Stephen Strasburg - the Nationals' 1st round pick in this year's baseball amateur draft - finally signed with the club last night around the midnight deadline.  He reportedly will receive a record $15 million, four year contract. 

That is an absurd amount of money for an unproven commodity at the major league level, but his agent Scott Boras was able to get the Nationals to blink.  They gave into his demands.  Even more than that, Boras got a $7.5 million signing bonus for the San Diego State flamethrower that will be spread out over three years - including $2.5 within the next 15 days.

Scott Boras is a great guy to have on your side, but is a total jerk store to fans, major league front offices, and the integrity of baseball.  That said, I wish Scott Boras was my agent.  So do a of kids.  Boras represents all of the first three picks in the '09 draft and countless superstar players, including Kate Hudson's baby-making machine Alex Rodriguez.

But, I'm also very happy that Boras wants nothing to do with representation of golfers.  Can you imagine a world with him negotiating on behalf of the Tour's top players?

Boras would hard line the Tour to ensure that every player that gets into the WGC events would get $300,000 for showing up instead of $80,000, like Adam Scott did for finishing dead last. 

Appearance fees would be acceptable - nay, mandatory - for players that reach the Tour Championship.  No, $7.5 million purses plus a shot at the $10 million bonus pool prize is not enough.  Like Latrell Spreewell said, "I got a family to feed!"

Sergio Garcia would be announced on the 1st tee of every PGA Tour event as a  "major champion & babe thriller" even though neither are true.

Ian Poulter would be able to negotiate a deal with a clothing manufacturer to produce his Sweaters of the World collection, which includes flag sweaters for every county in the EU.  It would help fans better distinguish between Poulter and other Europeans - and still require him to keep his clothes on.

Ryo Ishikawa would be given a full exemption for the entire 2010 Tour season just his headcover looks so much like him that they could market him twice as much with half of the effort.  Tiger's Frank headcover can't even look like a real Tiger.

The Tour would be required to burn all video and images it has of Paddy Harrington's back-to-back weeks of snowmen - or else Paddy would go and play the European Tour full time.  Nah.  Even that's a bluff that Scott Boras can't sell.

But, no matter what, Boras wouldn't change golf and its rewarding of mediocrity.  Rather, he would just amplify it.