Pro Baseball Agents

Every June there is another draft. Players have been scouted all year long and teams are ready to make their selections. The question is, do you want to go through the draft process by yourself or will you be looking for an agent to help you through it? I personally had an agent for the draft. Well, actually he was an advisor. Technically, you are not allowed to have an agent before the draft. If you are working with an agent before then, he is actually your advisor. He does the same exact thing and you don't have to pay him for anything. The only money the agent will take is a percentage of your signing bonus.

So what do they do for this percentage and how much of a percent is it?

An agent is an individual who will negotiate a players contract. He is the one who will try to get you more of a signing bonus and when you get into the minor leagues, he is the one who will buy you your gear or get you contracts for free gear. This is one of the main reasons to have an agent in the beginning. I don't recommend having an advisor before the draft because baseball organizations know that they are going to cost them money. I suggest having one in mind for the draft, and then hiring them for their services in negotiating the contract and signing bonus. If you have an advisor networking before the draft, organizations will be aware that you may not be signable or just a pain in the butt to sign. That's why I say have one on the back burner and hire them for the draft. Don't ask them to do any networking, just keep them in the loop of the draft process and then have them negotiate the contract. This is a win/win situation. You want to hire an agent who will get you more money than he will charge (obviously or you are actually losing money).

Agents usually range from 3% to 6%. I would look for an agent between 4 and 5 percent. That is a fair market percent.

The best thing about agents is, after the draft they will get you all your equipment by either buying it for you or getting you an endorsement deal. Therefore, you won't have to worry about gloves, bats, shirts, shorts, cleats, or anything. That can be a big help while you are in the minor leagues.

Agents shouldn't charge you again until you make it to the big leagues and the negotiate that contract. Again, they will take from 3% - 6%. The only time they will take more from you in the minors is if they find you endorsement deals where you get money, like card deals, or anything like that. For this they usually take a little bit higher of a percent.