When George Steinbrenner passed away, he was the recipient of many glowing columns about his positive impact in the game — and deservedly so. Still, some baseball fans wouldn't budge. They hated the guy, whether he was living or not.
But with the Yankees' czar no longer with us, that may leave Scott Boras as the most hated man in baseball.
The sport's biggest, most influential agent gets players the money that they want, and in the process, he becomes the target of the scorn of millions of fans. Fair or not, the players often get by scot-free, while Boras looks like the bad guy.
In Boston, Boras once again has that opportunity after Anthony Ranaudo utterly dominated the Cape League this summer.
The Red Sox' pick in the supplemental first round of June's draft, Ranaudo was a beast while pitching against some of the best and brightest prospects in the country. In 29 1/3 innings, he posted a 0.00 ERA. In doing so, he put aside any health questions that may have lingered after he suffered an elbow injury during the season for LSU.
As the Cape Cod Times reports, Ranaudo went 3-0 and limited opposing hitters to a .101 batting average. He won't be eligible for Cape League records, as he didn't pitch the required 35 innings, but he would have had a chance to set the league record for ERA, which sits at 0.21. If he kept up his unbelievable pace, he would have ensured that his record would stand forever.
His stuff was so overpowering that ESPN and Scouts Inc. analyst Keith Law said on WEEI this week that he didn't even need to use his changeup.
"I think he’s in line to get that top-five, top-10 overall bonus that he’s looking for before the draft, and my guess is that the Red Sox will work something out to sign this guy," Law told WEEI. "It’s really in both sides' best interests to get a deal done [before] the deadline."
That deadline is Aug. 15, and while the Red Sox might have been hoping to lock down Ranaudo for less than that top-10 money, it's fairly obvious by now that Boras won't settle for anything less.
The Red Sox are used to that, as they've been full of Boras clients for years. The current team has Boras clients Adrian Beltre, J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek, Jacoby Ellsbury and Daisuke Matsuzaka under contract.
For Ranaudo, he's at least made his disappointing, injury-riddled junior season (5-3, 7.32 ERA) a distant memory by his dominating performance. He's also made sure that he'll be making plenty of money before ever stepping on a professional mound.
