This is a very interesting story that I had never heard before.
In the 2000 draft, the right-hander was the seventh overall pick out of high school but turned down $4.1 million (he wanted $4.95 million) from the Rockies. He sat out the year, fired his agent and hired Scott Boras. In '01, Harrington was a No. 58 pick by the Padres, but on the advice of Boras, rejected a $1.2 million bonus. In '02, Harrington was taken by the Devil Rays in the 13th round but walked away from Tampa's offer. In '03, he was taken by the Reds in the 24th round; in '04, he was picked in the 36th round by the Yankees; and in last spring's drafted he wasn't selected.
Last month Harrington was entering his fourth season with the Fort Worth Cats of the independent American Association (he is 10-11 with a 4.00 ERA over 62 games), and recently pitched in relief for hot prospect Luke Hochevar, who was drafted by the Dodgers last year but turned down a $2.98 million bonus. "His stuff has regressed over the years," says an NL team executive. "If anyone takes a chance on him it's only because of what kind of player he once was."
Dan Lambskin wrote:this makes me happy. does that make me a bad person?
Not at all... Scott Boras is a plague on the MLB, and the more potential draftees who read this story, the better. These kids need to understand the old adage "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush."
Is there anything fluffier than a cloud? If there is, I don't want to know about it.
Dan Lambskin wrote:this makes me happy. does that make me a bad person?
Not at all... Scott Boras is a plague on the MLB, and the more potential draftees who read this story, the better. These kids need to understand the old adage "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush."
I think if Boras was Harrington's agent, he would have signed for $4.1 million dollars after the first draft. Not trying to defend Boras or anything, but just saying he wasn't the kids agent the first go around.
hybrid wrote:You've never heard about that? It's like the Minor League Draft urban legend.
That's what happens when you get greedy ...
I'm not going to get into this again, but I agree with hybrid here - just goes to show that greed doesn't always pay. I think it is a great story and hope more kids realize that an extra $100k or so when you're talking multi-millions isn't worth losing the entire summer playing and, potentially, a lot more.
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Oh, likely develop an OxyContin addiction like Josh Hamilton and Jeff Allison, or wash out like so many past 1st round picks. These guys never handle money properly.
Anyone read Jeff Passan's article about Brien Taylor? Dude got $1.55 mil back in the early 90's and now lives in a trailer and works as a bricklayer.
I never smile if I can help it.... Showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life.
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by Pogotheostrich » Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:51 pm 
