A former MLB general manager has switched sides to become an agent—representing coaches and executives instead of players.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Zack Scott, who previously led the New York Mets and boasts four World Series rings from his time with the Boston Red Sox, has moved into agency work. His new focus is guiding coaches and executives rather than star hitters and pitchers.
Because coaches and hitting or pitching specialists, along with general managers, typically earn less than players, they haven’t historically attracted the same level of agent attention. That gap, along with a few other factors, leaves many coaches and executives underserved, Scott says.
Scott aims to help not only with salary negotiations but also with professional development. One client, for example, was preparing for an interview for a scouting director role, and Scott said he’d adopt a team’s perspective to guide the process.
“I told him, ‘I’ll pretend I’m the team,’ and that’s where I can help in a way different from a typical player agent: I’ve sat on the other side,” Scott explained. “I want you to tell me exactly how we’ll become elite in amateur scouting in the draft. How will we be the best team in the draft? I want concrete, year-round plans.”
It isn’t clear how many baseball coaches and executives have agents. When former players move into new roles, they often rely on the agent they used during their playing days.
“I think most guys do have agents,” said Los Angeles Angels coach Ray Montgomery, who served as the team’s interim manager last season and is among Scott’s clients. “Especially now, with a trend toward hiring former players right after they retire, they tend to defer to those who’ve represented them.”
Yet a big-league manager who spoke on condition of anonymity offered a nuance: having an agent in your corner is common, but having an agent handle formal negotiations is less frequent.
“An agent means they’re paying them,” the manager said.
Barry Meister, a veteran baseball agent who runs Meister Sports Management, has been involved in some of the sport’s most notable negotiations, including Craig Counsell’s five-year, record-setting contract to manage the Chicago Cubs starting in 2023. That deal averaged over $8 million annually.
Meister estimates he’s assisted roughly a dozen coaches and managers, with some clients moving into broadcasting. While Counsell’s deal involved direct negotiation, not all cases do.
“Counsell’s negotiation was a watershed moment,” Meister observed. “It lifted the top managerial salary from about $4 million to where it could be, historically, as high as $7 million for someone like Joe Torre.”
Scott is allied with Neil Glasberg, founder of the Coaches Agency, which has established a foothold in hockey and football and, with Scott aboard, is aiming to expand into baseball. Glasberg notes that in hockey, more than half of coaches have agents. High-profile clients include Mike Sullivan of the New York Rangers and Lane Lambert of the Seattle Kraken.
“Fifteen years ago, hockey coaches and managers were in the same boat,” Glasberg said. “As salaries in the NHL have surged, many of these professionals struggle to negotiate their own deals—there’s often a conflict of interest, and it’s hard to advocate for yourself.”
Scott enjoyed mentoring in his front-office days. After leaving the Mets in 2021 amid a DUI arrest (for which he was later acquitted), he shifted to analytics consulting for the Pirates, Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins, while frequently being contacted for career guidance.
Hiring in baseball can also feel opaque. Scott described the industry as small and tricky, noting that tampering rules limit what teams can publicly learn about candidates from other organizations. He recalled a situation with a potential hire where information was muddled by an elaborate game of telephone.
Teams sometimes move on from staff without explaining why, and Scott sees an opportunity to provide clearer feedback by talking to multiple people and summarizing the data—without naming sources—to help clients understand where they stand.
Ray Montgomery, who will rejoin the Angels in a front-office role in 2025 after a stint as interim manager, believes Scott’s perspective will be valuable. Montgomery, a former major leaguer who spent three seasons in the 1990s and then moved into scouting, says Scott’s outside view can complement his own experience.
Scott and Glasberg do not represent players. Some worry owning both representation could create conflicts of interest—an issue raised by longtime agent Scott Boras, who has historically assisted players transitioning into coaching roles.
In contrast, the NBA and NHL players unions prohibit agents from representing both players and coaches, and baseball’s players’ union imposes anti-conflict rules for agents without explicitly banning coaching representation.
Ultimately, non-playing roles offer a fertile ground for agents. Boras argues that MLB coaches are among the sport’s most underpaid professionals, noting that college football and basketball coordinators often earn more than top MLB managers, despite comparable responsibilities.
As the market for coaching and front-office talent remains tight, agents who can navigate this space may wield real influence. Meister’s example of a pitching coach negotiating for a better deal illustrates how market access and negotiation expertise can shift leverage toward staff members. The central question remains: will teams resist elevating salaries for coaches and managers, or will agents’ lobbying push the market toward fairer compensation? And, for the audience, do you think coaches and executives deserve a bigger share of the financial rewards in baseball? Share your thoughts in the comments.
