Major League Baseball

James Shields' agent on contract negotiations: We didn't overreach

Published Feb. 12, 2015 2:25 p.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

Just got off the phone with Page Odle, the agent who negotiated free-agent right-hander James Shields' four-year, $75 million contract with the Padres.

Odle first wanted to say this:

"James Shields never received, nor did he reject, a five-year, $110 million offer by some sort of mystery team. We never had an offer like that. We never received an offer like that. That was completely inaccurate and a fabrication."

On Jan. 5, I reported, "Though the front-runners for Shields are not known, a number of executives tell FOX Sports that they expect the free-agent right-hander to land a contract of at least five years, $100 million.

"Two execs say it is their understanding that Shields has a five-year, $110 million offer and is looking for an even higher guarantee. But others say that if Shields actually has such an offer, he should take it."

Odle continued:

"We had scenarios talking to teams in the three-year, four-year and five-year range from the start. James never demanded a five-year deal. Would James have liked a five-year deal? Of course. Why wouldn't he? But there was never that demand.

"The teams that had continuing interest, that were communicating to us from the get-go, knew it was not a five-year scenario or nothing. We were having all kinds of talks, talks with vesting options, talks about club options. This thing settled into a four-year deal with an option. There was never a demand that it had to be five years."

Did he ever ask for six years?

"We never had conversations with anybody on a six, not one. Nor did we expect to have a conversation like that with anybody," Odle said. ". . . We understood he was 33. We understood that he was not going to get the same amount of years as (Max) Scherzer and (Jon) Lester. We completely understood that. We also felt that he should not be penalized for the right things that he has done. I still feel strongly about that."

So, why did Shields not sign until early Februrary?

"I don't know why it took so long for his market to develop. We had some early conversations with teams. We had one offer early. It didn't come together. That team moved on. Then there were teams we were talking to that ended up making trades. And I'm sure that probably changed a few of the scenarios.

"His market really didn't start to develop again until after the first of the year, where we started getting calls and started having more sincere discussions with teams. The last three weeks is probably when his market started developing most.

"At the end of last weekend, we had teams trying to get in, wanting to make offers. At that point, we were pretty much involved in dealing with the Padres. He decided he wanted to play for them. It was just a great fit for him and his family. We had teams trying to get in at the very end. It was just too late in the process."

I told Odle that some executives believe he over-reached in the negotiations.

"I don't understand the word, 'overreached,' " Odle said. "James Shields has been one of the best pitchers in the game for eight years. He has never missed a start, never been on the DL. He has helped two small-market teams to the postseason. He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball. I don't understand what 'overreached' means.

"There was no set dollar amount that James had to have. Do we think he is one of the better pitchers in the game? Absolutely. If statistics and what you do in your career matter, then James has that on his side."

In the end, was Odle happy with the final outcome?

"Extremely. Extremely happy with where things are at for James. I've been representing him for 15 years. I'm honored to be involved with James Shields and honored to be involved with the process.

"I was disappointed by the leaks of teams to the media. I applaud the teams that kept the discussions with us private, and they know who they are. But I'm really disappointed in the others. It undermines the free-agent process. I think that was very unfair to James. And I'm very proud of how he handled the process. I'm proud that he decided to keep all of this private. But I'm very happy with the final outcome and he's excited to be a Padre."

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