Dodgers Free Agency: Scott Boras Talks Anthony Rendon Contract Demands

First off, who remembers that anecdote during the postseason when Anthony Rendon spoke about playing with aging veteran Howie Kendrick? In detail, Rendon was asked what he will be doing when he is Kendrick’s age. Then with a laugh, Rendon simply said something along the lines of ‘not playing baseball, just sitting on my couch with my kids’.

Indeed, at that time some talk made it’s way out that Rendon (who will be 30 in June 2020) was interested in playing just four or five more seasons.

However – if you’re going by Scott Boras’ remarks – the market has Rendon playing a lot longer then that. In fact, Boras tells Jorge Castillo of the LA Times that all offers have been in the same range consistently. For instance, look at this tweet from Castillo on Tuesday:

Scott Boras on Anthony Rendon's market: "Every club has him in an appropriate level, in the seven-year range. It's pretty consistent."

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) December 10, 2019

Here is what super agent Boras says regarding his client Rendon:

“Every club has him in an appropriate level, in the seven-year range. It’s pretty consistent.”

Now, does that mean the appropriate level for what Boras wants; or what his client Rendon wants? Certainly, let’s walk the math backwards a little bit here. Obviously we mentioned Kendrick earlier who is 36 years old. Of course if Rendon was to play seven more years, he would also be 36 years old. Remember, he said he didn’t want to be playing baseball at that age.

Therefore – why would a seven year contract be the appropriate level?

Obviously, it seemed that part of the attractiveness of a Rendon to the Los Angeles Dodgers was that they would be able to use a shorter-term, higher AAV deal to compete with the biggest bidders in the business. By comparison, the Dodgers are also attracted to Josh Donaldson for this reason according to Ken Rosenthal.

Of course this could be a matter of Boras-speak, which every post could begin and end with when a Boras client is in play. Still, it’s going to be interesting to see how the years and dollar amounts play out in regards to Rendon after hearing this Boras quote. Perhaps the agent can talk the player into signing a longer deal, and thus allowing more teams to compete for Rendon’s services beyond the Dodgers and another team or two.