Player agent blasts Oakland Ballers, says clients were mistreated on and off field
OAKLAND — The honeymoon is clearly over for Oakland’s expansion baseball team.
The Ballers fired manager Micah Franklin on Sunday after just 54 games, despite the team being tied for the fourth-best record in the Pioneer League standings when he was let go.
On Friday, player agent Lonnie Murray publicly criticized the organization on the social media platform X for mistreating her clients.
Murray accused the organization of mishandling shortstop Myles Jefferson’s injury and claimed the team has not set up a visit with a doctor. She posted that players were housed by the team in groups of four to a room when they were told it would only be two per room, and also voiced safety concerns for her clients after she said a Ballers player was robbed at gunpoint at some point this season.
“I’ve been a player agent for 22 years,” Murray wrote on X. “I don’t stand for bad behavior by anyone and I carry receipts for what I state publicly.”
Oakland A’s Hall of Fame pitcher Dave Stewart is Murray’s partner. He supported her on social media Friday, writing, “These kids deserve better. The whole damn industry knows you don’t mess with kids when Lonnie’s on watch. What were THEY thinking?”
In her initial posts Friday morning on X, Murray wrote that she requested a trade or a release of “all my players on the Ballers following months of poor management & highly unprofessional antics to which Micah Franklin spoke out against.”
“Trevor Halsema, Austin Davis & Myles Jefferson (who got injured) are GONE!”
Halsema and Davis have been traded while Jefferson has been granted his release.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday evening that trail-blazing woman pitcher, Kelsie Whitmore, who is advised by Murray and is away playing for the national baseball team, has been told by Murray not to return to the Ballers.
“When I say I was advising Kelsie not to come back to the Ballers after she’s finished with the national team, I absolutely was,” Murray told the Bay Area News Group on Friday night.
Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman acknowledged that there could have been more done by the organization to calm the waters, but said the team has handled the issues internally.
“We take player injury and safety on and off the field extremely seriously,” Freedman told the Bay Area News Group on Friday. “We think we have demonstrated a willingness and a desire, if issues come up, to immediately investigate and rectify solutions and we will continue to do so.”
The Ballers put out a lengthy statement on X to clarify their position about the situation.
On the topic of player safety and a member of the team being robbed at gunpoint, the Ballers wrote, “Unfortunately after this move there were a series of property crimes that impacted players in the new house and left them feeling unsafe. As a result we immediately moved players to a hotel, and have now found a different home where the players will be moved to today. We have also coordinated with OPD and the Alameda Sheriff Department to ensure that players are safe in both their old and new accommodations.”
In the statement, the organization confirmed that Halsema and Davis were traded this week, but said Pioneer League rules prohibit the team from announcing details until Monday.
In the post on X, the Ballers wrote that they were not going to discuss Jefferson’s injury but will investigate the matter internally.
Murray said the handling of Jefferson’s injury is one of the worst she has seen in her 22 years representing baseball players at all levels. According to Murray, Jefferson’s injury flared up in June and was mistreated for a month before he was diagnosed with a torn tendon on his hand on July 17 after getting an MRI that he paid for.
“I have never seen a player’s injury get disregarded to this extent,” she said.
The culture has been an issue with the Ballers for the past few weeks.
Murray’s social media storm caught the organization by surprise, according to multiple sources within the organization.
“It’s certainly unusual behavior,” one source said. “I don’t think she’s advising her clients particularly well. Demanding a trade when you’re an MLB player can be challenging. I’m really hoping they don’t get a reputation as a result. I just don’t think it’s particularly good advice to be given.”
The source went on to say the organization believes the sudden criticism is a result of Murray’s relationship with Franklin, saying, “She’s going all in for a friend without getting the full scoop.”
Murray disputed this notion, saying, “I have been voicing these concerns for two months. That’s the problem. I received a text from Micah saying, ‘Lonnie, just give me a couple more days, because I talked to the owners today. So give them a chance to fix it.’ Then two days later, Micah was fired.”
After Franklin’s firing, many fans on social media criticized the team’s dysfunction.
Sam Singer, president of Singer Associates Public relations in San Francisco and whose initial X thread prompted Murray’s tweets, said the Ballers’ saga on Friday did not sit well with Oakland residents and fans of the team.
“In more than two decades of sports work, I’ve never seen an agent make a post like that,” Singer said. “They fired a beloved manager, and now a respected sports agent is coming out and saying they want to see contracts with the players canceled with the players they represent. If those aren’t dangerous signals, I don’t know what is.”
Sources said there have been multiple team meetings this week with players and the front office.
“Anytime there’s a change or shakeup, you worry about clubhouse morale,” a source within the Oakland front office said. “I think we feel pretty good about where the team is right now. But we’ll keep investing time and energy to make sure that continues.”