Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is investigating the trade of Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers, FOX Sports reported Friday.

At issue is whether Boras orchestrated the deal, ensuring that he would get a lucrative cut of the contract that Ramirez likely will get when he becomes a free agent after the season.

"In no way did I make a call regarding having the trade intervened with," said Boras. "My job is to do what is best for my client. It was Boston's decision to trade him. He had the ability to control where he played. He wanted his living environment to be a place where he and his family were as comfortable as they were in Cleveland.

"Manny did not hire me to get him traded," Boras told the Los Angeles Times. He said Ramirez called him last winter to hire him.

In the recent deal, the Red Sox agreed to pay the $7 million left on his contract and the Dodgers would cough up only the $1 million trade bonus, the Times said, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

The Boston Globe and Providence Journal reported that Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein surveyed several veterans prior to the trade deadline, with the players saying that it would be better if Ramirez were traded.

"I'm not going to waste any energy when people talk like this," Ramirez said. "It's a new chapter. It's a new city. I want people to judge me on what I do here.

"I feel like I took 5,000 pounds off my back coming here."

On Thursday, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling told radio station WEEI that he believes Boras tried to force the Red Sox to trade Ramirez.

"I think he's absolutely had a hand in this," Schilling said. "Scott Boras stands to make zero dollars if the Red Sox pick up Manny's options the next two years."

Boras responded by saying, "I don't know Curt Schilling, other than the fact that, way back when in Philadelphia, he said signing J.D. Drew would be a huge mistake."

Boras denied Ramirez hired him neither to devise a way to become a free agent after this season nor work a trade with the Red Sox, the Times said.

"There might have been a renegotiation with the Red Sox in the future," Boras said. "You simply can't anticipate situations like this occurring."

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

Stumbling Dodgers slip to D-backs Pavano wins second in a row as Yanks top Jays Tickets at new Yankee Stadium won't be cheap White Sox no match for Dice-K, Red Sox Red Sox put Beckett on 15-day disabled list Zobrist, Floyd drive in 9 as Rays rout Orioles Beltran's grand slam in 9th leads Mets past Fish Soriano's HR sends Cubs to 7th straight win Astros' Berkman sinks Cards on walk-off HR Phillies reportedly trade for Jays' Stairs Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: