Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon told Dejean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that agent Scott Boras will act as his adviser. Of course, Boras must be called an “adviser” for now because Rendon is still an amateur.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Boras involved with the highly-regarded Rendon. The 20-year-old underwent ankle surgery during the offseason, but he is widely considered the early favorite to be selected No. 1 overall in June’s draft, a pick which just happens to belong to the Pirates.
As indicated by Kovacevic’s tweet, there’s some history between the Pirates and Boras dating back to when Pedro Alvarez was selected No. 2 overall in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. Boras demanded that the Pirates renegotiate Alvarez’s contract after he claimed that the contract was submitted to MLB after the August 15 deadline. The Pirates placed Alvarez on the restricted list and Boras eventually got his wish.
It’s impossible to know whether history will get in the way of a potential deal with Rendon now that Boras is on board, but the Pirates could also consider University of Connecticut outfielder George Springer or UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 pick.
