Episode
MLB Agent Q&A: Off-Season Work Ethic, Playing Time & Contract Negotiation Secrets
- Published
- Mar 11, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1388
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Summary
An MLB agent answers real questions from baseball families across the country. Your son's off-season work ethic, his playing time battles, navigating tough coach conversations — these are the issues that keep baseball parents up at night. In this special Q&A episode of The Most Valuable Agent Podcast, MLB agent Matt Hannaford sits down with producer Mike to answer real listener questions with 25 years of professional baseball experience behind every answer. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✓ How to evaluate your son's off-season effort without overreacting or under-reacting ✓ The right way to handle a coach who benches your kid — and who should actually have the conversation ✓ Why big leaguers take a month off the couch after the season (and what that means for your son) ✓ Inside the Liam Hendricks contract negotiation — club options, buyouts, and how Matt helped support his client as he went through cancer and Tommy John surgery ✓ Second-order thinking: the negotiation skill every great agent needs EPISODE SUMMARY Matt Hannaford opens up about the realities of youth baseball development, urging parents to apply common sense before comparing a 10-year-old's off-season to a draft prospect's. He walks through how age, ability level, and long-term goals should shape expectations — and why rest is not laziness. The conversation shifts to one of the most emotional topics for baseball families: watching your son ride the bench despite working hard. Matt breaks down how to approach the coach (and why there are times depending on your son's age that he — not you — should be the one doing it). He shares how this mirrors real professional player-coach dynamics and why self-advocacy is a skill that starts in high school. In the final segment, Matt takes listeners behind the scenes of one of…