A major shake-up in the agent business has led to the formation of the new Ballengee Group, according to major league sources with knowledge of the situation. Up-and-coming agents Scott Barber (formerly of CSE), Scott Lonergan (formerly of MVP Sports Group) and Jeff Randazzo (formerly of MVP) have united to form the Dallas-based agency, named for James Ballengee, a powerful Texas businessman and big name in the oil logistics industry.
Up-and-coming agents, Texas businessman launch new Ballengee Group agency
The group’s client list includes major leaguers like Heath Bell and Kyle Parker as well as multiple top prospects and top draft picks.
Sarah Glenn
Ballengee, 49, is the founder as well as the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Bridger, LLC, an Addison, Texas-based oil company ranked by Inc. Magazine as the fourth-fastest-growing privately held company in the United States last year. It accumulated more than $3.487 billion in revenue in 2013. Before working for Bridger, Ballengee was the CEO of Taylor Logistics, LLC, which became “one of the leading providers of crude oil transportation in the United States,” according to Bridger’s website.
Throughout his career, Ballengee has formed deep friendships with many top professional athletes and has always shown an interest in getting into the sports industry, according to people close to him who note that his goal in creating the agency is to try to change the way things are done in the agent business. Ballengee has expressed frustration with how athletes have been underserved by agents in the past and is trying to make a difference in the industry, leading to the creation of a firm that sources say will be focused on family values, philanthropy and best-in-class services.
Sources say that the group’s goal will be to “continually challenge the status quo” by listening to its clients and employees about how things can be done differently and better in the agency business. Ballengee recently surveyed numerous professionals within sports (including agents) about what they would do to change the nature of representation business, and decided to launch Ballengee Group in order to put those ideas into practice.
According to multiple certified agents speaking on conditions of anonymity, many players throughout baseball are moving towards smaller, values-based agencies in an effort to not get lost in the shuffle of large firms.
“Players are starting to realize that bigger isn’t better,” one agent associated with a smaller certified agency said. “Players are picking up on the backstabbing nature of the agent business and are shying away from bigger firms due to those concerns. There are firms who are small and do it the right way.”
Ballengee Group is expected to retain almost all of the clients previously held by the four agents, including more than a dozen major leaguers as well as many prospects and recent top draft picks. Their current and evolving roster ranges from three-time All-Star Heath Bell (free agent) to rookies like Kyle Parker (Rockies), as well as 2014 top picks Michael Kopech (Red Sox), Chase Vallot (Royals), Daniel Gossett (Athletics), Alex Verdugo (Dodgers) and Joe Gatto (Angels), and top prospects Tim Cooney (Cardinals), Kyle Waldrop (Reds), Nick Wells (Blue Jays), Jacob May (White Sox) and Tom Murphy (Rockies).
As first reported by Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, Dan Lozano's MVP Sports Group recently lost Lonergan and Randazzo as well as agent Brian Mejia, who appears to be bringing most of MVP's Latin clientele (including the Cardinals' young stars Carlos Martinez and Oscar Taveras) to an unidentified larger agency. Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood also left MVP and is now represented by Bob Garber of RMG Baseball, according to a major league source.
Barber, an attorney whose agency experience goes back to the Hollywood powerhouse William Morris Agency, spent the last several years co-managing the longstanding baseball division at CSE in Atlanta alongside Senior Vice President Keith Grunewald. Barber was also part of the general counsel at CSE, which additionally represents top coaches and broadcasters in its client representation divisions. Notable CSE clients include John Smoltz, Doc Rivers and Ernie Johnson Jr.
Lonergan, a former pitcher in the Red Sox system and club executive with the Padres and Cubs, has made a name for himself on the player representation side of the industry after spearheading a couple successful drafts including a 2014 campaign that saw him sign seven players who were taken in the top 100.
Randazzo, a fourth-round pick of the Twins in 1999, parlayed his playing career into becoming an agent in 2005 with the agent who represented him, Rick Oliver. Randazzo helped build the firm from one player in Japan into a respectable business with over a dozen major leaguers and more than 40 minor leaguers.
After joining MVP Sports Group in 2012, Lonergan and Randazzo helped institute a draft advisory process that saw the company increase draft bonuses negotiated from roughly $2 million per year to over $15 million in just two years, in addition to helping MVP Sports Group crack the top 10 of Forbes' world's most valuable agencies list during that time. MVP Sports Group is notable for representing stars such as Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Jimmy Rollins, Nick Swisher and Carlos Beltran.
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