BallplayersAgency has offices located in the USA (Michigan, Florida, Colorado), Canada (Toronto), Japan (Tokyo) and Taiwan (Taipei). Our Team is an experienced group of individuals that have mastered working as a cohesive unit to be successful in representing MLB and MiLB clients.
Our team is here to work with you and enhance your playing career both on and off the field.
— Storm T. Kirschenbaum, Esq. | CEO | MLBPA Certified Player Agent —
After an exceptional high school career, Kirschenbaum received a scholarship from number one ranked University of Florida. He played his last two seasons at Long Island University – C.W. Post (Division I), where he was awarded the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Merit Medal (given to one athlete in the conference for the highest academic average and athletic achievement).
Kirschenbaum graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Long Island University. He is a 2003 graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where he served three terms as President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society. Kirschenbaum is also a member of the American Bar Association’s Entertainment and Sports Law Forum and a member of the Michigan State Bar. Highly regarded publication DBusiness voted Kirschenbaum a “Top 30 in their Thirties
Business Owners” for 2011 and Crains Detroit voted him with the prestigious “40 Under 40” award in 2012. He was voted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and was the first Jewish News High School Athlete of the Year to enter the Hall. Kirschenbaum has traveled the country giving lectures to colleges and law schools in the area of sports law. He has been on numerous television and radio shows as an expert in the baseball industry.
In July 2007, after four years of practicing law in the private sector, Kirschenbaum formed Metis Sports Management, LLC, a full-service sports management company. MSM specialized in baseball and football representation, with a major focus on marketing professional athletes. In December of 2014, MSM was acquired by Jackson Management Group, LLC. In February of 2018, Kirschenbaum led an extremely successful transition to the newly formed BallplayersAgency.
— Alan Gildenberg | Managing Partner —
Alan Gildenberg is a veteran of the investment and finance industry with over 30 years of experience. He is currently a Managing Partner at BallplayersAgency and also the Senior Wealth Manager at Sculati Wealth Management. Before that he was Senior Vice President at Stifel Securities, Wachovia Securities (currently Wells Fargo Advisors), PaineWebber (currently UBS) and R.W. Baird. He has also served on numerous corporate boards including being on the Board of Directors of Industrial Services of America (IDSA, Nasdaq) and was also on its Audit Committee and Executive Committee. Gildenberg also continues to be an advisor to various startup companies.
Mr. Gildenberg holds a BBA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
— Michael Bonanno | Partner | MLBPA Certified Player Agent —
Michael Bonanno is a Partner in BallplayersAgency and a MLBPA Certified Player Agent. After joining Metis Sports Management (later to be acquired as Jackson Management Group) in 2014, Michael has worked along Storm Kirschenbaum to create an impressive group of clients represented both in North America but also overseas. His focus with BTA is to assist in providing the variety of full services to clients. Bonanno has a hand in all contract negotiations (professional and amateur), as well, all endorsement opportunities for BallplayersAgency athletes. Bonanno also heads the First-Year Player Draft division, with his focus on Northern-born players.
A graduate of Eastern Florida State College – where he played baseball and was a business/broadcasting major – he founded an athlete representation agency in 2008 (Oak Sports Management) before joining with Metis Sports Management, LLC (Jackson Management Group) in 2014. He received his Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) certification as a player agent in 2012 while representing former MLB Top 100 prospect Nick Weglarz (Indians). In 2017, Bonanno had the honor to represent players in 4 different countries (Canada, Italy, Mexico and China) in the World Baseball Classic.
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (GTA), Bonanno was recently named to the Top 100 Most Influential Canadians In Baseball list via Canadian Baseball Network. He also retired from General Manager of the Brantford Red Sox (IBL) after helping win 5 IBL Championships (2010). He also can be heard occasionally on TSN Radio, Fan590 and XMRadio 167 speaking about our players.
— Alex Hinz | Director of Baseball | MLBPA Certified Player Agent —
Alex Hinz is BallplayersAgency's Director of Baseball - United States. Specifically, Hinz focuses on the amateur baseball draft, free agency, salary arbitration, and assists on all legal matters. Hinz's love of baseball stretches far back, beginning as a child growing up in Littleton, CO and carrying him through 4-years of college baseball at Dakota Wesleyan University. After graduating with a degree in Sports Management with minors in Business, Coaching, and Legal Studies, Hinz continued on to the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law graduating in 2016 and passing the Colorado State Bar in the fall of 2016.
Hinz knew from the beginning of law school that he wanted a career in professional sports and focused on contract law while at DU. For two years he was the school’s president of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society and competed in National Baseball Arbitration Competition twice. While in law school, Hinz completed a number of internships which included time with a top NFL Agency, the University of Denver’s NCAA Compliance Office, and the Milwaukee Brewers. Alex is a member of the Colorado State Bar. Hinz became a MLBPA certified agent in 2018.
After law school, Hinz took on an internship with ISE Baseball in Chicago and worked in free agency and salary arbitration. Upon completion of the internship, he returned to Denver and started his own agency, which he ran for a short while before joining the current group. Hinz specializes in players on the west side of the US, particularly the Mid-West, Pacific North West, and the 4-Corners regions.
— Mark Meisner | Baseball Operations Assistant | MLBPA Certified Player Agent —
Mark Meisner joined BallplayersAgency after playing five years of Division 1 Baseball for the Niagara University Purple Eagles. While at Niagara, Meisner earned his MBA and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management. Meisner is recognized as a certified agent by the Major League Baseball Player’s Association in 2018. Meisner will be working closely with CEO Storm Kirschenbaum as a draft specialist and baseball operations assistant at the BallplayersAgency headquarters in Birmingham, Michigan. Meisner has interned and has been otherwise associated with the organization since 2012, working in all facets of the company.
Prior to joining the BallplayersAgency, Mark spent time working with CBS Sports Radio and the Detroit Pistons. Mark grew up in Huntington Woods, Michigan and is a graduate of Berkley High School. Mark currently lives in Detroit.