Felipe Lopez Fires Scott Boras

• Does Boras know who Lopez is?

I'm curious if Scott Boras could pick Felipe Lopez out of a police lineup.

Aside from the public embarrassment of being fired, does this really make that much of a difference to Boras? Will it make a difference to Felipe Lopez?

On some level, Lopez knew that he wasn't the main focus on the part of Boras and as spring training approached without a job, he took action and decided to move on with an agent less reviled and polarizing. It was an acceptance of reality for Lopez.

The talk surrounding Lopez has been that he's a perfect fit for the Cardinals, but I believe that his firing of Boras opens the door for him to join the Angels. The Angels are known to have almost no interest in dealing with Boras unless it's absolutely necessary after the way they felt jerked around in the negotiations for Mark Teixeira; and they're in need of a veteran like Lopez who can play third base in the event that Brandon Wood falls flat on his face again.

In reality, Lopez wasn't in the strongest negotiating position despite appearing to be one of those players who's learned how to hit in his late 20s----stats----in the Brian Downing fashion. He had an excellent year last season with the Diamondbacks and Brewers batting .310 with a .383 on base, 9 homers and 38 doubles. He's versatile enough to play second, third and short and in other economic times, would probably get a 3-year deal somewhere as a roving utility player.

Not now, though.

It doesn't help that he was a low priority on Boras's radar as the agent was looking to salvage the Johnny Damon contract after getting Matt Holliday signed.*

*Note: In fairness to Boras, he has underlings who handle a bulk of the grunt work in the dealings for his players; and with the high-money, high-profile player like Holliday who was going to get 10-times what Lopez would even in the best of times, of course Holliday had precedence. It's the same circumstances as a clubhouse hierarchy. The big money gets the attention and Boras's operation has to deal with the whales first.

Now Lopez will get a deal somewhere, probably rather quickly; Boras will be left to spin doctor what happened (if he addresses it at all, which he probably won't), and worry about Damon. In the cosmic scheme of things, this firing says nothing other than Felipe Lopez decided to eschew the brainlessness and lockstep that most Boras clients tend to maintain; Lopez made the choice to think for himself, find a representative that was going to get him a job rather than one who was pushing his agenda and focusing on other, more "important" clients. It was the pragmatic move.

• Am this be an version of English?

I tried to read Rob Neyer's posting on ESPN.com about Phil Hughes, but found myself hitting the continual mental roadblock of the indecipherable title of said posting and couldn't find my way over, under or around it.

Here it is: Phil Hughes Works On Changes Needs Chance

Huh?

• Viewer Mail 2.13.2010:

Jane Heller at Confessions of a She-Fan writes RE boxing:

You bet I dated myself! Those Ali-Frazier fights were amazing. I was working in NYC and went to see one of the fights at the Garden and it was the most electric atmosphere. I just haven't felt the same way about boxing since. But then I haven't gotten over Mickey Mantle either.

I used to love boxing. I still have my mouthpiece somewhere. (Don't ask.) The thing about it is that it's always been so unrepentantly sleazy; the characters so diverse and impossible to formulate by even the most creative writers, that it was great theater.

I have the greatest admiration for Don King because the man's an absolute genius who understood the psychology and motivation of a human being better than the canniest politician or psychiatrist. The admiration isn't because of what he did, but because of the way he did it.

Even when he was screwing someone out of millions of dollars----whether it was influencing the outcome of a pay-per-view event or helping himself to his fighters' money----you had to tip your hat to his intelligence and boldness in doing it while not worrying about consequences; and he's a great promoter, self and otherwise.

The Brooklyn Trolley Blogger writes RE Scott Boras:

And once again Boras pulled another long-eared donkey from his hat and got the Tigers to vomit masticated millions in Damon's direction. Despite the dents he took to his armor over ARod and Manny, he just proved it's still not hard to find a sucker in a bucket filled with mudcats.
Good grief!

We don't know that yet. The deal hasn't been announced and it might be that the offer wasn't for two years after all. That's the thing with Boras, there's no way of knowing whether he's dropping this stuff into the media on his own or if there was the framework of a deal that the Tigers are now re-thinking as they realize their circumstances (and Damon's circumstances) and decide not to go for two years.

It does say something about Boras's reputation and skills that a deal of more than one year is even possible given Damon's weak position.

Barry writes RE the Tigers and Johnny Damon:

If the Tigers have $14 million (or maybe a little more) to offer a player for a two year contract, then they would be better off looking to trade for a shortstop during spring training who can do the same job offensively as Damon. Detroit certainly has a few names in the hat with pitchers and outfielders that could be offered - however, I hope that Raburn & Ni are untouchable, and also Ramirez and Wells to see if they are major league quality players first. I would be happy to give the young fellows a chance if a deal is not able to be made. Batting order - 1. Rayburn LF, 2. Ordonez DH, 3. Cabrera 1B, 4. Guillen SS, 5. Inge 3B, 6. Avila C, 7. Well & Ramirez RF, 8. Jackson CF, 9. Sizemore 2B.

The could make a move on Felipe Lopez at short, but they seem committed to using the no-hit, great glove Adam Everett. They could use a bat in the corner outfield spot more than they need a shortstop.

Damon's offense is pretty substantial, so I don't know what shortstop would be available for what the Tigers have left on the farm. With the way they'd gutted the system in recent years, such a move would be unwise. The Tigers chances at contention this year are shaky at best and making desperation trades would be a big mistake. Signing Damon would be a far better move than any trade because all he's costing is money.