FanGraphs Weekly Mailbag: November 14, 2026

It’s so easy to be cynical about baseball these days, with the CBA set to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on December 1 and the owners expected to lock out the players soon after. It’s also easy to be skeptical about anything the game’s power brokers say right now. And yet, whenever Scott Boras addresses a sea of reporters in front of a Boras Corp. backdrop and rhapsodizes on the virtues of his clients using the most groan-inducing puns and wordplay imaginable, I drop my guard and become uncontrollably giddy. I recognize the absurdity of his performances, and it’s bewildering that they’ve turned into such a spectacle. I also doubt they have much of an impact on a given free agent’s market; I can’t imagine an owner or general manager has ever been swayed by Boras’ extended metaphors and forced references. Really, it seems their main purpose is to boost Boras’ brand, with the added benefit of providing reporters with ready-made copy for a day. The best story on the so-called State of Boras was written by Stephanie Apstein, then of Sports Illustrated, at the 2022 Winter Meetings, when Boras spoke with her about his writing process and the reason for these press conferences.

This week, when Boras held his press conference at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, he was about as BUL-lish as you’d expect him to be about Tarik Skubal (he called the sweepstakes for the two-time Cy Young winner a “Skubal dive”), but my favorite line was reserved for Randy Arozarena, about whom he said, “Essentially, this rose has no thorns, you know?” and that, “All the teams… frankly, they’re feeling really randy.”

That’s the last we’ll talk about Scott Boras this week. Instead, we’re answering your questions on whether MLB expansion is the best way to curb pitching dominance, if the Red Sox were right to move on from Sonny Gray, and the odds that a player could actually hit the bull and win a steak. But first, I’d like to remind you that this mailbag is exclusive to FanGraphs Members. If you aren’t yet a Member and would like to keep reading, you can sign up for a Membership here. It’s the best way to both experience the site and support our staff, and it comes with a bunch of other great benefits. Also, if you’d like to ask a question for an upcoming mailbag, send me an email at mailbag@fangraphs.com.