Boras furious with MLB after Bryant injured slipping on wet base
Agent Scott Boras is livid with Major League Baseball after Kris Bryant, one of his star clients, sprained his right ankle while slipping on a wet base.
During a damp contest at Wrigley Field on Sunday between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, Bryant awkwardly tumbled to the ground while trying to beat out a double play.
After spending several minutes in pain behind first base, a trainer and teammate Anthony Rizzo helped the 2016 National League MVP off the field.
The incident was similar to one involving Bryce Harper, another Boras client, in August 2017. Harper missed more than a month after he injured his knee slipping on first base.
"What have they done since Harper? The answer is: nothing," Boras said on Monday, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. "They’re focused on other factors, economic factors, all things relating to how they can administer the game, and yet the safety of players and resolution of this issue has gone without any attention.
"The integrity of our game is going to be damaged when the safety of players is not at the forefront, and Major League Baseball has dropped the ball on the wet bag subject."
Boras has been advocating for increased player safety since Harper's injury. In 2017, he suggested that bases should get dried regularly during games in wet weather.
On Monday, he said the league has done nothing to address the situation, even though both of the injuries to his clients happened to star players on teams with playoff aspirations.
"The issue for me is they’ve done nothing," Boras said. "They have completely skirted this issue. They had an MVP player having an MVP season dramatically get hurt and miss time. It affects playoff races and the entire safety of players, and the integrity of the game. When they are very diligent to get umpires and teams to play during rain, during precipitation, trying to get the games played.
"There’s been no discussion, no resolution, absolutely nothing done in this area except the player is to bear the burden of slippery and wet bags."