Boras: MLB cancer of trading veterans helped Braves win

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Baseball’s most influential agent said the sport was the victim of a “competitive cancer” caused by teams unloading veterans to accumulate draft picks and said the Atlanta Braves’ World Series title was a direct result of others’ tanking. In an outdoor news conference in front of a steakhouse at the general managers’ meetings, Scott Boras backed the demands of the players’ association for changes in the collective bargaining agreement that expires Dec. 1. The sport is braced for a lockout that would be baseball’s ninth work stoppage but first since 1995. Atlanta made a series of July acquisitions and went on to its first World Series title since 1995.