Advisor expectations

One other example . . . our son recently learned that he was invited to Instructional ball in Arizona by his organization and his College Coach himself told him "that is a really big deal as that tells you the organization feels you have what it takes to be a Big Leaguer".  His advisor had no idea he was asked and that was three weeks ago that he found out. It was in that same discussion that he learned he played in the All Star Game two weeks earlier which it was told to him by our son . . . these things may not be uncommon to most other folks but it appears it is from the things my son is hearing in comparison to the guys he's spoken to about this. 

Our son went through 3 advisors/agents with similar experiences as your son.  He finally settled on an agent who had played at his college before he did and had become a good friend during college.  That relationship has been great ever since, including through a very bad season and two injuries but also a couple of trips to the big leagues for our son.  And its not like that agent doesn't have a lot of BIG clients to take up his time - he does.

I don't know what to tell you other than it somehow seems to reflect how much they value or 'project' your player.  Or does it say something about them?  I don't know?  Its a business and anyone who thinks its personal probably isn't correct.  It is clear to me in hindsight that some of them were looking for a 'quick buck' off a signing bonus or fast ride through the minors...when that didn't look likely they moved on without any notification.  One such advisor (lasted for about a year) came onboard during our son's college senior year (he was #3).  Told me personally there was 'no charge,' it was just an 'investment' by their company because they saw 'promising potential.'  A year later when things were slogging along, the guy sent our son a 'bill' for his services (which were virtually nothing).  Another year later when the guy accidentally called my cell phone (mistaking my number for a national crosschecker with the same name), he embarrassingly made stupid excuses as to why he faded off.

Sadly, I still remember our son's HS advisor emailing me after our son was struck in the face in college in Cape Cod summer league.  Asked if he was ok?  (No phone call).  I responded that I thought it was gonna be ok.  We never, ever heard from him again.  I saw the guy at a college game a couple years later when our son pitched a CG over ASU (he was 'advising' an ASU player), the guy never said a word.  I thought it was...I dunno, rude?  So I finally just walked up to him and said 'hi.'  He acted as if he hadn't noticed me a few rows in front of him all weekend.

It is, what it is.  My advice?  Move on to someone who cares.  It takes a while to figure out who genuinely gives a rats a$$ about your son.  Or at least it did for me/us.  Trouble is, we only get to do this once and once you figure that out it could be too late.

If I sound bitter, I am not.  Absolutely not.  I really don't care.  Just things I observed and passing them on with hope you'll figure it out quicker than me.

In our experience, it was much more difficult choosing an advisor as opposed to a college. We could find out many things about a college. It was very difficult or non-existent finding out the bad things about an advisor. We could find where they have a client "Babe Ruth" sign a large contract but couldn't find where they screwed up on Joe HighSchooler. There are exceptions (Aiken, for example) but by and large, nothing. We spoke with several and narrowed it down. Ended up going with someone that the whole family felt comfortable with. This agency was mentioned to me early in the process by someone on this Board. The name came up again from an entirely different source. Although it was not the overriding factor, it was definitely a factor that both these two people liked the agency. 

I picture my son's advisor as being a Big Brother with legal and baseball experience. My son is at age that he does not want to tell Dad everything (or much). That's hard for me but it's okay. I completely trust his agency and trust my son. I want my son to trust them too and develop a rapport with them.. It's only been a month but he does. He is in communication with them several times doing the week. They talk baseball, diet, etc.

It is very early in the process for us. I can speak with much more experience several years from now.

(FWIW, your mileage may eventually vary based upon how the advisor perceives the anticipated athletic ability of his client)

Good perspective RedFishFool.  I certainly agree that its easier to get info on colleges.

I do want to say that we too had plenty of 'testimonials' from good people about 2 of these 3 advisor/agents that turned out to be far less than that.  Testimonials from other players, well known travel coaches and others.  Our family too felt good about them.  College coaches told us they felt good about the first one.  Just didn't work out and I can only guess as to why not.

Its a business.  I'd never enter into a relationship again with any of these guys expecting anything other than that.

Yuck....I hope/pray that our situation turns out differently. And you're right about only doing this once....Amateur amongst a bunch of professionals!

Keep in mind that this is a business and the goal  is to make money for both parties involved. The advisor/agent develops relationships with players based on a couple of different things. Some are eager to get a part of the signing bonus, then they lay low. Others, especially the better ones, from the bigger agencies, are more interested in whether the player will someday sign a larger contract, that is where the agent makes his money on the player.  

A couple of questions. Where was your son drafted (which round)?   Is this an advisor or agent?  You said he had 16 ML guys.  Was this a favor and did he receive money from his signing bonus. Also keep in mind that he may not have been able to get your son a deal, based on his draft round. Companies look at it as an investment and  want to make sure that they get a return on their investment.  

Most guys drafted low do not have agents, until they prove they belong, then everyone wants to buy them dinner. 

There are all types of agents out there, I always tell people buyer beware. My son was fortunate to develop a relationship with his agent that if he needed him he was always there, that included phone calls, visits to see him pitch, texts after good/bad outings and equipment and card deals after he was drafted. Also because son has had injury issues, he always took care of everything.  No matter what happens they will always be friends.  That isn't unusual once the right guys pair up.

If you feel your son deserves better, than look for someone else, but keep in mind agents take on players because they feel they will someday soon be a ML player.  If this guy took money from your sons bonus and has done nothing for him, you need to make a call, that's totally unfair and frankly unethical, IMO.

One more thing, being invited to instructional fall ball means that the organization wants the player to improve upon things and that they want a closer look at his skills and what he can work on for spring training.  Most new drafted players have no clue what spring training consists of so this is a good idea of how it works for most new players. 

Its purely instructional and not to be confused with the Arizona Fall league which is considered a prospect showcase.

Too bad that there isn't a list of advisor/agents and their overall satisfaction rating, that could be a interesting read.

I tried. I could find very, very little about agents. But thanks to friends the selection process was made a little easier.

The agent/advisor and player relationship is personal.  Sometimes the poor agent for one player is a great agent for another player.  Usually those players considered among the best have several choices.  There really are a lot of excellent agents.

That said, the truth is there are also a lot of bad apples in the bunch. Most all agents need to be good salesmen.  Listen very carefully to what they are telling you.  They all know the easiest thing in the world is to switch advisors.  Sometimes you can tell if their advice is helping the player or protecting their own interest.  Watch out for when your advisor is giving you bad advice

This is good advice, but how does a novice baseball parent know when the advice is bad?  Since this is probably a first time deal for most, and the agent/advisor is probably a seasoned veteran, how do you know what advice is good and what advice is bad?

You are right, how does one know what advice is good and which is bad?

My suggestion would be to familiarize yourself with where your son may fall in the draft, if at all.  Early projection means that your son will be getting lots of phone calls from lots of different type of advisors/agent.  The way the draft is structured late pics do not really need an agent to help them to decide if they should go pro or to college, or stay in college or sign (seniors have no options really). A good advisor will make himself familiar with your son and his talent level, if he says he sees your son getting drafted early and PG or BA lists him as a late pick, well would you trust that advice?  

As PG wrote these relationships are personal, it is up to that player (and his parents if HS age) to sort out what the advisor is advising without compromising his eligibility. 

You can always ask questions here, and I know that Jerry Ford is always willing to give good advice!  You can probably trust him more than anyone else!