It’s been a nightmare
Sports agent claims Yankee prospect’s family stiffed him over commission
Sports agent David Sloane says he was at a crossroads in his career when he first followed the Tennessee-born brothers, Jordan and Justus Sheffield, both pitching aces from Tullahoma (Tenn.) High School.
Late in 2012, the Floridabased Sloane says he reached out to the Sheffield family father, Travis, and mother, Misty - to explore representing their oldest son, Jordan, a righthander. Sloane says he was told by the Sheffields that Jordan was already represented by agent Darek Braunecker, but the family agreed to meet with Sloane.
“I thought the conversation was good,” Sloane says now. “(The Sheffields) asked me to send more information, and in early 2013, I met the family in Tullahoma. It was the parents, both boys and me, all gathered at the kitchen table.” Sloane says he left that meeting upbeat.
“I've thought a lot about it, and I want you to represent me,” Sloane says the then 17-year-old Jordan told him by phone a month later.
“I felt pretty good,” says Sloane, who entered the sports agency business in 1973, and has represented over 100 clients, including former Mets slugger Carlos Delgado.
But Sloane says since 2013, the Sheffields have caused him nothing but misery. Although Sloane eventually represented the lefty Justus Sheffield — now one of the Yankees' top pitching prospects who came to the Bombers in the July 2016 Andrew Miller trade with Cleveland — Sloane says he ultimately got stiffed by the Sheffield family, and didn't receive his full commission from Justus after the southpaw signed with Cleveland in 2014 and got a $1.6 million signing bonus.
Sloane ended up filing suit against Justus in Arizona state court for breach of contract — a case that Sloane lost. Sloane's legal woes continued to snowball when he was later fined over $50,000 by the Tennessee secretary of state's office. The civil fine stemmed from a Tennessee administrative judge ruling that Sloane violated the Tennessee Athlete Agent Reform Act of 2011, which requires sports agents to register in the state before initiating contact with a student athlete. Sloane did get the fine reduced to just over $10,000 after he says he was able to prove Jordan Sheffield had violated NCAA rules. Court filings show Sloane's fine reduced.
Sloane, 66, is appealing the Tennessee judge's ruling and fine, and the case is still open. But in the fallout, Sloane says everybody made out well except for him.
“Where's the damage? Jordan got to play three years at Vanderbilt (before being drafted by the Dodgers in 2016 and receiving a $1.8 million signing bonus). Vanderbilt got to avail themselves of his abilities. Justus got to sign with Cleveland for $1.6 million. Tennessee got its money from me when I did register,” says Sloane. “I got fined over $10,000. I would venture to say the only person damaged was me.”
Sloane says that the Major League Baseball Players Association, which monitors and regulates agents, and can certify or decertify them, failed to support him in his Tennessee case. Sloane also claims that before the judge in the Tennessee matter issued her ruling, the case was stacked against him. Now he's out the remaining $33,000 he says Justus Sheffield owes him; he has legal bills from the Arizona case; and Sloane could be out another 10 grand if he loses his appeal in Tennessee.
“It's been a nightmare ever since Jordan said he wanted me to represent him,” says Sloane.
Despite having Tommy John surgery in 2013, Jordan Sheffield was drafted by the Red Sox in the 13th round. Sloane represented Jordan for the '13 draft. But the money Boston was offering wasn't enough for the Sheffields, Sloane says, and Jordan attended Vanderbilt instead.
In October 2013, Sloane says he traveled to the Sheffield's Tennessee home to reiterate his interest in representing Justus, the 2014 Gatorade national player of the year. Sloane says he apologized for missing a Minnesota showcase where Justus pitched. “I hope you don't take that absence as a lack of interest,” Sloane says he told the Sheffields.
“Justus was deadpan the whole time and then he smiled. ‘I've already been telling scouts you're my agent,'” Sloane says Justus told him. “Justus pulled a funny.”
Sloane says he returned to Tennessee in March 2014 to see Justus play in some games, prior to the draft. While there, Sloane says Travis Sheffield told him about another player he might be interested in meeting. Sloane agreed to see the player, and Sloane says it was only then that he first learned he had to register as an agent in Tennessee. The father of the player Sloane was to meet asked Sloane if he had registered. Sloane says that the Sheffields never told him about the requirement, and that he immediately completed the forms and paid the $500 fee within a 10-day period.
The Indians selected Justus Sheffield in the first round of the ‘14 draft with the 31st overall pick, but at that time, Sloane says he only had an oral agreement with the family. If an amateur athlete signs with an agent before being drafted or signing with a team, the athlete loses NCAA eligibility. Sloane says agents advise amateur players all the time prior to the draft, and oral agreements aren't uncommon.
Sloane says he had advised the family before the draft that Justus should sign any contract in Tennessee, where there is no state income tax. When the Sheffields went to Cleveland for an introductory press conference, Sloane says he met the Sheffields there – on his own dime. It was during the trip that Sloane reiterated to the Sheffields that they had
agreed to pay Sloane his fivepercent fee. “I hope you're happy with the job I did, and that you're comfortable paying me the commission,” Sloane says he told Travis Sheffield. Sloane says he asked Justus, “You're fine with paying me ($81,000)?” Justus said yes, according to Sloane.
“I never got a signed contract from them,” says Sloane. “They lied to my face and stabbed me in the back.” Sloane says the Sheffields paid him $48,000 (3% of Sheffield's signing bonus), but not the total $81,000 (5%) he says was agreed upon by both sides.
Sloane says he also advised the Sheffields to have Justus' accountant send a letter to Arizona officials outlining that the money Justus earned from the Indians – his check would be cut in Arizona where the Indians assigned him - was for signing a contract, not for any work, and therefore shouldn't be subject to tax.
Later that year, when Sloane says the relationship with the Sheffields had already frayed, Justus was in Arizona, and Sloane was there for other business. Sloane says he called Justus to resolve the commission issue.
“I'm expecting you to live up to the commitment we agreed upon,” Sloane says he told Sheffield. “You gave me your word.”
“I have to do what my father is telling me. Please talk to him,” Justus said, according to Sloane.
“His daddy and mommy were still doing his thinking for him,” says Sloane.
Sloane abruptly filed suit against Sheffield in Arizona that October, and he says that the two attorneys who represented him were “incompetent.” The second attorney, Todd Schultz, failed to show up in person at a hearing for oral arguments on the defendant's (Sheffield) motion to dismiss, according to Sloane. A YouTube video of the hearing shows the plaintiff's table vacant except for a speakerphone. Maricopa County (Ariz.) court records show the case was dismissed in May 2016 without prejudice.
“(Schultz's) efforts could not have been more detrimental to me and more beneficial to Sheffield,” says Sloane. “At no time did he come up with any argument to counter the Athlete Agent Reform Act.”
Gregg Clifton, a principal at the Jackson Lewis Phoenix law offices, represented Sheffield.
“The law in Arizona at the time of the Sheffield signing, as in most states that have specific agent laws, was very clear,'' Clifton told the Daily News. “You must be registered with the state in order to work as an agent and any agreement that an agent enters into with an amateur athlete must be in writing and contain very specific, statutorily mandated provisions in order to be enforceable.''
The Arizona case triggered scrutiny into Sloane's agent relationship with the Sheffields in Tennessee. Sloane alleged in a court filing that Justus and Jordan Sheffield's current agent, Bo McKinnis, helped send information to the Tennessee secretary of state, Tre Hargett, about Sloane's violation of the Tennessee Athlete Agent Reform Act. (Justus Sheffield had denied Sloane's allegations in Arizona court records).
Travis, Justus and Jordan Sheffield did not return messages from the Daily News for this story and McKinnis and Schultz did not return calls.
According to Tennessee statutes, Justus could have requested a refund for the $48,000 he paid Sloane since Sloane was in violation of Tennessee laws, but the pitcher did not pursue a counterclaim. Baseball sources say it was an ill-advised move for Sloane to sue Sheffield.
“I believe in standing up for myself,” says Sloane. “I lived up to all of my commitments to Sheffield and I wish he had lived up to his commitments to me.”
Sloane represented himself in the Tennessee matter after he was fined $50,740 by Secretary of State Hargett. Sloane said in a petition for judicial review that Hargett had stated in 2011 that the Athlete Agent Reform Act “isn't widely known.” Sloane also alleged in his defense that Jordan Sheffield was in violation of NCAA laws prior to Sloane representing him. Sloane presented scouting reports from the Tigers and Diamondbacks to establish that Jordan was represented by another agent.
According to Sloane's petition for judicial review in the Tennessee case, Administrative Judge Elizabeth Cambron said, “I thought this hearing was only to determine if you had registered and how much I was supposed to fine you.” Sloane included the judge's remark in his petition, and he says his due process rights were denied.
In an email exchange between McKinnis and Kevin Rayburn — a lawyer for Secretary of State Hargett — that Sloane obtained as evidence for his defense, McKinnis writes to Rayburn: “Don't know if you recall, but we are hoping you will write Sloane a ‘tough guy' letter pointing out his violations of the Tennessee laws.”
Rayburn no longer works in Hargett's office. Hargett's spokeman told The News: “We cannot comment on ongoing litigation.”
Sloane reached out to the MLB union last year, but says he received no help. A union spokesman sent the following statement: "Mr. Sloane was not acting in the capacity of a certified MLBPA agent when he was fined by the state of Tennessee in connection with the recruitment of an amateur athlete. As a result, the PA declined to get involved in his challenge to the penalties imposed on him. Mr. Sloane is no longer a certified MLBPA agent and he has not represented a Major League player for three years."
Sloane slammed the union in response. “Their position is inconsistent at best and selfserving and disingenuous at worst,” says Sloane. “I have paid thousands of dollars to become and remain certified. I was told those fees were to be used to pay for the union monitoring the conduct of the agent community.
“They're at least tangentially responsible for what goes on in the agent business as they have power to certify and decertify agents. This lack of assistance is not at all what I've seen them render to bigger agencies that have encountered issues in the conduct of their business,” adds Sloane. He says the union went to bat for players Brady Aiken and Jacob Nix - two players originally drafted by the Astros in the 2014 draft - despite the fact neither was a union member.
“The union decided (it) could not help me because Justus is not a union member,” says Sloane. “I'd call that blatant hypocrisy. The union also stood up on behalf of agents accused of much more serious offenses than I am accused of. They allowed me to twist in the wind.”
In the Tennessee ruling against Sloane, the judge states Sloane “failed to exercise due diligence.”
Sloane says he did comply with the state laws, and that despite "hundreds of baseball players from Tennessee who have utilized the services of an agent," he was singled out unfairly.
“No one from the MLBPA or anywhere said to register,” he adds. “I wasn't caught. I was informed of the need to register, and I immediately did so. The thing that most motivates me to have this in the public eye is, if the state of Tennessee can do this to me, what's to stop it from doing this to others?”