At least that’s what Scott Boras thinks.

And the prospects of seeing Ryan Madson sign a multi-year deal seem less and less likely.

Madson had a great run at the end, and his velocity was at an all-time high. Even the pitch he threw to Baldelli that he fisted into the left field seats at Citizens Bank Park in Game 5 wasn’t that bad. He’d certainly look good as the “bridge to Lidge” for the next few years.

But when you hear Boras invoke Rivera’s name, and when you consider Boras’ body of work in terms of making life miserable for front offices, you have to start wondering if Madson plays out his last arbitration year and then moves on.

Prior to the stretch run in 2008, Madson was as liable to give you heartburn as he was to give you peace. Has he fully “turned the corner” as they say? He clearly isn’t rattled by big games, but I’d like to see Madson continue his ascendance into 2009, and maybe give him the extension in the middle of the year like they did with Lidge this year.

On a side note, to see how truly insane Scott Boras is, he is looking for a similar contract for Jason Varitek that Jorge Posada got last year with the Yankees. 4 years, $52.4 million. For a soon to be 37 year old catcher who batted .220 in a contract year. Boras, who usually develops binders full of stats to prove his player’s worth, this time tells us to ignore Varitek’s stats:

“When you talk about Jason’s down year,” Boras said, “I basically take issue with the terminology. Jason Varitek is paid to lead and paid to get his team to win. His offensive production, while certainly something that has been considered in the upper echelon for catchers (isn’t as important), I know from the past negotiation with Boston, his offense was a very small value in the marketplace.”

If Varitek gets 4 years regardless of the dollars, I’ll be shocked. I guess Boras needs to create a place to start the negotiations, but to use 4 years and $50+ million as the starting point is nuts.