It's possible that Boras will be even more likely to "kill the hostage" this year out of his disdain for the new rules. Perhaps he'll be overly bold to prove he won't bow to bullying.

That said, there is no way around it. Teams are in better position to walk away this year. Rather than getting a pick at the end of next year's supplemental round if you fail to sign the 3rd overall pick you'll now get slotted 4th overall next year.

If you absolutely no you won't meet Porcello's price and one of the other top echelon talents is ripe for the taking then I could see why you would avoid the hassle. Esp since HS RHP have a big attrition rate. However, by the time we get to the 10-20 range of the first round when Porcello is vastly superior talent wise to what's left you'd be lame coward not to roll the dice. He shouldn't fall to the Tigers or Yanks.

If the draft economics operated in a vacuum I think we'd see Boras's negotiating power greatly reduced. However, he has a penchant for getting a lot of the top flight talent. Let's not forget that the big contracts and big FA players are also Boras guys and he controls where they go. That's his ace in the hole. And we are about to see just how much power that ace has.

Boras gets what his clients want.  I don't think he's in any position to "kill the hostages."

I would love to see Boras get burned. Teams should draft the player they feel in the best avialable, period. Dictating where a player goes is terrible for the game and a big reason why baseball is not as popular as it once was. Football is king in America now because it has a competetive balance fair to all teams.

Yes, Boras gets his players top dollar, but if more teams started taking a firmer approach the game may benefit. Look what happened to Matt Harrington. Why wouldn't a team draft a player, even is they are represented by Boras, and point that out to the player? I guess because Boras would point to Hochevar as a counter example. (Even is Hochevar ends up as a bust Boras won't care, he got his $$$.)

It's a shame that the sport most of us are most passionate about has the biggest flaws when it comes to the way the league is run.

is great for baseball.  He gets top dollar for his clients even when owners cry they they are operating in the red.  He does a service to the athletes and has a great relationship with certain teams.  He gets villified all too often.

Teams with the first five picks in the draft who let elite talent slide are run by morons.

These are the same teams that complain about the $100+M payrolls of the Yanks/Sox, yet won't front $4-8M to acquire elite talent in the draft which provides no direct competition with the major markets.

If you're moaning and groaning about having to compete with the big spenders, then don't pass on elite talent because of a few million dollars because now you're spoon feeding these teams who don't care about spending money and giving them elite talent with a mid-late round pick.

It's an absolute joke that a team would allow Boras or any agent to run their draft for them. Boras doesn't price his players out of a team's range. Instead, the team psyches themselves out of a player's range because of the man who represents them. The MLB teams have let Scott Boras run the draft and have lost all leverage due to being soft and passive with their draft negotiations.