Well, this confirms he won’t be joining the military any time soon, at least.

Who cares? Boras clients are the new market inefficiency.

Boras clients typically do not sign lockup deals. Typically, they go year-by-year in arbitration, losing pretty much every hearing as Boras overplays his hand.

Until Choo refuses to sign with the team who drafted him second overall, let’s hold off on the JD Drew comparisons .

Well, crap.

So what is the last year the Indians have Choo under control? Can we expect arbitration at the end of this season?

so, somethin that comes to mind with this boras development. the rolling assumption is that now, under his advice, choo may now decline a lock-up deal and go year-by-year utilizing the arbitration process until he becomes a free agent.

assuming this happens, is there any wonder these ‘silly service time issues’ shouldn’t be dismissed. in the last, what, 10 months, here’s been occasional clamoring for laporta, brantley, and santana “yesterday” each in different circumstances.

is there really ever any reason for a team like the indians not to ruthlessly max out these situations? waiting on laporta last year was the right thing to do, maybe just now once he got past that threshold. it’s the reason santana shouldn’t sniff the majors until he does, even if marson, redmond, and toregas all go down with injury. and in my opinion, it’s why brantly and valbuena should each spend enough time in the minors this year to gain another year of control on them.

another random thought here, whilst i talk to myslef this morning.

rick jokingly touches on something i find myself doing as a defense mechanism with his title here. i have made a habit of keeping my favorite players as a moving target – bracing myself from being ‘crushed’ for guys’ eventual departure.

i remember in ‘07 transitioning cc out of my heart and fausto in. asdrubal became my favorite player so quickly. and in the last few days, it really does seem like now choo’s clock is ticking. which makes room for brantley and laporta, who’d been knocking at the gate to my affections.

The prospect of signing such a deal with the Indians seems to appeal to Choo, who pointed out that, no matter who is representing him in negotiations, he will have the final say.

Not implying that it will in fact have any impact on signing a lockup deal, but it is really refreshing to hear a ballplayer state that the decision is ultimately theirs. I’ve gotten very tired of the “it’s out of my hands” talk.

Buried in CastroTurf today:

Shin-Soo Choo switched agents, partnering with Scott Boras and no doubt affecting the Indians’ chances of locking him up long-term. Choo had been represented by Alan Nero. Asdrubal Cabrera, another long-term contract candidate, is also represented by Nero. Cabrera, for what it’s worth, told me he has no plans to leave Nero for Boras. Top prospect Carlos Santana might be another story. Boras is apparently pursuing him hard. No surprise there, I suppose.