Agent Ethics

Jason at IIATMS smells something fishy in Josh Hamilton's dealings with his agents. Here's the relevant bit from the Sports Illustrated article he quotes:

Josh Hamilton's negotiations for a long-term deal may be held up a little by his decision to switch agents during negotiations that appeared to be progressing. Hamilton, a born-again Christian after returning from bouts with his drug addiction, explained to friends that he wanted to be with a Christian stable, so he switched agents from Matt Sosnick to Michael Moye as he seemed to be closing in on a long contract.

Jason's take -- which you should click through to read by the way -- is one of concern for the agent being thrown aside. He asks: "Is it a shady/unfair move to dump your longtime agent as you're about to sign a big, long-term contract solely due to his religion?"

My view is that religion shouldn't enter the ethics equation here, but yeah, I agree that there is a reason for concern. Based on the article anyway, it appears as though the agent bringing the deal most of the way home is getting cut out as someone else swoops in at the last second. I would hope that if that's really how it happened, agent #1 gets an appropriate cut of commissions. That's how it works, right?

At least I hope that's how it works. I'd hate to think that there are people out there more unethical than nasty old lawyers like me.