Scrambling for Murray is reaching fever pitch
LAS VEGAS >> Scott Boras-Mania swept over baseball’s winter meetings on Wednesday.
Nestled atop an elevated stand in front of a large Christmas tree outside the Mandalay Bay convention center and standing over a sea of reporters, the super agent made his grand entrance and held court for nearly an hour as he mostly addressed questions regarding star client Bryce Harper and his quest for a nearly half-a-billiondollar deal.
But Boras also represents Kyler Murray, the Heisman-winning A’s 2018 first-round pick who has also been making headlines.
Throughout the past couple of weeks as speculation has risen over which sport Murray will choose to play professionally, Boras has done his best to douse the flames by standing firmly on the fact that the University of Oklahoma quarterback has a contractual commitment to the A’s and plans to honor it by showing up to spring training come February. But when asked about Murray on Wednesday, Boras’ confidence about his client choosing baseball appeared to have softened.
“When you win the Heisman Trophy, you’re going to have a lot of information come to you and be looked at,” Boras said. “Kyler has a tremendous opportunity to be a great baseball player, and he knows that. He has every intention to be in spring training and advance that interest.”
According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, Murray’s contract includes a provision in which he’d have to pay back a large portion of his $4.7 million signing bonus should he decide to play football.
The prospect of playing two sports is not something A’s general manager David Forst has yet to discuss with Murray or Boras and did not want to get too deep into the possibility until Quarterback and A’s draft pick Kyler Murray has to decide between the NFL and pro baseball.
that conversation takes place.
“We are still confident that he’ll be playing baseball in February and beyond,” Forst said. “Until we all sit down together and talk about those things, it’s not fair to comment on it.
“I have no idea what it takes to play two sports at one time, so I couldn’t even give you an educated guess. I know how hard it is to play in the big leagues, so I don’t know what else is involved in playing two sports.”
Perhaps some relief came to the A’s when Murray spoke at his weekly Oklahoma press conference Wednesday as he spoke about the possibility of playing two pro sports.
“As of right now I’m going to play baseball,” Murray said. “That’s about it.”
When asked by the MLB Network crew in an interview Wednesday if it would be legal for Murray to attend the NFL combine, A’s executive vice president Billy Beane joked, “We are not going to arrest him if he tries to go to the combine.”
As has been the case over the past month as Murray’s stardom continues to grow in college football, Beane did not want to spend much time on the Murray situation in an attempt to prevent Murray from getting overwhelmed with questions.
“We’ve tried to stay out of that and let the kid enjoy, because every time a question is asked to me or David, the kid gets 10 questions,” Beane said. “So we just want to leave him alone.”
Knowing Murray would have to pay back some of the signing bonus if he were to bolt for the NFL should provide some solace, but the bigger blow would be the A’s not just wasting away a firstround pick, but also a top-10 selection as Murray was drafted ninth overall.
• After the signing of catcher Chris Herrmann to a one-year deal Tuesday afternoon, the A’s remained silent on Wednesday, and it appears that might be the case until Forst and Co. return to Oakland tonight. It’s not like the A’s are the only team that’s been inactive. Most teams are utilizing their time here to jump-start discussions, likely to advance to the next stage of those talks when they return to a less hectic setting.
“We’ve talked a lot about the process of being here, and it’s great to be here and talk and there is an energy and momentum, but this is not a decisionmaking environment,” Forst said. “There are certainly good things about being here, but you also want to maybe get out and look at what you’ve done in the light of day and make sure it’s the right thing.
“I don’t know that we’ll do anything in the next 18 hours, but that is not to say we’re not closer to some stuff than we were Monday morning.”
• The Rule 5 Draft takes place this morning, and the A’s could be in the mix for a pitcher should one be available at their time of picking. One player the A’s will likely lose in the draft is 2015 first-rounder Richie Martin. The infield prospect was drafted 20th overall and a possible shortstop of the future. Though he hit .300 this past season at Double-A Midland, the A’s haven’t seen enough since drafting him to keep him protected on the 40-man roster.