More on Boras and the Birds

Earlier this week here I wrote about the Scott Boras factor. Baseball's most well-known and powerful agent is a key guy when it comes to the Orioles this winter. If the club seeks a contract extension with Chris Davis and/or Matt Wieters, they'll be dealing with Boras, who represents both players. Years ago, there was talk that the Orioles and Boras had a frosty relationship. If that was true then, it certainly doesn't appear to be any issue now. Former Orioles executive Jim Duquette believes the club's working relationship with Boras began to improve in 2007 when Duquette and Mike Flanagan, who were basically co-GMs then, drafted Wieters in the first round of 2007. "There was a time they didn't even talk," Duquette said earlier this week. "But it's gotten a whole lot better. I don't think anyone has a relationship with Scott like the Nationals have, but it's a good working relationship and it's far better than it was. "We spent a lot of time trying to repair it. I had a long relationship with him and Scott always had a very respectful relationship with Flanny as a player and executive, and I spent hours visiting his office and his suite in Anaheim before that draft. "The guy has a lot of the top players. You can't afford to ignore him. There is not enough good talent in the game to exclude certain agents. He is a very worthy opponent when it comes to negotiating." Duquette, who worked in the front office for the Mets and Orioles, is a baseball analyst for MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM Radio and works on O's coverage in Baltimore on 105.7 the Fan. He had pitcher Scott Feldman on his show this week. Feldman is a pitcher the Orioles have interest in re-signing. "Feldman was very complimentary of the organization, especially Buck (Showalter) and he was with Buck as a rookie in Texas," Duquette said. "He had a conversation with Buck at the end of the year and Buck said, 'We want you back and keep us in mind.' "He really appreciated the way Buck handled him when he came over and also with Texas. He said he didn't see any major difference in the way Buck handled him either place and it was a consistent approach and he was complimentary of that. "My take is that would give the Orioles a leg up if things were equal and the offers were equal. His relationship with Buck would be an advantage for the Orioles." The Yankees have reportedly agreed to sign Brian McCann to a five-year, $85 million deal. How would that impact Wieters? Would that be a good contract for the O's to offer their catcher? I say that is too much for a catcher who has seen his offensive stats trending down the last few years, a player who produced career lows in batting average and OBP last season. But I'll bet Boras doesn't see it that way.