GenoSeligPrieb

Well, burnie, I limited the list of active players. But OK, if we can dip way back into out star-crossed 40 years, of retired ex-Brewers who left the team under bad circumstances... My Most Hated: 5. Cal Eldred 4. Hideo Nomo 3. Chad Fox 2. Bernie Carbo 1. Paul Molitor My Most Loved, who were discarded by management, but, as I recall at least, didn't seem to want to leave us: 5. Sixto Lezcano 4. Jim Slaton 3. George Scott 2. Fernando Vina 1. Jeromy Burnitz

This means absolutely nothing, in the big picture, I know. But I drafted Ben Sheets on the 7th round of my fantasy league draft, amid peels of scorn and ridicule from my league members. Of course, I already had Brandon Webb, to hedge my bets, but I have believed all along that this will be the season Ben finally gets some run support, and wins in the high teens, maybe 20 if things break right. Why? Because this is his contract "walk year." Not saying for a second that Ben wasn't trying as hard, or tanking it in past years, but with the Brewers history, THIS will be the season he finally experiences some GOOD luck, both in terms of injuries, defensive and offensive support....then of course he'll expect $15,000,000 a year, and Doug won't retain him, as the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox or Tigers swoop in and sign him. However, that will be OK. Because I predict this one year of good fortune won't last. The injury bug will return in 2009, and 2010...rendering him an expensive part of some rich team's DL, like Pedro Martinez. That's why I won't have as much of a problem with trading him away at the deadline if we're foundering by July 30th or so. I DID have a problem whenever we sent our cleanup men packin' all these years, because they were always healthy and productive, nearly 120-162 games a year. But honestly, I have to admit that I just don't think Ben's a lucky guy. And if we did all we could to keep him, at the expense of having enough money to retain say, a Ryan Braun or a Hart or a Hardy or Weeks, it could come back to haunt us, as it did when we kept Cal Eldred, Jaime Navarro, Jeff D'Amico and Teddy Higuera. For whatever reason, the Brewers just don't have good luck when they retain homegrown pitchers, in long term contracts. Perhaps it's how the farm system handled their delicate arms from the Rookie League on up, but it's a Brewer curse. Again, it's not a knock on Ben personally. He's just unlucky, and so are we, when it comes to pitchers...

"Am I reading too much into this or....has Prince gone diva on us at 23? " Maybe not Prince himself, but can we rule out the ominous influence of Scott Boras? I can see baseball's version of a computer virus making his newest star less available for lower-profile gigs like this one, and more available for Good Morning America...live in New York. If Prince has ANY kind of anger toward Brewer management, I could absolutely see Boras in his ear, reminding him of that all year long. LaPorta better pick out a good first baseman's mitt...

Nice thread! As usual, I have a list or 2 in me this morning... Active Ex-Brewers who either were released, traded away, or left via free agency... Most loved (ranking from giving polite applause when they returned to face us at The Keg, to a standing ovation): 5. Ray King 4. Carlos Lee 3. Doug Davis 2. Mark Loretta 1. Richie Sexson Most hated (ranking from audible booing, up to making a sign to hold up for them, as I stand and boo them): 5. Nelson Figueroa (he just bumped Henry Blanco, after waking up against us on Friday!) 4. Wes Helms 3. Ronnie Belliard 2. Francisco Cordero 1. Gary Sheffield Since everyone's list is personal, none of them can be "wrong." This is just mine...

Adam Wainwright is St. Louis's ace, which is like being named valedictorian of your summer school class. Aces don't bother us this season as much as bustout ex-Brewers, whether they're pitchers or catchers. Nelson Figueroa, Raul Casanova, even Paul freakin' Bako. I shudder to think of when we'll face Henry Blanco in Chicago, Glendon Rusch in San Diego. Just hope no one signs Keith Osik or Wes Obermueller...

"Don't forget Yovani! " He hasn't been able to make one damned pitch yet! "Bush...tends to surrender more runs when he's thrown 75+ pitches " Then he can be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem. Dave Bush is a BAD starting pitcher. If he's out there, our pen will be taxed more than a resident of Cook County. In Bush starts, our relievers will be required to turn in 3, 4, 5 innings, burning them out for the next game. But since Dave Bush seems capable of going 3 or even godforbid 4 innings without the house caving in, then he may be an ideal 3-inning middle man a few times a week whenever a starter craps out early. Just don't start Bush again!

....and we crap ourselves in Shea Stadium again.

"Ned should be watching the pitchers more. Guys like Dave Bush, are going to crap out at 70 pitches sometimes. The crazy thing is -- for example the last game Bush pitched -- Bush was left in to hit for himself, after getting out of a jam in the previous inning -- he gets ran around the bases -- Yost brings him in to pitch the 6th -- he gets clubbed around, getting only one out -- and the BP ends up pitching that inning anyway. If your SP is on the ropes -- more likely than not, the BP is going to have to finish the inning anyway -- they may as well pitch the whole inning. " VERY well said, FTJ. I may be willing to nominate yesterday's loss as Ned's FIRST in a series of game-costing managerial blunders of the season. I'm amazed at how damned often Ned trots out the SP to bat for himself, when he's on the ropes, late enough in the game. However....as long as Doug keeps giving Ned starting pitchers who keep crapping out after 5 innings, we may as well have 8 men in the batting order, Counsell doing his Cesar Tovar/Bert Campaneris impersonation playing every defensive position, and 11 men in the pen. I REALLY didn't want Ned to be covertly retained by Doug, this past winter. But I'm just sick and tired of our SPs (aside from Benny of course) not being able to last into the 7th and beyond. Perhaps that's why Shousie is a luxury, inthat, as a LOOGY, he takes up 1 roster spot, but can't be depended on for multiple innings in relief....'cause apparently we'll need pretty much every reliever to put in 80 innings-plus this season.

Hey, another miscue by Gabe Gross! And another crappy ex-Brewer catcher dropping the smack down on us. Who's next? Keith Osik?

"My problem with Bush is that Yost seems to think because Bush is a SP he needs to throw 100 pitches and pitch at least 6 innings. Yost seems to do this with players a lot -- for example "Brady Clark is a CF, therefore he should be stealing bases."" Nicely played, FTJ. Yost is really into roles his players should..."become" regardless of whether they deserve or earn these tags or not. Hell, he had Obermueller as a #4 starter, hoping for 32 starts from that clown, and for a while, Clark not only was given the green light to steal, but he batted him cleanup! Ned also decided that Moeller would be Ben Sheets' designated catcher, and that Wes Helms was a good enough hitter to sometimes bat 3rd! So when I see Ned sending Boosh out there, expecting him to become our default #3 guy (for now), I cringe. Honestly, I think I'd dislike Dave Bush a whole lot less if he were limited to being our long man. But a starter? Nah. ______________________________ edit for a fresh reply... "Wow, I was going to start an overreaction thread just for fun to make claims based on one game, but it looks like every thread is an overreaction thread right now." You're in the strike zone, on this one, Logan. That's why it's so tough to post here, early in the season. You're SO open to the slings and arrows of the Sabremetric crowd, because pretty much everything you post will get sample-sized until...July. I once challenged Al the Thinking Man to tell me honestly, at which point of the season may I start to react to things, and he couldn't answer. Everything you say in April, and probably May, will get sample-sized, so it's difficult. But that won't stop me!....

"Interesting read. I can't image a Yankee team with CC and Texeria." Bring ON, Texeira! I hope they sign him, because then Prince may not be a Yankee after all. OK, let's not kid ourselves, Boras could still guide him to Boston, sending Youkilis to 3B and Lowell elsewhere, but at least that's 1 less Boras-favored team in the bidding. And Cleveland CAN and will spend to keep CC. At least I hope so...

"Kendall better throw some guys out soon or they will be running on him every time they get on base." Believe me, LE, it's tough to keep up this cynical veneer after today's fun at the expense of the Giants, but I still worry about this. Kendall spiking the ball into the grass just behind the mound, off to the right of the mound, scares the bejeezus outta me. My favorite bit from Brian Anderson today was when he talked about Carlos Villanueva. Our play-by-play guy said that Brian Sabean was asked about when he traded away CV to Milwaukee, and Sabean said he didn't remember ever having Villy! Ahh...for fun! In the conversations about the worst GMs in the game, I'm considering the Dodgers Ned Colletti, Seattle's Bill Bavasi, and especially Sabean.

"I can almost guarantee the guy was joking, which is why it's funny. " Not if that guy was my dad! He's in his 70's, and a gruff ex-Chicago cop, and all it takes is a key strikeout, even after 3, 4 straight hits, and like so many Cub fans, he goes right back to being disgruntled. While Cub fans pout about what have you done for me lately, and why are you letting me down, White Sox fans would just blame the umps. "If someone no-hits the Giants this year, does it really count? I'd think a Molina-anchored offense merits an asterisk at the least." Wouldn't be the first time this decade that a Giants offense deserved an asterisk! " I think I'd rather have the Brewers face a lefty like Santana over an average RHP." Oh, I'll spot you Santana Claus, although I'd love to see Ryan Braun humiliate him. Other than that, there aren't too many lefties we should be scared of. This weekend could be fun, especially since we miss Cain and Lincecum.

While I shouldn't complain, since it's my own fault, seeing as I'm so cheap, it's still a bit disappointing that the Brewers had to play the Cubs in the first week of the season, when the MLB package is free on DirecTV. I could see the Cubs every day! I was hoping for a more exotic opponent, like the Giants...except Saturday's game isn't on the MLB package. Anyway, a few late-arriving notices after 3 games: - Ben Sheets looked great, but watching him is like when Dominik Hasek was on the Buffalo Sabres. It seemed that the offense kind of lets up when they know the man primarily responsible for shutting out the opponent is out there. I know it's a 1/2-baked conspiracy theory, but it happens so often to Ben... - A few years ago, Fox Sports was called on the carpet for "sweetening" its sporting broadcasts by adding cheers, phony signs supposedly drawn by fans, and my favorite, fake flash bulbs going off every so often, to add "excitement." And now, after watching a few games on the YES Network, when that manatee Joba Chamberlain enters a game, the flash bulbs start going off as if Frank Sinatra returned from beyond to do the national anthem. - Sloppy native of CANADA Eric Gagne HAS pitched in cold, crummy weather before, right? Once he sees his breath, he becomes Velma from Scooby-Doo. - Saw the Giants against the Dodgers. If we were to hypothetically send Sheets, Gallardo & Villanueva against them, in their offense's current state, they may not get a hit all weekend. Hoping for a sweep against the likes of such everyday players as Jose Castillo, Eugenio Velez, the whimsically-named Brian Bocock and cleanup man Bengie Molina (!), is not getting greedy. - Funniest moment of the series: Less than a day after the chants of "Foo-Koo-Dough-May!" on Opening Day, Kosuke strikes out against SoupCan in the 4th inning. The crowd goes mostly silent, then you can clearly hear one lone, already-disgruntled Cub fan: "Booooooo!" - Bad Luck Dave Bush has taken the early lead in the "Yep-I'm-the-guy-Gallardo-will-bump-to-the-bullpen" sweepstakes. - If Mike Cameron doesn't come back strong, I'm OK with giving Tony Gwynn, Jr. a few more at bats. - Nothing says "lack of confidence" like Ned yanking Ryan Braun for defensive replacements so often already. If he misses any at-bats for Gabe Kapler, I'll scream. - Ted Lilly will attest that no team should ever start a LHP against us this year. - Lou Piniella scrapped the Soriano-batting-2nd experiment after 2 whole games. Now he's back to leading off, and driving in no one. Good. - If 2nd base were about 5 feet behind the mound, Jason Kendall would have nailed nearly every attempted steal. - Chicago sports talk radio clowns already had Brian Roberts leading off on Opening Day, as if getting him was their birthright. And what were they "giving up" for him, to Baltimore? I heard such attractive packages they offered, as Sean Gallagher & Ryan Theriot....Kevin Hart & Ronny Cedeno, and my favorite, Jason Marquis & Henry Blanco! Stubborn Orioles! We've been suffering for 100 years of mismanagement - cough him up already! - Just witnessed Alex Rodriguez kick a grounder, for a 2-0 Blue Jays lead. While that won't make today's loss go away, it doesn't hurt.

Along with so many other Colorado Rockies last year, apparently he DID pull that 2007 performance out of his bee-hind.

"The odds strike me a very remote that the Brewers could make some very sizable offer long term offer that Boras first rejects without asking Prince, then on top of that Boras hides that offer completely and Prince manages for who know how long to never hear an offer even was made?" Don't be so sure, Danzig. I look at the Kenny Rogers situation, and it makes it that much more plausible that Boras would hide a legit offer from one of his clients. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3115010 This passage tells a lot: "Detroit president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said last week that the team has expressed an interest in having Rogers return. But he said from the GM meetings in Florida last week that he was told that Rogers "and his agent want to explore other options." ...which was simply a lie. Rogers repeatedly expressed a desire to sign one final deal with Detroit, for 2008, which was where he said he wanted to end his career. But Boras put out this lie, even including the Texas Rangers as a team he was interested in. Thing is, when Kenny was a Ranger, he had that run-in with that cameraman who shoved the camera in his face. When Rogers pushed the camera away, this phony, who was caught winking to a fellow media creature a few seconds after the shove, eventually appeared on ESPN in a neck collar, smelling money. Incredibly, Texas owner Tom Hicks stipulated that the only way he'd consider bringing back Kenny Rogers, was if the pitcher apologized to this clown! Of course, Rogers hadn't listed the Rangers as a destination, but that didn't stopped Boras from declaring that Kenny would possibly be a Ranger or a Mariner (?) in 2008. "It's different than what Kenny told us," Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski told the Detroit Free Press, "but that's what Scott has expressed." If Boras is willing to contrive unbelievable rumors about a 43-year-old pitcher, then what's to stop him from similar conniving, and hidden offers, when the time comes, for Prince Fielder?

"I like the fact that it was divulged by Mark A. that he offered Prince a "substantial" contract and that it was turned down. The big question, though, is why didn't he divulge how much of a contract it was? Is that against the rules of the CBA? I think that if Boras is going to fight dirty and have his clients serve as his mouthpiece and/or reject contracts without even mentioning them to said clients, then the owners have every right to divulge what those offers that Boras isn't showing to his clientèle are. " That's a good question, Don. Maybe they CAN'T divulge the financial aspects of their deal, by rule...which is a shame, because we'd like to know why the offer was turned down. Again, I suspect it's because Boras just won't entertain ANY Brewer offer, so our options are limited. I think the Players Union, heavily influenced by the agents, wouldn't want offers they turn down, to always become public, because it would most often make them look like greedy, unreasonable bloodsuckers, unfairly guiding certain top players to New York, Boston and to a lesser extent, the LA and Chicago teams. Hell, extending my paranoid conspiracy theory here, I wouldn't be surprised at all if MLB was in on this surge...this wave of top talent AWAY from poorer teams to those with super-sized revenue streams. Oakland, Kansas City, Minnesota, Florida, Toronto, etc. are forced to surrender up homegrown All-Stars like Giambi, Delgado, Beckett, Damon, Beltran, Santana...as the talent shifts toward richer teams in bigger TV markets. Unfortunately, if the Super Bowl taught us anything, it's that bigger TV markets can draw huge ratings = more money for the league, of course. And this is confirmed whenever I hear a Buster Olney or a Tony Kornheiser say "The league needs a competitive team in New York to make them legitimate!!"

Sorry to hijack an already-compelling thread, but I'm taking this riff in an entirely different direction, so please bear with me, as I dream up one of my 1/2-assed ideas here... "Marmol's stat line doesn't look much different than Turnbows in 05 did. " No argument on this point....Except that Turnbow, circa 2005 is not what Turnbow is now. Hell, Marmol's stat line doesn't look much different than Justin Duchscherer's from that seaon. The Derrick Turnbow from 3 years ago was awesome. Migod, I wish we still had that guy around. Nowadays? It's like he's not the same person. No confidence, no "aura" of shut-em-down, dangerous 100-MPH killer. In 2008, he may as well be...ummm....Justin Duchscherer. ____________________ This is what I planned on posting for my reply, but after reviewing it, the kernel of an idea hit me. Since Oakland is committing to moving former-All-Star-reliever-who's-lost-his-way, Justin Duchscherer to the rotation, could that eventually be a solution to at least entertain here in Milwaukee, for Turnbow? OK, OK, I know that we already have about 15 back-of-the-rotation starting pitchers with ERAs as bad as, and worse than Derrick's, here already. And perhaps Turnbow can't/won't adapt to starting. But as we know, if Turnbow enters an inning with men on base, or worse yet, in scoring position, we're screwed. His OPS-against is nearly double, whenever he's plopped into stressful situations not of his own making. But what about when he opens an inning, as a SP would? DT's OPS-against with the bases empty, like Duchscherer's, is incredibly better. The Great Billy Beane seems committed to trying this. I also understand that this idea comes too late in Spring Training to occur this year. But what if we still have Turnbow around next season, after he still struggles in '08 when entering an inning to clean up the chocolate mess that the last pitcher left for him? Or maybe we can "audition" DT as a potential SP next spring, and trade him, re-packaged as such? Just a thought...

"Are you suggesting the Brewers owe him something or they should give him "pity pay" because his Dad ripped him off? That's ridiculous." Nope. I'm suggesting they try to address whatever issues may be souring Prince on the Brewers. He seemed awfully PO'ed over a few hundred thousand dollars. Ryan Howard got $900,000 before breaking the bank. Perhaps $900,000 this season would have placated him. Big picture? A few hundred thousand dollars (which the team will get back 10-fold or greater, in the sale of Prince jerseys this year) shouldn't be an obstacle for a team willing to pay over $10 million to a clown like Suppan. $900,000 or even $1.2 million...whatever the cost of good will is, to Prince, is money well-spent, as opposed to the money wasted on screwballs like Turnbow, Kendall, Gagne and Suppan. "So why set a precedent that is going to be hard to go back on with future kids?' If "future kids" can set new franchise records for home runs, at age 23, then they deserve the same pay rate as Prince. (holding my breath for THAT to happen again, anytime soon). Otherwise, they haven't earned HIS pay scale. "it was revealed at the owner's banquet on Friday night that ownership/Melvin had offered Prince a very substantial contract and that Boras turned it down." I wonder a) how substantial was it? Was it Milwaukee-substantial (like the "substantial" offer made to Carlos Lee, which was trampled on by what he got elsewhere), or was it Boras-substantial? Unless they provide the financial details, I will remain dubious as to just how an attractive an offer it was. I also wonder b) why our long-term deals, to retain All-Stars keep getting rejected. Now I understand that it takes 2, but whenever the Brewers make a big pitch to a Cordero, Fielder, Lee... their minds seem set (albeit heavily influenced by the "guidance" of the Scott Borases and Bean Stringfellows of the world) that there's no way in hell they're staying on a) a contender on-the-rise, b) for significant walking around money. Sheets took our cash, but then again, maybe it was partially because he's been paid so often for sitting on the DL that he felt a bit guilty. It just seems like free agents usually can't wait to bolt town, and that just seems unfair. Then I wonder c) If Scott Boras even SHOWED the damned offer to Prince. What if Mark contacted Boras, and offers, say, 5 years @ $65,000,000. For a guy with a shade over 2 years in the bigs, that's not too shabby. And it's somewhat plausible, because that's in line with what Mark was willing to pay Carlos and CoCoCo, which ain't chintzy. But I can see Boras flat-out dismissing it, because he feels, whether he's right or wrong, that he can get more, elsewhere. Again, since he's so intimately intertwined with both the Red Sox and Yankees, and since neither of those teams has a slugging first baseman in his prime, I can see Boras rejecting ANYTHING we offer Prince, because he wants to "guide" the top young 1B in the game, to one of his 2 buddy teams. Hell, Mark could offer Boras 10 years, $200,000,000 and Boras could reject it, because he's waiting to at least hear what his 2 favorite teams may offer, in a few years. That's sickening, and it makes for a major flaw in the way baseball is managed. NO ONE, much less a scumbag like Boras, should be able to control where specific top talent, goes. But this monopoly is allowed to flourish. And for my final wondering here: I wonder why the Mitchell Report, and/or Congress is not knocking on Scott Boras's door, to investigate why his players suddenly reach ridiculously-high career marks, just before free agency kicks in. Someday?...

" "Turnbow gettin better" Great. See what you can get for him. I still don't trust him in August and September." Since luck is the overriding factor in Marmol's success, and since he's the equal of DT, then let's make that deal. Only I'm sure no one in the Cub front office, or anywhere else in the majors, would make that trade. Marmol's 5 years younger, makes $3 million less, has no steroid convictions, and turned in a 1.43 ERA last year (as opposed to DT's 4.48!). CM's WHIP was 1.09 vs. DT's 1.32. And when you're a reliever, it's VERY possible that you may be asked to enter a game to relieve the last pitcher...with men on base, many times with them in scoring position. With men on? CM: .472 OPS-allowed, DT: 166 points higher, at .638. with RISP? CM: .414! DT: More than DOUBLE, at .842. I won't start focusing on other arcane stats to support my assertion here, because then I'd be guilty of cherry-picking. I just see a reliever, and HOPE he shuts the door, cleaning up the mess the last pitcher left him, and the comparison between these 2, is laughable. Sure, if you set up Turnbow perfectly, and have him only enter games with bases empty, then yeah, he thrives. But that's like babying Geoff Jenkins by hiding him from those nasty lefties. Only problem is, you're paying him as if he's a dependable, all-situations reliever. Give me Marmol, any day!

Congrats, FTJ! We need more guys like you around here... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I'm pulling for Davey to make a full recovery. Best to him and his loved ones...

"So, if they just bump Prince, what does that show to Hart? Weeks? Braun? Villanueva? Gallardo? Parra? " The only one close to accomplishing what Prince has done for us, is Ryan Braun, and he still has a ways to go, before he's there. Weeks, Hart...they never hit 50 HRs (hell, NO Brewer EVER has before), an OPS over 1.000, 119 RBIs...I could go on. They've never been starting All-Stars, never been voted in by the fans (ahead of Albert Pujols, no less). Prince already has 80 HRs in 2.1 seasons, and if he weren't represented by Boras, he'd be our biggest slugger ever. He's a unique talent which comes around once in a generation, maybe less often than that. If I'm Ryan, CV, Corey, Rickie...I wouldn't expect myself to be graded on the exact same scale. Prince is one of those guys you make an exception for. OK, you don't give him $10,000,000 already, but you at least make an effort to accommodate him. Not saying that I agree, but, especially in light of Doug holding steadfastly to his "system", WHEN Prince leaves to become a Yankee, we'll be perceived as the same ol' cheapskate franchise all over again. Sheets is a huge injury risk, Suppan is a bum, Gagne, post-roids, is ridiculously iffy... They're all question marks, moreso than $8-10 million-per-year players. But Prince? He's legit. I'd make a big goodwill move to Boras and Prince, and give him a few million, especially since Cecil stole millions from him. RE-set him up for life, right away. Maybe Prince wants to do something specific with a few million, now. Who knows what kind of security he's seeking right away. If we make that happen, and treat him like the special, ultra-rare talent he is, then MAYBE we can get him to view us positively, and perhaps he'd at least give strong consideration to staying until he's at least 30. But now? Instead of Milwaukee having a 20-30% chance of signing long-term, I'd say we're down to around 2%...

I can think of a lot better things to do with my time than to e-mail some guy who wants to draw attention to his website. Apparently, this poor slob can't come up with enough compelling material to draw eyes, normally, so he figures he'll try the negative approach. Hell, if enough of you send him angry messages, he'll elevate the flame war, and start selling ad space. Meh. "I can only think of a few words to describe this Cubs fan: Jag and Tool." OK, that Judge Advocate General show on CBS wasn't that good, but I've been down with Adam Jones and Maynard and the fellas for the longest time, son...

"It's ridiculously early to start making definitive statements about Princes longterm contracts choices. About 20 things could happen in the next FOUR YEARS that could change what you seem to think is a predetermined course of events." About 100,000 things could happen that could suggest a different scenario. But I wouldn't bet on any of them. Prince didn't fire his first agent and hire Boras, because he was looking to stay in a small market, like Milwaukee, long-term. He consciously made a choice to switch to the biggest bloodsucker in the history of sports, one who's intimately connected to those 2 teams....neither of whom is locked into a long-term deal with a young 1B in his prime. "...but to say that there is no chance Boras will even "let" him "consider" it is an insult to Prince, and just again, incredibly pre-mature." You excerpted my quote, and you still got it wrong! I posed the possibility, I ASKED the group if this lack of goodwill toward Prince, on Doug and Mark's part, was a bad sign. I didn't insult Prince, Mark, Doug, Ned or even you. And if the Kenny Rogers situation taught us anything about him, it's that Scott Boras is eminently capable of..."failing to inform"...OK, just plain "hiding"...contract offers from teams Boras may not want his clients to play for.