SAN DIEGO — Scott Boras sat on a stage three feet above dozens of writers and cameras while holding court. He wore a grey zip-up sweatshirt with a blue “B” (for Boras Corporation) on its right breast and talked with what sounded like the slight rasp of a cold. He did not look like a man who had slept much in the past 48 hours, but the results of that sacrifice could be measured in millions of dollars. So he was not unhappy.



Boras graced the writers’ work room in the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel with his presence on Monday to take a victory lap for landing his client Stephen Strasburg the biggest free-agent contract ever for a pitcher. That the Washington Nationals re-signed their World Series MVP was of little surprise to the game’s cognoscenti who are gathered here for the sport’s annual Winter Meetings. But the price tag was staggering: seven years, $245 million for a 31-year old pitcher whose throwing mechanics have led more than a few...