Joyner’s Agent Doesn’t Expect Holdout

Wally Joyner might be at the financial mercy of the Angels, but his agent won’t threaten a holdout.

“Holding out is an option, but to me, it’s the last act of a desperate man,” said Steve Fryer, Joyner’s Boston-based agent. “You know Wally’s personality, and the last thing in the world we’d consider is holding out.”

Earlier, Tom Selakovich, the agent for San Francisco Giants pitcher Scott Garrelts, said major league owners are conspiring against players with fewer than three years of service by renewing their contracts at ridiculously low figures. Selakovich said his only recourse is to have Garrelts hold out, and he said he hoped other agents would band together and hold out their clients, too.

Fryer, however, doesn’t think a holdout is the answer even though Joyner made just $65,000 last season and probably won’t be renewed at much more. “It’s very easy for an agent to say, ‘Yeah, hold out.’ But it’s tough on the kid,” Fryer said. “Also, this is a player’s prime, and you want him to be playing his sport. He’ll never get that time back. I see holding out as a waste.”