About Us
PARAGON SPORTS INTERNATIONAL
ABOUT US
Paragon Sports is a full service baseball agency that provides superior representation. We have over two decades worth of experience representing baseball players, playing professional baseball, litigating salary arbitration cases, and utilizing our marketing relationships and branding capability all in house. Our agents are former MLB Players, Licensed Attorneys, Salary Arbitration Consultants, and Marketing Experts and are committed to maximizing every opportunity for our clients at every stage in their careers. With offices in California and Florida, we have the capability to serve all of our clients’ interests on and off the baseball field.
OUR TEAM
JOE LONGO
Attorney / MLBPA Certified Agent
Joe, approaching his third decade as an agent, maximizes his clients’ talents on an off the field. His record in representing 22 first round draft picks, winning landmark arbitration cases, and negotiating record breaking free agent deals is second to none. Moreover, he has been a practicing attorney for almost 30 years, with a long history of successful and vigorous representation.
Joe grew up in San Marino, CA., graduated from Brown University, where he was a starting safety on university’s football team in 1984 and 1985, and graduated from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
His knowledge of the Collective Bargaining Agreements of Professional Sports and Labor Law issues, coupled with his success as a trial lawyer, equip him with the skills necessary to obtain maximum value for his clients. He is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association, State Bar of California, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Beverly Hills Bar Association, and The Wealth Counsel. He has been a Panel Member at the Loyola Sports Law Institute: Collective Bargaining & Individual Contract Negotiation, the USC Gould School of Law: Entertainment Law and Business, and State Bar of California Certified: Negotiation For Lawyers: Lessons From Baseball Salary Arbitration Cases. Joe also teaches Sports Law as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School.
BRIAN GRIEPER
Attorney / MLBPA Certified Agent
Brian Grieper established his own professional sports management company, GPR Sports Management Inc., in 1998 during his second year of law school at the University of Miami and has since partnered with Paragon Sports International in order to enhance his resources and work with a talented team of professionals. He has represented over 200 professional baseball players worldwide in his career, including Boston Red Sox World Series Champion and current client Mike Napoli, who has been with Brian from the day he was drafted in 2000 through the $45 million in negotiated compensation from 2013 – 2015. Brian’s passion and approach to athlete representation is best captured by an article written for ESPN by Jim Bowden, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals: “Grieper stresses open dialogue, intense preparation and creative analytical and statistical analysis. He develops personal relationships with clients through trust and loyalty.”
Utilizing his extensive knowledge of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, salary arbitration system and NCAA rules and regulations, Brian has negotiated and carefully crafted contracts with MLB teams for drafted players, rookies and veterans; presented cases to MLB’s arbitration panel on behalf of his clients; and has assisted players and their families through the entire draft selection process.
Brian is a graduate from the University of Miami School of Law, is a licensed attorney in the state of Florida and is a certified agent with the MLBPA. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of South Florida, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He lives in South Florida with his wife Michelle and two children, Sophie and Brielle.
GARRETT PARCELL
MLBPA Certified Agent
Garrett was drafted in 2004 by the Seattle Mariners out of Cypress Junior College and decided to turn down their offer and attend San Diego State. After the 2007 season he was drafted and signed by the Miami Marlins. During a successful 8 year professional career, Garrett made a number of All Star Teams, played in the Arizona Fall League and won a number of league championships as a relief pitcher. A graduate of Norco High School, he was inducted into the schools Hall of Fame in 2010.
At the closing of his professional career, Garrett founded his own business, Learn From The Best, and was a Scout with the Cleveland Indians. He is involved in all aspects of client representation including marketing and recruiting. Garrett is a certified player agent by the Major League Baseball Player’s Association.
GRANT ALVAREZ
MLBPA Certified Agent
Grant joined Paragon Sports International with extensive experience in the game. Grant was a catcher at the University of Akron, where he led his team to a second place finish in the Mid-American Conference his senior year. After graduation, Grant founded Elite Performance Institute in Atlanta, a training facility geared towards helping amateur and professional athletes during their off-seasons. Grant has worked with many professional athletes in the sports performance industry. His desire to enrich athletes lives off the field has brought him much success in the realm of sports and business, which has allowed his players to focus on their "between the lines" performance.
At Paragon, Grant is involved in all aspects of client representation including marketing, recruiting and negotiations. Grant's recent success advising players in the amateur draft has been considerable, and includes advising and signing multiple top picks, comprising of a Top 10 overall pick, a #1 selected high school catcher, and negotiating multiple "above-slot" signing bonuses. Grant is originally from Peachtree City, Georgia. Grant's impressive educational background includes a degree in Sports Management from the University of Akron, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University, and another Master’s degree in Sports Law and Business from Arizona State University's Sandra Day O’Connor Law School. He now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.
BILL SANDERS
Athlete Branding & Marketing
During his 20-year career, Bill has established himself as a respected expert in talent marketing and brand building. His work with icons such as Yao Ming and Steve Nash in many ways helped set the standard for athlete marketing. By helping clients build, maintain and protect their brands, Bill’s strategic approach increases client marketability, raises brand awareness and increases long-term revenue. Bill believes the key to effective talent marketing is the formulation of a long-term player brand strategy, which includes a substantial commitment to community involvement, media relations and social media plans, and the pursuit of appropriate corporate partners. More recently, Bill oversaw the talent marketing team at Excel Sports Management, where notable clients include Clayton Kershaw, Blake Griffin, Danica Patrick, Derek Jeter, Kevin Love and Brandon Ingram. During his career, Bill has aligned his clients with numerous global brands, including: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Gatorade, Vitamin Water, Visa, American Express, Apple, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Guinness, Bridgestone, Raymond Weil, Tag Heuer and many more.
Bill earned his MBA, with an emphasis in Marketing and Entertainment Studies, at UCLA. He earned his Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University. Bill also teaches Sports Marketing at UCLA’s Anderson School.
Andrew Leon
Contracts, Marketing & Baseball Operations
Andrew joined the Paragon team in April 2019, bringing with him 5 seasons of experience working in Major League front offices and 2 years of experience working at another baseball agency. Andrew worked for the Oakland Athletics in 2013, providing their Amateur Scouting department with analytical data trends and Trackman analysis on college and high school pitchers. The following season, Andrew lived in the Dominican Republic as a member of the Boston Red Sox International Scouting and Player Development departments. From 2015-2017, Andrew worked in the Miami Marlins baseball operations department, one season in Player Development and two seasons as the Assistant Director of Professional Scouting.
At Paragon, Andrew’s main responsibilities include contract analysis, salary arbitration, and talent evaluation. He also helps secure endorsement deals and marketing opportunities for our entire roster of clients, as well as assists in all legal related matters.
Andrew graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Sports Communication, and double minors in Telecommunications and Sports Marketing & Management. He then obtained a graduate business certificate from Cornell University with a focus in Data Analytics, and a graduate certificate from Northwestern University in Social Marketing. Andrew is currently finishing up his Law Degree at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
