Hit the Road, Boras

UPDATE: Peter Abraham throws some cold water on this rumor. He's saying Boras will remain A-Rod's baseball agent and Oseary will handle everything else. Boras used to handle everything, so it's more of a demotion than a kick-to-the-curb.

Alex Rodriguez put his money where his mouth is today, he fired Scott Boras. (Hat tip to Alex K. from NY, MLBTR and Mark Feisand). Tim from MLB Trade Rumors accurately surmises that losing A-Rod as a client isn't going to cripple Boras, he still has a stable of top-flight talent. However, the effect of having your best client walk away can't be ignored completely.

Boras has had this Svengali-like aura around him for years. He's been ruthless, he's screwed a lot of fans, made hundreds of millions for his clients and I think he's actually been bad for the game, pushing clients into bad situations for more money (see the last contract A-Rod signed for an example.)

His tactics have been abrasive, grandiose and downright slimy in some cases and I have to say, I'm glad A-Rod has cut ties with him. A-Rod's new agent, Guy Oseary, doesn't represent any other athletes. He's a Hollywood guy, which makes sense. A-Rod doesn't need a sports agent anymore, he's probably signed his final baseball contract (actually, he didn't need a sports agent for that either, he negotiated it himself). What he needs is someone to get him commercials, endorsements and maybe acting spots, if that's what he wants to do. A-Rod will be a 10/5 player after 2008, so he'll have a full no-trade clause for the final 9 years of his new deal.

A-Rod followed Kenny Rogers down the fire Boras path, I truly hope some other guys will follow suit.