits perfectly into Olney’s next points. The ESPN scribe went on to break down more agent talk we can expect to hear (or read) at the upcoming winter meetings.

Quotes like “my client is open to talking with anyone,” or “my client is just looking to go somewhere he has a chance to win,” and the always fun “state taxes aren’t really a factor,” among others; Olney breaks down “agent talk” to a tee.

Nevertheless, expect the Dodgers to be very active in winter meetings, which run from Dec. 9-12 this year. Andrew Friedman has been vocal about his desire to acquire a big name player this off-season, whether it be through a marquee free agent signing or a blockbuster trade. Just make yourself ready to hear every big name linked to every team with a few hundred million to spare.