CSE Talent has acquired Arland Sports, a baseball representation firm that has advised eight first-round draft picks over the last eight years, including Boston Red Sox rookie left fielder Andrew Benintendi.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Arland Sports founder Jason Wood will become president of CSE Baseball as part of the deal. Wood will be based out of St. Louis and will report to Danny Martoe, CSE Talent president.
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“We are very bullish on MLB and baseball,” Martoe said. “The thing about Jason is he runs an independent company, which you don’t find a lot these days. He’s been very prolific in the draft these past eight years and he’s done it on his own and built up something special.”
Wood founded Arland Sports, which is named after his grandfather, in 2006, and represents about 50 players, including seven on 40-man MLB rosters.
His first-round picks since 2008 include pitcher Riley Pint, who was drafted No. 4
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overall last year by the Colorado Rockies out of high school and signed a contract worth $4.8 million.
Wood also represents Joey Wentz, who was taken 40th overall in the supplemental 2016 MLB first round by the Atlanta Braves, also out of high school, and signed a deal worth $3.05 million.
Benintendi, 22, the No. 7 pick of the 2015 MLB draft, received a signing bonus of $3.59 million, and is the youngest left fielder to play on Opening Day for the Red Sox since Carl Yastrzemski in 1962.
This past offseason, Wood won arbitration cases for clients David Phelps of the Miami Marlins and Jake Odorizzi of the Tampa Bay Rays.
In this year’s draft, Wood is advising University of Missouri pitcher Tanner Houck and University of Arkansas pitcher Blaine Knight, who are both seen as potential first-round picks.
Wood has kept a low profile, but his ability to sign top young talent in baseball, the one major team sport without a salary cap, has attracted multiple suitors, he said. Wood wanted to provide more services to his players and agreed to be acquired by CSE Talent because of a cultural fit.
“It’s not the money. That was a component, but it’s not the biggest component,” Wood said. “I have good, good players who are even better people. I like the way the values aligned here. And I have been assured by [CSE founder] Lonnie Cooper and by Danny Martoe that is something we are going to grow, and we will stop at nothing to make sure our players are taken care of.”
