Bad day in the press for agent Lozano
It hasn't been a great day in the press for sports agent, Dan Lozano. Both Rod Barajas and Tony Graffanino reportedly have lost deals due to Lozano's efforts.
Barajas apparently signed a 2-year deal with the Jays only to back out shortly before his physical. The defensive catcher made the agreement while under the advisement of his former two agents. He fired them after signing with the Jays, then hired Dan Lozano. That's when the Jays received a request to re-open contract negotiations with Barajas. One would assume that this request was one of Lozano's ideas. J.P. Ricciardi stressed the issue of integrity: "Your word is supposed to mean something. What does that say to the agents you just did a deal with? You're going to get a new agent and start renegotiating? No." He went on to add, "We'll remember this one."
Over in the National League, the Brewers made headlines today with the signing of veteran infielder, Craig Counsell. (I still think the Jays should have looked at Counsell last season… he could have provided excellent mentorship for the Jays' young infielders, a solid defensive backup, and some pop off the bench.) In the article that appears on MLB.com, Adam McCalvy suggests that this move indicates that the Brewers will take a pass on Tony Graffanino, who arrived in Milwaukee via a mid-season trade earlier this year. Despite his good performance as a Brewer, GM Doug Melvin expressed frustration earlier this offseason at the lack of communication from Graffanino's agent–you guessed it–Dan Lozano.
I don't follow the moves of agents very closely, but it struck me to see his name out there twice today and decided to learn a little more. I did a few Google searches for Lozano and was impressed with the long list of players he's linked with, including:
- Mike Piazza
- Curt Schilling
- Shea Hillenbrand
- Michael Young
- Albert Pujols
- Desi Relaford
- Geoff Jenkins
- Kevin Mench
- Orlando Cabrera
- Jacque Jones
- Jimmy Rollins
- Raul Ibanez
- …and many more!
(Cot's Baseball Contracts was another good reference for my search.)
TeenSpeakNews.com has a particularly flattering profile in the "Leaders of Tomorrow" section of their website: Danny Lazano: Making A Difference. Has anyone emailed this link to J.P.? 
[…] Just as I was typing out this statement in my previous post, "[Counsell] could have provided excellent mentorship for the Jays' young infielders", a press release was being written on the other side of the continent to inform the baseball world that veteran shortstop Royce Clayton was signed by the Blue Jays today. A hat tip in my direction from J.P., I'd say! […]