Agents/Advisors

Many kids in North Carolina are being closely watched by the MLB. Some of the parents are being approached by agents to advise their son. I would like to get your thoughts on this.

 

First, it's important to understand the distinction between the terms, "agent" and "advisor;" and the critically important, NCAA rules surrounding them.

An "agent" is someone who agrees contractually to represent an athlete to the organization authorized to sign the athlete to a professional contract. In order to do this in baseball, the agent must meet certain minimum criteria and be "recognized" by Major League Baseball. The agent makes his/her living from a percentage of the professional athlete's compensation.

An "advisor" is a person who advises an amateur athlete on the various courses of action available to the player prior to the professional draft. The NCAA regulations are extremely specific that there can be no agreement, oral or written, between the athlete and the advisor that the advisor "represents" the athlete so long as he/she is an amateur.

In many cases, persons who are employed as agents by professional athletes also serve as advisors to amateur athletes. They offer their advice free of charge to amateur athletes. While it's debatable how much anyone can learn prior to the draft about a player's prospects, most agent-advisors claim that their well-established connections in the sport enable them to get the best possible "read" on a player's pre-draft status. They are also well familiar with the "ins-and-outs" of the draft and college processes; so, they're in a strong position to describe a player's relative alternatives.

While NCAA regulations prohibit agreement between the player and an agent-advisor, if one were to survey the agent-advisors chosen by players as they go pro; one would find that in the vast majority of cases, the advisor prior to the draft becomes the player’s agent, afterwards. In those cases, the agent receives a small percentage of the player’s signing bonus once the player has turned professional.

As in most professions, you'll find a wide range of expertise (as well as motives for getting into the business) among agent-advisors. Because of this, it's absolutely imperative that a family check an agent-advisor out thoroughly before they decide to use him/her. In my opinion, the best way to do this is to speak with a number of players who are represented by the agent-advisor.

What you want to hear, of course, is that agent-advisors routinely approach the task from the perspective of the player's best interest...that they have a track record of providing consistently beneficial advice and representation, even if it runs counter to the agent-advisor’s short-term interest. Once you've identified those qualities, an advisor can make sense to achieve a better understanding of the professional process; although, as a practical matter, it seems unnecessary to me if the player is likely to be drafted below the first five-to-ten rounds (The baseball draft currently consists of 50 rounds.) If the 2004 draft follows the orientation of its predecessor this year, fewer players coming out of high school fit that description.

 

What a great post. Thanks Prepster for the info. As in anything there are some exceptions to the 5-10 rule of thumb. Some advisors/agents have brought much more $ than slotted for the particular round. Sometimes, due to a miscommunication, some players were drafted much lower because of a perceived signability....something an advisor can smooth over.

I believe, as in everything connected to baseball, that we may be seeing an evolution. Advisor/Agents are changing their roles and the need to have one has increased. I believe families are starting to utilize their expertise on an increased basis whether their son is a 5+ rounder. Sometimes it may be to get as much information as possible to make an intelligent decision.

As you commented..the advisors are FREE. It is something that was not really there 10 years ago or so. I was astounded at how many advisors were at Jupiter.

 

Good points guys!!

Something to think about... From what I can remember, there was a "well-known" agent advising a premier player from the Raleigh-Durham area 2 years ago. According to scouts that I know, this advisor hurt the draft status of this athlete because organizations thought he was unsignable unless they gave him an ungodly amount of money. He ended up being drafted lower than projected and instead went to an ACC school as a pitcher. Why can't we all let things fall as they may? Because of the $$. But instead of a million dollar bonus and a college education, since most organizations pay for college once a professional career is over (I would negotiate for college money if it did not pan out), the loss of that player may never be recouped.

So why aren't they a detriment?