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  6. article_body => "<p>LAS VEGAS -- Scott Boras slid through a crush of media to step onto a 1630 Pelican Transport case in front of a 25-foot tall Christmas tree with 2,240 ornaments Wednesday, then stole its shine.<\/p>\n<p>If that sounds silly, or over the top, or extravagant, it should. For anyone else. This is standard for Boras, agent to the stars, voluminous speaker, deliverer of ideas on how to shape the world around him.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also Bryce Harper\u2019s agent. That made Boras more in demand Wednesday than any time prior in his life. The Alex Rodriguez chase of 2000 delivered a mania of its own. But not like this. Not in the age of&nbsp;cell phones and social media, when passersby in Mandalay Bay stopped to ask whose skull was raised two feet above all else thanks to the boost from a hard exterior case designed to protect television equipment. Security shooed them along.<\/p>\n<p>Boras<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/bryce-harper-very-interested-number-teams-according-scott-boras\"> touched on Harper\u2019s status<\/a>, the extension process<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/anthony-rendon-open-listening-nationals-about-extension\"> with Anthony Rendon<\/a>, how he would change the playoffs, and dropped a nurse-thermometer reference when talking about the New York Yankees. He spent more than an hour on center stage with the giant tree sparkling behind his 66-year-old head. Boras appearing after a puff of smoke or being lowered from the ceiling to his speaking spot would not have seemed out of place.<\/p>\n<p>Chopping through his statements revealed little. Harper met with several teams. The Nationals are still in the mix, as much as they can be if their top offer is $300 million. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman backed away from the idea of signing Harper on Tuesday. Boras reeled him back in Wednesday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you're talking about star players, I go back to Mark Teixeira,\u201d Boras said. \u201cThe Yankees are very adept. If they're going to do something, I think they can earnestly tell you that right now they're not doing it, and have every intention of doing something else when it's best for them to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the nurse walks in the room with a thermometer, the issue is not what the thermometer says that day. The issue is the health of the patient when they're ready to leave the hospital. They're not ready to leave the hospital yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n<p>The Nationals are not out of this. According to Mike Rizzo and Boras, anyway. Doors are open, but likely only propped by a foot, a touch of light squeezing through. Boras and Rizzo have been on-message since Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner suggested last week Harper\u2019s future lay elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve heard resonance of it,\u201d Boras told NBC Sports Washington about Lerner\u2019s comments. \u201cWhenever I talk to Mark or Ted Lerner or Mike Rizzo, from our standpoint, their door is very open to us and our door is very open to them. We\u2019ve always had a great working relationship, we will continue to do so and we\u2019ll continue to have dialogue on this subject.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rizzo said Wednesday, like he said Tuesday, the Nationals have no scheduled meeting with Harper while in his hometown. He gave a quick summary of why Wednesday from a posh, bright white suite near the top of the Delano hotel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know Bryce better than anyone in this building,\u201d Rizzo said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And Boras knows them equally well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lerners and Bryce are both collectively going to do what\u2019s best for them,\u201d Boras told NBC Sports Washington. \u201cI think going into this situation in D.C. whether it be Max [Scherzer] or [Stephen Strasburg] or even the draft picks themselves, we\u2019ve had very productive results and the franchise has grown dramatically. They\u2019re a multi-billion dollar franchise. Their attendance has gone up from way back when they started in the early 2010s. The winning has been great. I\u2019m sure they want to get to the higher levels. But for franchises that hope to aspire to where they are, I think it\u2019s all gone positively. It\u2019s been a great working relationship with the Lerner family and the Nationals and Mike Rizzo. For those reasons we just continue to talk and see where we can go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boras was at Nationals Park for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/shortened-or-not-harpers-potential-home-finale-was-more-just-game\">Harper\u2019s last home game<\/a>, an attempt at final resonance struck down by rain. Harper took the uncommon action of coming to work early that day. He pulled on his Nationals jersey long before anyone else in the clubhouse was dressed. Most days, he moved about in a sleeveless gray sweatshirt with his \u201cBH\u201d logo in red across the front. Not that day. He knew it could be the end. So did Boras.<\/p>\n<p>Harper\u2019s long-anticipated move into free agency followed, becoming the rarest of experiences in his life: something new. Harper has managed media and fame from the time he was 16 years old. His laps around the baseball world finished early. However, he\u2019s never been through this. Harper doesn\u2019t know -- yet -- where he will play next year. He has to discuss it with his wife, Kayla, and his father, Ron. So many factors abound when making what could be a decade-long decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think when you\u2019re in Bryce\u2019s shoes, you have no way of really knowing how this is going to turn out,\u201d Boras told me. \u201cHe has great regard for the organization, Washington fans, his teammates. There is certainly a potential where that [final] day could come. It could be his last day wearing that [Nationals] uniform. And there\u2019s potential where it could go on for the eternity of his career.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Boras finished his day by swashbuckling through a series of individual interviews. He compared his hotel room to Penn Station, satiated a gaggle of foreign press members, then rolled into the late afternoon dusk. Once he was gone, the tree resumed its station as the hall\u2019s brightest light.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>MORE NATIONALS NEWS:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Options, Options:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/bryce-harper-very-interested-number-teams-according-scott-boras\">Harper remains interested in many teams<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Rendon Next Up?:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/anthony-rendon-open-listening-nationals-about-extension\">Boras discusses his other star client<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Got the Feeling<\/strong>:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/nationals-gm-mike-rizzo-bryce-harper-knows-our-feelings-towards-him\">Rizzo knows that Harper knows<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><div class=\"video-filter art19-player-iframe\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/art19.com\/shows\/45f390d2-bee9-421b-b519-fb712394d291\/episodes\/5fe2adfb-a31d-43d7-8d4d-ddd2de5d59a2\/embed?theme=light-blue\" width=\"100%\" height=\"250px\" class=\"video-filter video-art19 vf-45f390d2bee9421bb519fb712394d291 vf-5fe2adfba31d43d78d4dddd2de5d59a2embed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Art19 Player\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; border: 0 none;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\n"
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Nationals

Nationals

LAS VEGAS -- Scott Boras slid through a crush of media to step onto a 1630 Pelican Transport case in front of a 25-foot tall Christmas tree with 2,240 ornaments Wednesday, then stole its shine.

If that sounds silly, or over the top, or extravagant, it should. For anyone else. This is standard for Boras, agent to the stars, voluminous speaker, deliverer of ideas on how to shape the world around him.

He’s also Bryce Harper’s agent. That made Boras more in demand Wednesday than any time prior in his life. The Alex Rodriguez chase of 2000 delivered a mania of its own. But not like this. Not in the age of cell phones and social media, when passersby in Mandalay Bay stopped to ask whose skull was raised two feet above all else thanks to the boost from a hard exterior case designed to protect television equipment. Security shooed them along.

Boras touched on Harper’s status, the extension process with Anthony Rendon, how he would change the playoffs, and dropped a nurse-thermometer reference when talking about the New York Yankees. He spent more than an hour on center stage with the giant tree sparkling behind his 66-year-old head. Boras appearing after a puff of smoke or being lowered from the ceiling to his speaking spot would not have seemed out of place.

Chopping through his statements revealed little. Harper met with several teams. The Nationals are still in the mix, as much as they can be if their top offer is $300 million. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman backed away from the idea of signing Harper on Tuesday. Boras reeled him back in Wednesday. 

 

“When you're talking about star players, I go back to Mark Teixeira,” Boras said. “The Yankees are very adept. If they're going to do something, I think they can earnestly tell you that right now they're not doing it, and have every intention of doing something else when it's best for them to do it.

“When the nurse walks in the room with a thermometer, the issue is not what the thermometer says that day. The issue is the health of the patient when they're ready to leave the hospital. They're not ready to leave the hospital yet.”

So, there’s that.

The Nationals are not out of this. According to Mike Rizzo and Boras, anyway. Doors are open, but likely only propped by a foot, a touch of light squeezing through. Boras and Rizzo have been on-message since Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner suggested last week Harper’s future lay elsewhere.

“I’ve heard resonance of it,” Boras told NBC Sports Washington about Lerner’s comments. “Whenever I talk to Mark or Ted Lerner or Mike Rizzo, from our standpoint, their door is very open to us and our door is very open to them. We’ve always had a great working relationship, we will continue to do so and we’ll continue to have dialogue on this subject.”

Rizzo said Wednesday, like he said Tuesday, the Nationals have no scheduled meeting with Harper while in his hometown. He gave a quick summary of why Wednesday from a posh, bright white suite near the top of the Delano hotel.

“We know Bryce better than anyone in this building,” Rizzo said. 

And Boras knows them equally well. 

“The Lerners and Bryce are both collectively going to do what’s best for them,” Boras told NBC Sports Washington. “I think going into this situation in D.C. whether it be Max [Scherzer] or [Stephen Strasburg] or even the draft picks themselves, we’ve had very productive results and the franchise has grown dramatically. They’re a multi-billion dollar franchise. Their attendance has gone up from way back when they started in the early 2010s. The winning has been great. I’m sure they want to get to the higher levels. But for franchises that hope to aspire to where they are, I think it’s all gone positively. It’s been a great working relationship with the Lerner family and the Nationals and Mike Rizzo. For those reasons we just continue to talk and see where we can go.”

Boras was at Nationals Park for Harper’s last home game, an attempt at final resonance struck down by rain. Harper took the uncommon action of coming to work early that day. He pulled on his Nationals jersey long before anyone else in the clubhouse was dressed. Most days, he moved about in a sleeveless gray sweatshirt with his “BH” logo in red across the front. Not that day. He knew it could be the end. So did Boras.

 

Harper’s long-anticipated move into free agency followed, becoming the rarest of experiences in his life: something new. Harper has managed media and fame from the time he was 16 years old. His laps around the baseball world finished early. However, he’s never been through this. Harper doesn’t know -- yet -- where he will play next year. He has to discuss it with his wife, Kayla, and his father, Ron. So many factors abound when making what could be a decade-long decision.

“I think when you’re in Bryce’s shoes, you have no way of really knowing how this is going to turn out,” Boras told me. “He has great regard for the organization, Washington fans, his teammates. There is certainly a potential where that [final] day could come. It could be his last day wearing that [Nationals] uniform. And there’s potential where it could go on for the eternity of his career.” 

Boras finished his day by swashbuckling through a series of individual interviews. He compared his hotel room to Penn Station, satiated a gaggle of foreign press members, then rolled into the late afternoon dusk. Once he was gone, the tree resumed its station as the hall’s brightest light.

MORE NATIONALS NEWS: