License to Deal

Author:

By Jerry Crasnick

Format:

Hardback

Availability:

In print, usually dispatched within 3-4 days.

Price:

£15.99

Tagged with:

Baseball, Sports Agents, Sports Business

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Further Details

• Published: 30th May 2005
• ISBN: 1594860246
• Pages: 312

From the Publisher:

The movie Jerry Maguire and HBO series Arli$$ barely skimmed the surface. Now the true inside story of the sports agent business is exposed as never before.

During baseball's evolution from national pastime to a $3.6 billion business, the game's agents have played a pivotal role in driving and (some might say) ruining the sport. In a world of unchecked egos and minimal regulation, client-stealing and financial inducements have become commonplace, leading many to label the field a cesspool, devoid of loyalties and filled with predators.

Matt Sosnick entered these shark-infested waters in 1997, leaving a job as CEO of a San Francisco high-tech company to represent ballplayers--and hoping to do so while keeping his romantic love of baseball and his integrity intact. License to Deal follows Sosnick as he deals with his up-and-coming clients (his most famous is the 2003 rookie-of-the-year pitching sensation Dontrelle Willis). We become privy to never-before-disclosed stories behind the rise of baseball's most powerful agent, Scott Boras. And we get a novel perspective on the art of the deal and the economics of baseball.

By one of baseball's most respected sportswriters, who is now ESPN.com's lead Insider baseball reporter, License to Deal, like Michael Lewis's bestselling Moneyball, will provide fuel for many a heated baseball discussion.

From the Critics:

“Jerry Crasnick's 'License to Deal' is the best independent look at the baseball agents' world ever written. He weaves the tale around maverick agent Matt Sosnick, and explores every facet of the business from the draft to the Players Association to Scott Boras. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand baseball's very important subculture”

Peter Gammons, ESPN

“There have been thousands of books about baseball, but Jerry Crasnick has written a remarkable original, about the game among agents: the lawless competition to lure clients, the wars to keep other agents from stealing their players, and the endless internal battles over whetherthey are serving the player or serving themselves. A must read for anybody who wants to understand Major League Baseball”

Buster Olney, author of "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty"

“License to Deal is a fascinating look at a subject about which so much is heard, but so little is known. It's a classic story of haves and have-nots, and favorites and underdogs. By looking at the baseball agent world through the eyes of Matt Sosnick, Jerry Crasnick puts a human face and a personality to what is often viewed as a cold and impersonal business. At the end, you find yourself rooting for the little guy”

Billy Beane, Oakland A's general manager

“Jerry Crasnick takes an in-depth look at an often misunderstood facet of the modern business of baseball. His writing is compelling and his depiction of his main characters is remarkably human. In a business where agents are often vilified and their personas exaggerated, Jerry helps us to understand a very compassionate and personal side of the relationship between player and agent and how that dynamic influences the current landscape of baseball”

Mark Shapiro, Cleveland Indians general manager