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Bill Gates Isn’t Like Those Other Tech Billionaires

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Bill Gates Isn’t Like Those Other Tech Billionaires

The older he gets, the more Bill Gates is surprised by what the world dishes up.

Take billionaires. There are many now from the tech industry, quite a few with politics that skew forcefully right.

“I always thought of Silicon Valley as being left of center,” Mr. Gates said. “The fact that now there is a significant right-of-center group is a surprise to me.”

Or take the evolution of technology in the decades since he began Microsoft and made it one of the world’s most valuable companies.

“Incredible things happened because of sharing information on the internet,” Mr. Gates said. That much he anticipated. But once social media companies like Facebook and Twitter came along, “you see ills that I have to say I did not predict.”

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Political divisiveness accelerated by technology? “I didn’t predict that would happen,” he said. Technology being used as a weapon against the broader public interests? “I didn’t predict that,” he said.

Mr. Gates is a techno-optimist but he has limits, like cryptocurrency. Does it have any use?

“None,” he said. “There are people with high I.Q.s who have fooled themselves on that one.”

Even artificial intelligence, which Mr. Gates has spoken of enthusiastically, and which Microsoft is heavily invested in, produces a few qualms. “Now we have to worry about bad people using A.I.,” he said. (The New York Times has sued Microsoft and its partner OpenAI over copyright infringement; the companies have denied the claims.)

Mr. Gates, who turns 70 this year, is looking back a lot these days. Next week he is publishing “Source Code: My Beginnings,” which examines his childhood. The first of three projected volumes of memoirs, the book has been in the works for at least a decade but arrives at an unusual moment, as the tech billionaires have been unleashed. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg — their success has given them power that they are enthusiastically, even gleefully, using in divisive ways.

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“Source Code: My Beginnings,” which examines Bill Gates’s childhood, is the first of three projected volumes of memoirs.

Thirty years ago, Mr. Gates created the model for the in-your-face tech billionaire. Microsoft in the 1990s supplied the operating system for the personal computers that were increasingly in every home and office, and the company had big plans for this new thing called the web. Mr. Gates and his company were perceived as powerful, ruthless and ubiquitous. Silicon Valley was terrified and even regulators were alarmed, suing Microsoft.

The anti-Microsoft sentiment in popular culture peaked with the 2001 movie “Antitrust,” about a tech chief executive who murders people in his quest for world domination. Reviewers underlined the allusions to Mr. Gates, although they largely panned the film.

The ire is long gone and Mr. Gates has no recollection of “Antitrust.” Among billionaires who generate strong emotions, he said with a hint of relief, “I’m not at the top of the list. The current tech titans would elicit a stronger negative reaction.”

He is a counterpoint to the moguls in the news. “We don’t have a club,” he said. “Nor do we have consensus. Reid Hoffman” — the co-founder of LinkedIn, a Microsoft board member and vocal supporter of former Vice President Kamala Harris — “is a billionaire. You can ask for his point of view. He’ll be glad to critique.”

Mr. Hoffman, who The Times reported in November was considering leaving the country after Ms. Harris’s election loss, did not respond to emails asking for his point of view. But plenty of others in Silicon Valley are watching the transformation of the billionaires into would-be overlords with a horrified fascination.

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“It’s a steady subject of dismal conversation around here,” said Paul Saffo, a longtime tech forecaster. “The consensus is that Bill Gates looks sainted compared to the awfulness afoot.”

When we talked a few weeks ago, Mr. Gates was sitting on the other side of an office table in a rented suite in Indian Wells, Calif., next to the resort town of Palm Springs. Why were we here? It was cold in Seattle, still Mr. Gates’s home when he is not on the move. That was reason enough.

Despite giving many billions of dollars to the Gates Foundation, his philanthropic juggernaut, Mr. Gates remains the 12th-richest person in the world, with personal wealth of over $100 billion, according to Forbes. But his physique isn’t jacked, he does not have his own rocket fleet, and he seems eager to point out that he does not have all the answers.

After we spoke, Mr. Gates was going to President Carter’s funeral. President Carter was an inspiration and a partner; Mr. Gates’s foundation became a big funder of the Carter Center.

In some respects, they resembled each other. Mr. Gates and Mr. Carter each had two distinct careers, both of which took place in the public eye over years. After Mr. Carter was president, he spent more than 40 years doing good works at home and abroad. That second act tended to be reviewed more favorably than the first.

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So too with Mr. Gates, although his divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021 was a decided setback for his reputation. There was also an unseemly relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“In India, Japan, China, the American dream is a vaunted thing, of which I am sort of an example,” Mr. Gates said. “And then there’s people who think there shouldn’t be billionaires. There’s people who think I use vaccines to kill children. There’s quite a range of opinions.”

Mr. Gates is the opposite of the reclusive billionaire hidden away on his estate. He recently brought out his second Netflix series, “What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates.”

The fourth of the five episodes, “Can You Be Too Rich?” had people, including Senator Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist from Vermont, saying definitively yes. It was a mild but real form of self-criticism that few other billionaires would subject themselves to.

Working on the show didn’t change his mind, though. “Should we outlaw billionaires?” Mr. Gates asked. “My answer to that, and you can say I’m biased, is no.”

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But he supports a tax system that is more progressive. Every year, he adds up the taxes he has paid over his lifetime. He figures he has paid $14 billion, “not counting sales tax.”

Under a better system, he calculates, he would have paid $40 billion. Released in September, “Can You Be Too Rich?” already seems from another era. The answer to Mr. Gates’s question, in an administration staffed by billionaires, is no.

Mr. Gates tries to be nonpolitical but he thought the consequences of the 2024 election were so significant he got involved financially for the first time. He gave $50 million to Future Forward, the principal outside fund-raising group supporting Ms. Harris, The Times reported in October. He didn’t talk publicly about it then and won’t now.

After our conversation, it came out that he had a three-hour dinner with the president-elect at the time, Donald J. Trump, about world health challenges like H.I.V. and polio. “He showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up,” Mr. Gates told The Wall Street Journal.

This week the Trump administration created confusion over whether it would stop disbursing H.I.V. medications bought with U.S. aid. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates declined to comment.

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“I will engage this administration just like I did the first Trump administration as best I can,” Mr. Gates said in our interview.

Writing an autobiography is another way Mr. Gates is different from his peers, few of whom seem so introspective. His childhood, in an upper-class enclave in Seattle in the 1960s and early 1970s, is not inherently dramatic.

“A lot of people have the story of what a tough childhood they had, and how that is partly why they’re so competitive,” he said. “I don’t have that.”

What he did have was his mother, Mary Gates. She was remarkably accomplished in an era when most upper-class women were encouraged by society to stay home. The first woman president of King County’s United Way, she later was on the board of the United Way of America; in 1983, she was the first woman to run it.

“She was almost too intense for me,” Mr. Gates said. His father, a lawyer, was more removed but was drawn into the battle of wills.

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There was a period when Bill — he was in sixth grade — was supremely difficult. “I could go days without speaking, emerging from my room only for meals and school,” he writes in “Source Code.” “Call me to dinner, I ignored you. Tell me to pick up my clothes, nope. Clear the table — nothing.”

“I was provoking them,” he said in our interview. “I didn’t think they had any logic for why I had to show respect for them. My mom was pretty pushy about ‘Eat this way,’ and ‘Have these manners,’ and ‘If you’re going to use the ketchup you have to put the ketchup in a bowl and have to put the bowl here.’ She thought of me as pretty sloppy. Because I was.”

It was not really about the ketchup, of course. “I didn’t have any negative feelings toward her but I could pretend to not care what she said in a way that definitely irritated her,” he said. “What was I trying to prove?”

Parents then could not keep tabs on their children if the children were determined. His sister Kristi, he remembers, “was wary of what might go wrong. Whereas I’m like, ‘Hey, what could go wrong?’” Bill spent much of his time programming, often sneaking away at night.

Then something did go wrong, at the end of his junior year in high school. His best friend, Kent, was mountain climbing, fell and died.

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“It was Kent being an independent thinker, pushing his limits,” Mr. Gates said. “His parents worried about him and he was not naturally coordinated. And yet he seemed to be enjoying it and they didn’t stand in his way.”

What Mr. Gates learned from the tragedy was that life can be unfairly bad as well as unfairly good. He was very lucky; Kent was very unlucky.

Mr. Gates said that if his teenage self were diagnosed now, he would probably be told he was on the spectrum. Maybe his mother intuitively understood what he needed. “I wanted to exceed her expectations,” he said. “She was pretty good at always raising the bar.”

Raising the bar is what he consistently did when he and his friend Paul Allen started a company in Albuquerque in 1975 to produce software for the Altair 8800, a rudimentary personal computer. Mr. Gates was barely out of his teens. He soon moved the fledgling operation to the Seattle area, closer to his mother.

Stewart Alsop covered Mr. Gates when he was the editor of InfoWorld, an influential tech magazine of the era. “Bill gave the privilege of having dinner with him solo in Seattle every six months; the price was always coming up with something he hadn’t thought of,” Mr. Alsop said. That was easy as “he had a hard time seeing the world outside of his life.”

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If Mr. Gates is on the spectrum, he now thinks it gave Microsoft an edge. “I didn’t believe in weekends; I didn’t believe in vacations,” he once said. He knew the license plate numbers of his employees so he could check if they tried to go home. It was a model for thousands of tech start-ups to come.

“Source Code” ends with the beginning of Microsoft. Spreadsheets, databases and word processing were primitive tools, but users got an edge in productivity. The future would be better. “We really didn’t see much downside,” Mr. Gates said.

He kept his optimism for a long time. In 2017, he reviewed the book “Homo Deus,” by the Israeli philosopher Yuval Noah Harari. Mr. Gates took issue with the author’s warning about a potential future where the elite upgrade themselves through tech and the masses are left to rot. “This future is not preordained,” Mr. Gates wrote.

Now he is reading Mr. Harari’s latest book. “Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to A.I.” is a critical analysis of our reliance on technology.

“Every smartphone contains more information than the ancient Library of Alexandria and enables its owner to instantaneously connect to billions of other people throughout the world,” Mr. Harari writes. “Yet with all this information circulating at breathtaking speeds, humanity is closer than ever to annihilating itself.”

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Mr. Gates took “Nexus” personally. Mr. Harari “makes fun of people like myself who saw more information as always a good thing,” Mr. Gates said. “I would basically say he’s right and I was wrong.”

(Mr. Harari was unavailable for comment because he was attending a meditation course.)

To be clear, Mr. Gates is not apologizing. He remains a believer in the power and goodness of tech. But for all he resisted them initially, his mother’s lessons are evidently still with him. Mind your manners. Try and do good. And try not to get carried away.

As a billionaire, other people invest you with huge powers, Mr. Gates said. Because you are successful in one sphere, he mused, “they think you’re good at lots of things you’re not good at.”

It almost sounded like a warning.

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Audio produced by Patricia Sulbarán.

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Culture

NHL agent poll: Best and worst owners, Connor McDavid’s contract, future GMs

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NHL agent poll: Best and worst owners, Connor McDavid’s contract, future GMs

Who are the best and toughest front offices to deal with in the NHL? Which owners are known for giving players what they need? What does the league need to do to improve?

Asking players these questions can yield some pretty good results, but there are limits to that approach. Players have relatively limited exposure to organizations outside their own. And some shy away from expressing controversial takes — even anonymously.

Want an unvarnished opinion on all things NHL? Talk to an agent. Agents often represent several players, whose employers span multiple teams and divisions. They spend their days talking to players, other agents and NHL general managers. And they’re experts on the business side of hockey.

Over the past several months, The Athletic polled 19 agents, who combine to represent hundreds of NHL player contracts, on 10 key questions facing the league and its future. Agents were granted anonymity to encourage honest and candid answers.


1. What is the area the NHL can improve the most?

What’s holding the NHL back? Mainly marketing, agents said.

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The bulk of responses centered around the league’s perceived failings when it comes to selling the game and its star players, bringing in new audiences and growing hockey-related revenue (HRR). To be fair, though, all agents were polled before the recent 4 Nations Face-Off, which was a grand success for the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.

“The NHL has a compelling product, it’s the most exciting live experience of any of the major pro sports,” one agent said, echoing the majority of respondents. “Yet (the folks) running the league seemed content for decades to be focused more on fighting the players over using them to grow the game.”

“This is where the NBA has probably done a better job than us and the NFL is hitting on all cylinders,” another said. “Just using the crest and the trophy is not enough anymore.”

One agent, however, noted a hurdle faced by the league in promoting player personalities: the players themselves.

“I would like to say ‘selling their players better,’ but the guys are so humble, it’s hard to sell them,” the agent said. “Other sports leagues do that better, but their personalities are bigger.”

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Meanwhile, more than one agent highlighted the NHL’s problem in getting the games in front of viewers.

“We’re missing the opportunity to expand the game to a more casual fan,” one said. “We haven’t quite unlocked what the key is to bringing the live experience to TV in a better way. If you watch old games from the ’60s or ’70s, they’re kind of shot more or less the same way as now.”

How the league sets up the schedule and its key events drew criticism as well. Here are some other areas in which agents feel the league could improve:

On the playoff format: “I wouldn’t mind them going back (to) 1 seed vs. 8 seed instead of the divisional stuff. There’s got to be incentives to having great regular seasons. Same matchups every year in the playoffs.”

On expanding the playoff field: “The league continues to grow and it sounds like we’re going to continue to grow beyond the 32, so I’m really surprised the owners haven’t pushed this for their own selfish reasons. For certain markets, it would create hope right to the end.”

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On scheduling: “With the 4 Nations, Olympics, the World Cup — I think the PA, the league have failed the players, the fans, the owners instead of really understanding the wear and tear it has on the product.”

On scheduling: “I’d like to see staggered start times, and I don’t know how we go three or four nights with literally no games or one or two and then all of a sudden everybody plays.”

On player safety: “My thing here lately is the inconsistencies with player safety. For some things that go unpunished and some things that do, I can never get a read on what they’re doing or thinking. Some of these things that should be suspensions and certainly significant fines, they slip by. There’s no punishment. And others that are borderline, there’s heavy stuff. There needs to be a consistent standard.”

On the de-centralization of the draft: “I hate (the change). It’s a big thing for that city to have. I think the draft is an amazing thing.”

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The answers in this category offer more evidence of how far the NHL has come in the Sun Belt.

On-ice success is, of course, a big factor here, but so are other areas. Atmosphere, culture and leadership matter a lot, too.

“You have to look at Tampa with the way the owner’s very good at being hands-off,” one agent said. “(Owner Jeff Vinik) sat back, hired the best people and let them do their jobs.”

“Tampa is awesome,” echoed another. “Players want to be there. They’re buying houses there and spending post-career there.”

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For similar reasons, the other Florida team ranks high on agents’ lists.

“(The Panthers) are in sync and connected between ownership and management,” an agent said. “They turned things around in short order with (GM) Billy Zito going in there. They’re fair. They’ve developed in short order to become a destination. Those guys take less to go there because of the tax advantages down there.”

In Vegas, one of the league’s youngest franchises has quickly gained a reputation for winning — at all costs.

“They’ve been consistently competitive,” an agent said. “They don’t hesitate to do whatever it takes, although it may be cold-blooded at times to improve the franchise. But if you’re rating them on their ability to execute on a game plan, I think from Day One they’ve been pretty impressive.”

The Dallas Stars also received credit for on-ice success.

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“From top to bottom, their scouting is outstanding, their development is outstanding. Obviously management,” an agent said.

Added another: “They’ve just found so many players. And frankly they’re really good people.”

One somewhat surprising entry here might be the Jets. One agent praised the team for on-ice success in the face of attendance and business concerns.

“They are able to draft, develop very well,” an agent said. “The West is a beast, but I’m impressed, for a smaller market, how they’re able to operate.”

The Maple Leafs, on the other hand, received credit on the business side in spite of on-ice struggles (at least in the playoffs).

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“I think they’ve outdone the Rangers. They’ve outdone Boston. They’ve outdone Montreal,” an agent said. “So I’ve got to give them their due as far as growing revenues in this business and running it like a corporate enterprise.”

Several agents struggled to limit their answer to just one team, so 25 of the NHL’s 32 teams received at least one vote.

In this category, words like “reasonable,” “accessible” and “honest” carry a lot of weight.

That’s the case when it comes to Tampa GM Julien Brisebois.

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“Julien’s pretty straightforward,” one agent said. “Very accessible, easy to deal with. Player-friendly.”

“They don’t mess around,” added another. “I like JB.”

It’s the case with the Wild and GM Bill Guerin, too.

“Bill Guerin’s reasonable and easy to deal with and easy to have a conversation with,” an agent said. “Very honest.”

“Billy G’s always fair,” added another.

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Minnesota and Guerin also received credit for staying competitive in the face of salary cap-related issues over the past several seasons.

“It’s truly amazing how competitive they’ve been the last three years spending $13-$15 million less than anyone else. Imagine if they could have fielded full rosters.”

People love Jim Nill in Dallas.

“Classiest, most honest guy in the league,” said one agent.

Some agents noted a desire to deal with former player agents, such as Zito of the Panthers.

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“I like dealing with Billy Zito. He’s been on both sides of it,” one said.

Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is another former agent. His partnership in Montreal with front-office veteran Jeff Gorton was a highlight for one agent.

“Kent Hughes is a very charming guy, and right into it. Jeff Gorton and him, I met with those guys, they were like two brothers fighting when I talked to them. They’re funny. To actually rebuild is hard. They’ve done a nice job over there. They’re on the right track.”

Interestingly, the Ducks and Islanders — Nos. 1 and 2 in this poll’s “most difficult to deal with” category, respectively — each drew a mention here.

“I know it’s a crazy thing to say, but I have such trust in dealing with Lou,” an agent said of Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello. “He’s so honest. What he says is what he means, and vice versa.”

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Another agent felt similarly about the regime in Anaheim: “I like the old-school, straight-shooting guys.”

As most agents quipped at first, “This would have been easy a year ago — Arizona. Poor Billy (Armstrong) had his hands tied, but the rest was unstable as hell. Not anymore in Utah.”

Forced to choose a new answer, most agents picked Buffalo due to more than a decade of struggles.

The Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2007. They’ve been rebuilding for what seems like forever. And they’re currently holding down last place in the Eastern Conference.

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“Buffalo has just decades of mediocrity and is just a mess,” one agent said.

Multiple agents brought up Anaheim: “The Ducks are not run well enough and are so difficult to deal with.”

The Blackhawks garnered votes here for a perceived mismanagement of their rebuild so far — especially after adding Connor Bedard.

“When you got it all, you’ve got to run it like you do. I don’t think they have a plan,” one agent said. “It should be getting done right. For what they’ve been given, Chicago and Detroit are the biggest letdowns. They’ve been given the keys to the kingdom, but my gosh.”

Two agents wondered about the Yzerplan in Detroit.

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“They’re really unstable,” one said. “There’s no plan, although they may say there’s one.”

One agent questioned the strategy in Nashville.

“They spent $108 million on free agents this summer — older free agents, but yet they just have five first-round picks just sitting there and not developing. So what’s the plan? What’s the direction?”

One agent described the Ducks front office as something of a throwback.

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“When I started, everybody was angry and telling you to go f— yourself,” one agent said. “So I kinda miss that. Anaheim, personality-wise, they’re tough. (GM Pat Verbeek) is cranky and runs the show himself and (assistant GM Jeff Solomon) is a grinder. I like those two guys, but tough. I appreciate when they’re a–holes.”

“Verbeek is ridiculous. He draws lines in the sand and sticks by it irrationally,” one said.

“The guy that makes Anaheim tough is Jeff Solomon,” another added. “He does all their contracts. Something as simple as doing entry-level deals … there’s always something they nickel you.”

A so-called old-school mentality was a theme here. So, no surprise that the New York Islanders, with a front office led by the eldest statesman of NHL GMs, fall into the category.

“They’re the biggest pain in the ass to deal with,” one agent said. “A lot of old-school people, and (Lou Lamoriello) has no ability to let someone else have responsibility. It’s all through him, and every conversation is draining.”

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“I respect the Islanders, but Lou definitely holds tight,” an agent added. “When he locks in his heels, he locks in his heels.”

Complaints about Carolina, which tied for second here, centered on owner Tom Dundon’s management style.

“It’s dysfunctional how the owner micromanages everything,” an agent said.

But for the most part, answers in this category came down to how tough a front office was perceived to be in negotiations.

An agent on the Golden Knights: “(GM Kelly McCrimmon) is a tough customer.”

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And on the Predators: “Nashville is like pulling teeth dealing with them on contracts at all levels.”

Tampa’s Jeff Vinik has found a winning formula — on and off the ice.

“I think he’s done a wonderful job,” an agent said. “He walked in there and turned the franchise around. First-class all the way. I mean, just look at what the area around the rink used to be like compared to now. He’s got to be one of the best owners in sports.”

Another agent put it simply and enthusiastically: “My players say he’s the best owner ever.”

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Added another, “That guy gets it. He got it from Day One. He’s done all the right things and hired the right people and stayed out of it, but also done all the things that he needed to do for the market.”

With all the answers here, high rankings go to owners who have deep pockets and are perceived as willing to spend.

That’s the case in Toronto, one of few NHL teams with a corporate ownership structure rather than an individual owner. Agents appreciated MLSE’s willingness to spend on more than player salaries.

“They have the money to basically do whatever they want,” one noted. “They treat their players great.”

“There’s no cost spared with the Leafs,” added another. “If you need an MRI, they’ll get you 35 of them.”

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How about the new guy? Utah’s Ryan Smith isn’t new to sports ownership (he has owned a majority stake in the NBA’s Utah Jazz since 2020) and he’s already garnered at least one solid review in his debut NHL season.

“He’s new, but a $3 hot dog, $3 water, $3 pop? It feels like he’s part of the people. He’s the new wave.”

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon ran away with this category — something that could raise some eyebrows, given the relative success of his organization.

What’s clear from agents’ comments is that this isn’t really about any specific business decision or issues with spending (a more common sentiment the last time we did this exercise in 2022). It’s more about Dundon’s communication and leadership style, with several describing him as overly involved.

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“I don’t know how he has the time or the energy. He’s the de facto GM,” one agent said.

“A lot of people in our business hate it that Tom is so f—ing involved, and he is basically the manager and he has a lot of strong opinions, too, and he’s not afraid to tell all of us privately those opinions.”

“His GMs and assistant GMs … have to ask him permission for anything,” added another.

The idea that the owner’s involvement is affecting the culture was raised several times.

“They’ve got some smart people there, but you just feel their culture by not even working there, just being around it. And it’s not a great one.”

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One agent joked: “The worst part of Dundon lapping the competition here is he’s probably proud of it.”

Buffalo’s Terry Pegula took the second spot in this category, but the comments were more focused on a perceived lack of involvement — and a lack of on-ice success.

“Buffalo has swung and missed a lot,” one agent noted.

“He has not done anything,” another said of Pegula. “He’s in left field.”

One agent said a lack of involvement was reason for the Ducks’ Henry Samueli to earn votes, too. “Ownership that isn’t involved when they should be frustrates me. Like, get involved.”

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“Whatever the f— he wants.”

That pretty much sums up the general feeling on this one.

When Connor McDavid’s current deal expires after the 2025-26 season, the question isn’t whether he’ll become the highest-paid hockey player of all-time; it’s how much he will make.

The current CBA limits a player to 20 percent of a team’s salary cap. With the cap expected to jump above $100 million for the first time as McDavid’s deal expires, could he be the league’s first $20 million man?

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“McDavid should make the max. It’s imperative that he does,” one agent said. “He’s the best player in the league. With that carries the obligation to be paid the highest amount possible, end of story.”

“He’s worth every penny at 20 percent,” another added.

“That guy better get 20 percent of the upper limit,” said another. “He’s by far the best player in the game and will be for awhile and should lead the charge. Our whole league works towards a ceiling, and he should be it.”

Some noted the need to balance a desire to get paid and the desire to win.

“He’s got to decide if he wants to win or not,” one agent said. “He has every right to ask for 20 percent and then go backwards.”

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“I would suggest it’s going to be whatever Connor McDavid decides is most appropriate,” another agent said. “I’m sure a lot of people know this, but when he did his last contract, the night before he signed it, he called and took a couple million right off the top because he felt he was taking too much money and they needed more to be able to build the team.”

Another agent noted that McDavid’s contract will need to compare favorably to the eight-year, $112 million extension signed by Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl in September, which carries an AAV of $14 million.

“I think Connor realizes Stanley Cups are the most important thing, but obviously Leon’s contract’s out there, so I would say a million dollars more than Leon.”

Another agent agreed on that ballpark.

“I’d say 15 percent of the cap, because you need to leave 5 percent cushion for the team to have money to spend to win,” the agent said. “I think that’s fair. Because if the cap goes to $115 million, that’s $15 or $16 million.”

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7a. What is the biggest issue in the next CBA negotiations?

The current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2025-26 season, and the NHLPA and NHL appear confident a deal will be reached amicably.

“I think we are in a good place in terms of our collective bargaining relationship, in terms of our overall relationship,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said ahead of the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Indeed, many agents are hopeful the next round of negotiations will feature less animosity than we’ve seen in the past.

What are the big issues likely to arise?

“I hope none,” said one agent. “I hope we’ve ironed them out. We’ve had enough battles in my life — over 30-plus years as an agent. We don’t need a battle.”

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Still, this question yielded an array of concerns on agents’ minds. Most of them center around money — and exactly how it is divided between owners and players. Several agents noted, for example, that players should get a piece of expansion fees.

“If it’s going to be a real 50-50 partnership, it should be in respect to everything, and I’m not just talking expansion fees,” one agent said. “I’m talking more along the lines of all the insurance and everything that all comes out of the player’s share. Those expenses should be 50-50 as well.”

Escrow came up with nearly half the agents.

“It’s always escrow,” an agent said. “Escrow will be fine as long as HRR keeps going upwards. It’s just making sure HRR continues to grow so everyone can share and it doesn’t rear its ugly head again.”

But a falling Canadian dollar had some worried about the potential hit to HRR.

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“The problem we’re having with the Canadian dollar that’s going to be a huge issue because HRR is driven by Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver — they contribute so much. I think we’re going to be into another pickle a couple of years from now.”

Others had thoughts on adjustments to the salary cap.

“(There should be a) luxury tax for teams that want to spend over the cap,” one said.

Another added there should be focus on keeping the cap floor at a sufficiently high level: “I feel like as the cap goes up you’re going to have more and more teams having self-imposed budgets, so that’s a concern.”

7b. What’s an under-the-radar issue that should be addressed?

This was another question that drew a wide array of responses.

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The idea that tax regimes in certain markets make teams more or less desirable to players was raised more than once. Is there a better way?

“The cap should be set off teams with no state tax,” one agent said, echoing a few others. “Meaning Wild or Rangers or whoever could spend their percent difference to that of Vegas. Even (the) playing field.”

Not everyone agreed, though.

“That’s a thing I’m sick of hearing about,” an agent countered. “Nobody was talking about this 15 years ago when the Panthers were terrible. It’s complete bulls—. That’s not why players go there. They go there to win.”

Here were some other popular talking points:

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On travel: “Cross-conference travel and rivalries. I think they should add an extra in-division game or two in their conference rather than, say, Tampa go to Vancouver. That travel is so taxing and they don’t draw well.”

On new CHL-college rules: “I think there will be a lot of discussion about the four-year college free agency thing. Teams hate that. Agents love it where the guys can basically walk after four years. I think there’s going to have to be a lot of modification based on the CHL-NCAA changes just to try to get people on some sort of level playing ground.”

On signing bonuses: “The signing bonuses haven’t even kept up with the cost of living expenses. If you’re a rookie in New York and told to get an apartment, you’d rather stay in the hotel for three more months. To me, Connor Bedard making a $95,000 signing bonus is crazy. That’s the same as a college free agent. I go to Hawks games and there’s 16,000 Bedard jerseys. Maybe there should be an exception for first-round picks.”

On player safety: “The player safety department needs to be overhauled.”

On waivers: “That entry-level players have to wait so long before they’re eligible to be put on waivers. I think a team should have two years to assess the talent of a player and develop them.”

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“Good players getting trapped in the minors for too long.”

It’s not entirely surprising that an overwhelming majority of agents are in favor of expansion.

After all, as one agent put it, “More jobs. Agents would always be for that.”

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“I want the NHL to go to 40 teams. Forty-five teams,” another added. “The more the merrier. If we get to 50, I’d be thrilled.”

Some did note, however, that the league should be careful not to dilute the talent pool.

“I don’t think there’s enough good players to expand,” one said.

Most disagreed, arguing more opportunity will result in more stars.

As for where the NHL should go next?

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“Going to strong TV markets is the low-hanging fruit and most important element, so Houston makes the most sense,” one agent said.

“Add teams in the U.S. Avoid the Canadian dollar,” another said. “Add Houston and Atlanta, and then realign. Why’s Utah in the Central?”

Here’s what agents had to say on the options:

On Phoenix: “Phoenix can work with the right owner and building. Utah, you see how much difference ownership makes right off the hop. It changed almost immediately.”

On Houston: “Fourth-biggest market in the U.S., and it never gets mentioned. It’s a no-brainer.”

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On Quebec City: “I have no idea why they’re not in the league if Winnipeg is.”

On Quebec City negatives: “I don’t want another Canadian city; we need to generate revenue.”

On Atlanta: “Bad ownership plagued them last time. Horrible ownership actually, so find the right group and location, it could work.”

On Atlanta negatives: “F— Atlanta. We’ve tried that a million times. There’s no way.”

On Atlanta negatives: “I’ll believe this Atlanta stuff when we see it. We’ve been there twice. They seem to think it’ll work a third time. We’ll see.”

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On Kansas City: An agent pointed to the NFL’s Chiefs as an example. “Maybe they can get that market.”

On Toronto: “I think it’s the most insane thing in the world that there’s not two teams in Toronto. It’s crazy.”

Several agents described the current NHL schedule as a “grind.” Adding more games is unpopular.

More teams having a shot at the postseason, though? There might be something there.

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“I would probably be in favor of some play-in games,” one agent said. “I think it’s worked well in baseball and it’s been good for TV and would be good overall for HRR.”

Another added, “It’s so hard to make the playoffs, so if we can take the teams that were like one regulation loss away from making it, I think that’d be fun.”

Still, there were several who emphasized that the schedule is too long as it is.

“There’s too many games. If anything, I would reduce the number of games,” one of eight agents who responded “no” said.

A main target for reducing the workload: the preseason exhibition schedule.

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“The exhibition situation has been so poorly run,” an agent said. “It’s so imbalanced. There’s really no rhyme or reason to it. Most teams, at most, really have one spot you can fight for in training camp if everybody’s healthy.”

One agent said the season needs to start and end earlier.

“Yes (to adding regular season games), but no more than two games and as long as the exhibition season gets cut down to balance it out. And the Stanley Cup needs to be awarded no later than the first week in June. Why not start the season Sept. 15?”

Seventeen GMs-in-waiting garnered votes as the one to watch — including two agents who selected themselves.

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Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza received the most mentions, though.

“From the very beginning, even when he was in his last year as a player, he had a thirst for knowing everything he could learn,” one agent said. “He’s very, very thorough in everything he does and is learning every part of the organization. Kyle (Dubas) gave him access to everything in Toronto and now Pittsburgh. Jason approached it like he did everything else – just 100 percent.”

Another member of Dubas’s front office was praised by one agent: Vukie Mpofu, the Penguins’ director of hockey operations and legal affairs.

“One of the sharpest, committed and genuinely good young people. He’s a star,” the agent said.

In the two-vote club, Leafs AGM Brandon Pridham and Panthers AGM Brett Peterson stood out.

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“I think he does a lot of work and doesn’t get a lot of credit,” an agent said of Pridham. “He’s quiet, but I think he’s done yeoman’s work there for a lot of years and doesn’t necessarily get on people’s radar.”

Another said of Peterson: “Former agent. He’s very smooth, very smart. He’s in tight with USA Hockey, well schooled by Billy Zito. He’s an impressive guy.”

Speaking of former agents, Canucks AGM Émilie Castonguay — the first Canadian woman ever certified as an agent — received a vote.

“She’s a strong presence. Smart and has the right edge,” an agent said. “Not only does she have a strong legal education, she has navigated the game from all sides, player-agenting and managing. She’s a skilled communicator and strategic thinker.”

(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic)
(Photos: Patrick Smith, Jeff Vinnick, Richard T. Gagnon, Bruce Bennett, Chris Tanouye / Getty Images)

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15 Queer Historical Romance Books to Dive Into the Genre

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15 Queer Historical Romance Books to Dive Into the Genre

Writing a list of queer historical romances feels half like writing a manifesto and half like writing a eulogy. Here are the love stories we created; here are our voices and hopes and desires, when we were still allowed to openly name them. Queer literary history has never been simple — even the parts of it I’ve personally lived through have contained incredible transformations — but what frightens me are the people who want to make tragedy the central queer experience again.

When I get in this mood, I turn to queer historical romance. Seeing queer people build their own happiness brick by brick no matter what the world thinks of them nourishes something in me.

So I’ve listed some of my favorites for you here, stretching from the ancient worlds of A.J. Demas all the way to 20th-century New York City. I offer you centuries of L.G.B.T.Q. romance, of stories that defy tragedy and laugh in the face of shame, of people successfully claiming joy — as is their right.

Give me a pair of heartfelt romances that will make me laugh and cry

We Could Be So Good
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

This is one of the greatest one-two punches in all of queer romance: a pair of hopeful yet heartbreaking books about men falling in love in postwar, pre-Stonewall New York. In the first, the scrappy Italian American reporter Nick falls for Andy, the earnest, hapless son of a press mogul. In the second, Mark, a journalist, is reeling from the loss of his beloved partner when he’s assigned to shadow Eddie, a flailing, failing pro baseball player. These books make me laugh, they make me cry, and they make me yearn for a million books just like them. I cannot think of any higher superlative.

Immerse me in the dazzle and drama of Belle Époque Paris

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera

The Exposition Universelle provides the backdrop for Herrera’s Belle Époque trilogy of determined heroines and the titled partners they bedevil. This second volume in the series features a Caribbean heiress, Manuela, who has only a few short weeks to enjoy herself among the women of Paris before she marries a man of her parents’ choosing. But then she meets Cora, a countess with a wicked mind and financial smarts, who offers her a much more tempting future — if only Manuela is bold enough to seize it.

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How about some ‘Lion in Winter’ fan fic?

Solomon’s Crown by Natasha Siegel

This novel reimagines the intense relationship between Philip II of France and Richard the Lionheart, one of England’s most famous medieval monarchs (and a queer icon for centuries). Is it basically “The Lion in Winter” fan fiction with a love story between two difficult, warlike kings? Yes. Is it a marvelous read filled with royal angst, an Eleanor of Aquitaine cameo and lines of pure poetry? Also yes.

I want a sweet Regency

Sixpenny Octavo by Annick Trent

With so many bluestocking heroines in upper-class historical romance, it’s easy to forget how many restrictions there were on reading and literature for most British people during the early 19th century. Here, Trent offers us a clock mender whose friend is facing sedition charges as part of a crackdown on political reading clubs, and a housemaid whose testimony might exonerate her. It’s a sweet, sensitive vision of two people finding their way to happiness in a hostile time, despite their lack of wealth or station.

I’d like a laugh-out-loud love story with a body count

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

And now, for a different take on the late 18th century, we have a murderous, pistols-blazing, provocative, bi-for-bi romance between a countess who’s just shot her awful husband and the thief who’s blackmailing her about it. Falling in love via letters is one thing; falling in love via extortion letters is quite another. Filled with top-tier romance shenanigans, this book is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking — a Sebastian specialty.

Give me a mix of mystery and high-octane kink

A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles

In a small room, every Wednesday, a radical printer and bookseller named Silas Mason meets a highborn Tory gentleman — and offers him some of the roughest sex in Regency London. They’ve been meeting for a year, but it’s only when Silas’s bookshop is raided that his lover’s name becomes known to him. Dominic Frey is a member of the oppressive class and everything Silas should despise — but now their mutual discretion is all that’s keeping them from punishment for their crimes of passion. Rich with political undercurrents and personal drama, this second volume in Charles’s much-loved Society of Gentlemen series stands out for both its political history and its high-octane kink.

I want a gentle trans historical

The Craft of Love by EE Ottoman

I love it when people in historical romances have interesting jobs, and so does Ottoman. This book, set in 19th-century New York City, showcases a gentle, low-stakes romance between a bisexual quilt maker and the trans silversmith who hires her to turn his old clothing into a memorial quilt. The novel is a quiet masterpiece of tone, and the way that each character’s artistic skill plays into their growing feelings is a joy to behold.

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I like love stories that center older women

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

There is a moment in this stunning novella where one character looks at the other and thinks, “Every act of gravity and time made beauty in nature — except when it happened to human women” — and then proceeds to list every last beloved detail of a seven-decade-old body in all its specificity and imperfection. Set in late-19th-century England, this short book casts a long shadow: redefining beauty and usefulness, putting two older women at the center of a love story and punishing terrible men with the consequences they so richly deserve. A perfect book.

I want a shy-English-girl-meets-bold-American tale

How to Talk to Nice English Girls by Gretchen Evans

The interwar era of the early 20th century saw flourishing queer subcultures bloom in many places — most famously Paris, but not even the staid manor houses of England were entirely exempt. In this sweet romance, a quiet English girl meets a bold, brash American bombshell in town for her sister’s wedding. Soon all bets are off and all futures are possible.

How about a time-travel romance?

The Sleeping Soldier by Aster Glenn Gray

Gray explores the complexity of queer expression in different eras in this time-travel romance between a 1960s college student and the Civil War soldier he wakes from an enchanted hundred-year sleep. Russell, our soldier, is accustomed to casual affection between men — hand-holding, cuddling — that Caleb, in the 20th century, finds painfully revealing of queerness, and which might even be dangerous in a bigoted small town. A reflection on how history shapes our experience and expression, and a charming fairy tale of a romance, all in one witty package.

Give me upstairs-downstairs polyamory drama

Behind These Doors by Jude Lucens

Polyamorous characters are still comparatively rare, even in queer romance, so gems like this one are worth celebrating. The Honorable Aubrey Fanshawe has a perfectly acceptable sexual arrangement with a lord and lady of his acquaintance. He shouldn’t also be taking up with a servant like Lucien Saxby, especially since Lucien supplements his valet’s income by writing scurrilous gossip pieces for a scandal-hungry press. But once begun, the affair is irresistible. The threads of debt, power, passion, negotiation and compromise that our two leads weave together are as delicate and lovely as a spider’s web in winter.

You had me at “coven of queer witches”

Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell

On a famously gay island, during the height of the AIDS pandemic, something evil stalks a young man, and only the powers of a disco-dance coven of queer witches can save him — if he even wants to be saved. This is the kind of heartfelt, messy, weird novel you find on the shelves of a beachside cabin because your uncle left it there 20 years ago. It perfectly makes a case for the necessity of hope, no matter how bleak the world may feel.

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How about an enemies-to-lovers novel with Cold War spies?

Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray

An unusual romance, and not only on account of its Cold War setting, this book starts as the American F.B.I. agent Daniel and the Soviet spy Gennady are forced into a road trip across the Midwest. Gennady has been ordered to seduce his American counterpart, but finds he can’t betray Daniel entirely — and as the years go by and politics transform the world, the men struggle to suppress all they once meant to one another. It’s a happy ending three decades in the making.

Give me suspense and romance in the ancient world

Sword Dance by A.J. Demas

Ancient Greece and Rome were in many ways more open about queer relationships than later eras would be. But those later eras did much to muddy the historical waters, and this setting now comes with a hefty load of baggage. Demas avoids any and all misconceptions in “Sword Dance,” which features an injured imperial soldier turned quartermaster, a eunuch slave from a conquered nation and a house full of philosophy students up to no good. I came for the queer romance, but I stayed for the sudden turn into ancient-world spy thriller and murder mystery.

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Ostriches, butt cheeks and relentless energy: How Austin Hedges became an indispensable MLB teammate

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Ostriches, butt cheeks and relentless energy: How Austin Hedges became an indispensable MLB teammate

After the Texas Rangers acquired Max Scherzer at the 2023 deadline, a number of their players were unsure of how to act, and almost distanced themselves out of respect for the future Hall of Famer.

Catcher Austin Hedges, who joined the Rangers two days later in a separate trade, took the opposite approach.

“He was like, I’m just going straight at this guy’s chin,” former Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe recalled.

Hedges, 32, could not be further from Scherzer in career accomplishments. His .186 lifetime batting average is the second lowest in AL-NL history among players with 2,000 at-bats, according to STATS Perform, ahead of only Bill Bergen, who batted .170 from 1901-1911.

But teams continue to value Hedges for two reasons: his elite defensive skills and his rare ability to connect a clubhouse.

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The Cleveland Guardians, after reaching the American League Championship Series, made Hedges one of the first free-agent signings of the offseason, bringing him back Nov. 6 on a one-year, $4 million contract. Never mind that Hedges’ career OPS is .559, and .446 the past three seasons.

The Guardians wanted Hedges’ energy. The confidence he instills in his teammates. And yes, the raucous, fun-loving environment he creates in a clubhouse, the way he did with Scherzer in 2023.

“What does Max want? Max wants to talk trash,” Hedges said. “The best of the best, no one picks on them. These guys are dying for banter, just to be one of the boys.”

Hedges does not remember what he said to Scherzer initially, joking, “I don’t remember half the things I say.” Scherzer believes mutual friends perhaps tipped off Hedges on how to rile him. No matter, Scherzer relished the verbal assault.

“I love that he went for my throat immediately,” Scherzer said.

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“He immediately transformed the dynamic of the entire team instead of having Max be on his own separate island,” Lowe said.


Hedges and his Rangers teammates celebrate winning the 2023 American League pennant in seven games over the Astros. (Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)

With that, the Rangers were on their way. To a wild-card berth highlighted by Hedges’ smashing of an ostrich egg on the final weekend of the regular season, with yolk flying everywhere. To the team’s first World Series title, with Hedges entering the hitters’ meeting before every postseason game in his jockstrap, marking the number of wins needed for a championship with eye black scrawled on his naked butt cheek.

“Without him that year, I’m not sure we become the team we became in the playoffs,” Rangers catching coordinator Bobby Wilson said.

The banter between Hedges and Scherzer lightened a serious-minded Rangers’ clubhouse. The two sat at the head of the table during team dinners, were the ringleaders of fantasy football, the big bettors in cards, Lowe said.

At one point, Hedges lost a sizable amount to Scherzer playing cards. Scherzer proceeded to order several bottles of expensive wine at a team dinner and forced Hedges to pick up the tab.

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“Look, this is coming out of your (playoff) share,” Scherzer recalled telling the backup catcher. “Everyone else here is helping you get paid. So these are friendship dues.”

Hedges paid his debt, and then some. In a sport that quantifies virtually every aspect of a player’s performance, his contributions to the Rangers were immeasurable, and left an impact on manager Bruce Bochy.

“I got to appreciate how much a player who is not a star player can impact a ballclub,” Bochy said.


No one in uniform is immune from Hedges’ razzing, not even his coaches and manager.

“Way to catch it, Vogter!” Hedges will yell from the Guardians’ dugout if a catcher mishandles a pitch, poking fun at his manager, Stephen Vogt, a former catcher known more for his offense than defense.

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“Swing it, Albie!” Hedges will shout if a hitter takes a bad swing, singling out Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz, another former catcher who was a career .199 hitter in the minors.

Hedges dishes it out, but takes it, too. If a hitter breaks his bat, someone in the dugout might take aim at the 10-year veteran, hollering, “Swing it, Hedgie!” pointing out Hedges’ own offensive deficiencies.

“That’s good chirp,” Hedges said.

Hedges’ chatter eases tension, keeps players in the moment. The atmosphere he creates, Albernaz said, resembles a college dugout.

“He doesn’t shut up,” Guardians first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. said, laughing before adding, “He’s another coach on the field.”

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For all his entertaining repartee, Hedges is keenly aware of when to lock in. On days he is not playing, he watches the game intensely, picking up tips on opponents, asking questions of Vogt and his staff, advising and encouraging teammates.

Guardians pitcher Ben Lively recalls growing outwardly frustrated at times last season, and Hedges telling him, “Dude, no, you’re better when you’re calm. Keep it inside.” Shane Bieber, the Guardians’ 2020 Cy Young Award winner, said, “I’ve never met anybody who is so good at providing confidence for others.”


Austin Hedges celebrates the Guardians’ playoff-clinching win over Minnesota with manager Stephen Vogt last September. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)

After Major League Baseball introduced the wireless PitchCom communication system in 2022, Hedges developed a novel way to fire up his pitchers. In addition to recording standard voice commands like, “Fastball away,” Hedges made one that says, “F— yeah.”

“You make a good pitch, you get a little, ‘F— yeah.’ And then I call the next pitch,” Hedges said.

Every day, no matter what Hedges might be experiencing personally or professionally, teammates and staff members say he is the same.

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“That’s a conscious choice,” Vogt said. “You wake up. You have to make the decision, ‘I’m going to be a good teammate. I’m going to bring energy.’”

Hedges does just that, relentlessly. The Guardians see it as no coincidence they reached the postseason with Hedges in 2020, 2022 and ’24, but missed it without him in ’23. Bochy and pitcher Nathan Eovaldi said without Hedges last season, the Rangers’ dugout was a different, less rambunctious place.

“He’s coffee 24-7, it feels like,” Eovaldi said. “I don’t know how he sleeps.”

Hedges started only five games for the Rangers in the final two months of the 2023 regular season, and played only three innings in the postseason. After joining the team, he would start to get loose and hit in the batting cage in the third or fourth inning in preparation for a possible late entrance. But in September, the Rangers asked him to work on his hitting before games. Bochy wanted Hedges’ presence in the dugout, from the first pitch to the last.

Hedges loved hearing he was making a difference.

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“You think this matters?” he thought to himself. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”


Watching Hedges’ antics with the Rangers, outfielder Travis Jankowski barely could believe it was the same uptight guy who also was his teammate with the San Diego Padres from 2015 to ’19.

“He wasn’t the Hedgie he is now,” Jankowski said.

Hedges, who grew up in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., about an hour north of San Diego, was the Padres’ second-round draft pick in 2011. Scouts in Southern California told Baseball America he was the best defensive backstop to come out of the area in at least a decade. By 2014, the publication rated him the Padres’ No. 1 prospect.

Hedges envisioned himself becoming a perennial All-Star for his hometown team. But in those early years, he was overwhelmed by the responsibility of learning how to catch, establishing himself offensively and serving as a bellwether of a rebuilding club.

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“He was thrust into a leadership position in the major leagues before anyone else in the game really gets thrust into that,” former Padres manager Andy Green said.

“He put so much stress on himself, it probably wasn’t healthy for him,” Jankowski said.

Hedges does not dispute those assessments.

“At a certain point,” he said, “I don’t know if I even wanted to play baseball anymore.”

Only after the Padres sent him to Cleveland, including him in a nine-player trade during the shortened 2020 season, did Hedges start to see the game, and himself, differently.

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“My career changed when I got traded to Cleveland,” Hedges said. “I didn’t really figure out how to look in the mirror and acknowledge what was actually happening until I got out of San Diego.”

Hedges viewed the trade as an opportunity to start over. No one with Cleveland knew him. Adopting a new, more outgoing persona, he “came in hot” trying to make a big first impression with his new teammates. The players and staff responded favorably. He always had been a caring teammate, taking particular pride in his relationships with pitchers. But now, he would hold himself to an even higher standard.

Cleveland initially acquired him to be a backup. But in May 2021, the team’s starter, Roberto Pérez, endured two long stints on the injured list, increasing Hedges’ playing time. He remained the primary catcher in ’22, then signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in his first crack at free agency. The Rangers, seeking additional catching depth with their starter, Jonah Heim, on the IL, acquired Hedges at the deadline in ’23 for international bonus pool space.

“When I was in San Diego, nothing was ever good enough for me. There was no such thing as having a good day,” Hedges said.

Now, he never has a bad day. As sparingly as he plays, Hedges always tries to find something to bring value to his team.

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“And maybe that something,” he said, “is making sure that one dude every day feels like they’re 10 feet tall.”


Shortly after Hedges joined the Rangers, the team’s offensive coordinator, Donnie Ecker, asked for his assistance in pregame hitters’ meetings.

Hedges, mindful of his woeful offensive numbers, thought the request odd — he wanted the Rangers to help him with his own hitting. But Ecker, recognizing the way Hedges brought people together in a humorous fashion, saw an opening to offer the team a new voice.

Three hours before the hitters’ meetings, Ecker and Hedges would meet on their own, reviewing the message Ecker wanted to deliver that day. Ecker put no limits on Hedges’ creativity. However Hedges wanted to tell the day’s story — through video, graphics or various unprintable acts — was fine with him.

At one point in September, Hedges noticed people on social media posting a fake speech by Dan Campbell, in which the Detroit Lions coach said he ate ostrich eggs for breakfast, drawing strength from “dino (dinosaur) protein.” Hedges adapted the speech to baseball, and the players loved it. Ecker, seeking to extend the bit, then purchased an ostrich egg in New Mexico for about $350 and presented it to Hedges.

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Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs, about six inches long and weighing about three pounds. Hedges named the would-be ostrich, “Oscar.”

“Nobody believed it was real,” former Rangers catcher Mitch Garver said. “But Hedges treated it like it was everything. He would carry it on the bus. He kept it in the dugout next to all the hitters.”

But when the Rangers lost two games in Seattle to start their final series of 2023 while needing only one win to clinch at least a wild card, Ecker asked Hedges, “How do you feel about sacrificing Oscar for the greater cause?”

Hedges sprung into action, enlisting assistants to join him in dressing in black robes, bringing candles to the hitters’ meeting, playing music from “The Dark Knight Rises.” He capped the ceremony by destroying the egg with a mallet, creating a giant mess.

“I have a video of it on my phone,” Hedges said. “And you hear everybody: ‘Oh, it was real.’”

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The Rangers clinched the wild card that day. And Hedges was just getting started.

After the team’s Division Series sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, Bochy sparked the postgame clubhouse celebration, with TV cameras rolling, by shouting, “The only thing I need to know, Hedgie, what’s the number on your ass right now?”

Hardly anyone outside of the team knew what Bochy was talking about. Bochy lamented, “That wasn’t my smartest move. I should have kept that within the club.” Inadvertently, he revealed The Legend of the Butt Cheek, the countdown to 13 postseason wins taking place in hitters’ meetings on Hedges’ bare behind.

“In typical Hedges fashion, he’d walk in real slow, say, ‘Boys, we got a couple of games to win. Anybody know exactly how many games?’” Lowe recalled. “Then somebody would say the number, he’d turn around and bend over and the number was right there.”

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Hedges identified Wilson, the Rangers’ catching coordinator, as the person who applied the eye black most frequently. (“Not something I’m proud of,” Wilson said.) And the hitters were not the only ones who bore witness to Hedges’ posterior.

“Unfortunately, I did see it a lot,” Scherzer said.

With the Guardians last season, Hedges was somewhat more restrained — “The younger groups are a little less silly, more living in reality,” he said. Not that Hedges lived a joyless, fully clothed existence. “Any picture we have of him shirtless (during playoff celebrations), that’s prime Hedges,” pitcher Triston McKenzie said.

The way Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan looks at it, “He’s always the loudest in the room, and he’s always saying really dumb things in the room. So, when he’s the loudest and dumbest, everyone else can be just a little less loud and a little less dumb. And then your regular personality comes out.”


After the 2023 season, the Seattle Mariners‘ Cal Raleigh determined his catching was good, but not good enough. Well aware of Hedges’ defensive reputation, he reached out to his fellow catcher, who happened to live 10 minutes away in Phoenix.

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“Some guys don’t want to reveal their secrets,” Raleigh said. “But he was like, ‘No dude, I’m an open book.’”

Hedges invited Raleigh to his home. They spoke for about three hours, then began working a few days a week on everything catching entails — receiving, blocking, framing. Raleigh, 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, adjusted his stance, kicking out more as he dropped to one knee to get even lower for framing. He also adjusted his receiving, learning — as Hedges did in Pittsburgh — to grab a pitch as fast and hard as he could rather than rely on soft hands. Again, the goal was better framing.

Raleigh struggled with the new receiving technique in spring training; Hedges recalled him calling in a panic over the balls he was missing. But at the end of the season, Raleigh was awarded the Platinum Glove as the best defender in the American League.

“I credit him for a lot of my success,” Raleigh said of Hedges. “There were a lot of things I did last year that I just took right out of his playbook and put into my game.”

So, while Hedges is an incessant talker, he’s also a catching whisperer. As much as his current and former teammates enjoy recounting his shenanigans, they want one thing clear: The foundation of Hedges’ value is his defense behind the plate.

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“It gets lost how good of a catcher he is,” Bieber said. “He’s the best catcher I’ve thrown to.”

“His preparation is insane,” Alomar said. “Every single day, he prepares himself like it’s a World Series game.”


Hedges prepares to take some swings before Game 5 of the 2024 ALCS in Cleveland. (Lauren Leigh Bacho / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Hedges ranks fifth in defensive runs saved for a catcher since Sports Info Solutions began tracking the metric in 2003, despite being 50th in innings caught. He finished 10th in that metric last season and did not even catch 400 innings. Yet, he is constantly trying to refine his skills.

When Hedges joined the Rangers, he asked Wilson to help teach him how Heim threw out of the one-knee stance. Hedges, in turn, changed the way Garver and Heim pored over scouting reports, using heat maps to point out better ways to attack hitters.

With the Guardians, Hedges is a particularly important resource for catcher Bo Naylor, who is entering his second season, at 25. Recalling his days with the Padres, when he grew overly stressed trying to memorize scouting reports, Hedges tells Naylor, “All the information is there in the moment if you pay attention.” If a hitter, for example, is late on a fastball, don’t necessarily follow up with a breaking ball even if the report suggests such a pitch in a particular count. Pay attention. Watch the game.

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“There’s really no shortage of things he has helped me with,” Naylor said. “Especially on the receiving side, he’s been an amazing example of how consistent hard work in the bullpen, off the machines, making the right moves can go a long way.”


His offensive numbers are an eyesore, among the worst in the game’s history. The Guardians, though, aren’t giving up on Hedges as a hitter.

“The hitting’s in there,” Albernaz said. “It’s in there.”

Hedges agrees. Catching comes naturally to him. Hitting does not. But he hit well in the minors, produced a career-high 18 homers for the Padres in 2017 and was close to a league-average hitter in ’18. His goal is to be another Justin Turner, emerging as an offensive force in his 30s.

“Honestly, one of the things that gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing that I’ve got to get better at this thing,” Hedges said. “And if I do, it’s going to be the coolest thing ever.”

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He works furiously on his hitting, envisioning a day in which he serves as an example for younger players of how things can turn. It’s not too late for that to happen. His defense alone will keep him in demand. And for examples of catchers who enjoyed prolonged careers, he need look only to his own clubhouse. Vogt played until he was 37, Alomar until he was 41.

Yet, people in baseball already talk about the potential for Hedges when his playing career is over. Raleigh predicted, “He’ll be a great manager one day.” Green, Hedges’ former manager with the Padres, said, “I’d love to see him stick in the game. The game would be better for it.”

Hedges said he might rather be a bench coach than a manager, reasoning that as a coach, he could work more closely with players. Either way, he is hardly ready to retire.

“I’ve thought plenty about the end of my career,” he said. “I want to stay in the game. I know that. But I’ve realized I want to play as long as I can. I feel like my value is actually as a player.

“I feel like I’m a translator for the coaches and for Vogt. Vogter can’t come into the clubhouse and deliver a message every day. No one wants to hear speeches. But if he has something that needs to be said, I can say it in his words. When you hear it from a player that is actually out there, it goes a lot further.”

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Oh, and Hedges even can offer a pitching perspective, based on his four appearances for the Rangers in 2023 and another for the Guardians in ’24. His career ERA, over 5 2/3 innings, is a sparkling 3.18.

The Rangers joked he was a three-way player. And Ecker recalled Hedges comparing his $4 million salary last season to Shohei Ohtani’s $2 million annual take, excluding the two-way superstar’s $68 million deferred.

“There’s a reason I’m making twice as much as Shohei,” Hedges cracked.

Batting average means only so much, after all.

(Top photo of Austin Hedges and Guardians pitcher Erik Sabrowski: Lauren Leigh Bacho / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

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