In the newest collective bargaining agreement, Major League Baseball cut down on the amount of money teams could invest in the amateur draft. It was intended as a step toward greater parity, but lots of people disagreed with that, as it wasn't always the high-spending teams spending more than the rest in the draft. Anyway, the new draft rules meant less money for amateur players. You know who's upset? A guy who represents a lot of amateur players. Scott Boras, via Bob Nightengale:
"There was all forms of artificial behavior in the draft,'' Boras told USA TODAY Sports. "The purpose of the draft is that it's supposed to create parity in the game. You want teams with the greatest needs to get the best available talent.
"That has not been achieved in this draft.
"It's created a mockery.''
Boras client Mark Appel was expected to go first overall, but slipped to eighth, while Carlos Correa climbed to the top. One is free to declare that Scott Boras is biased, and indeed, he is biased, because he's pulling for the players. But much of Boras' argument also isn't wrong. The new rules clearly changed the way that players were drafted, and not necessarily for the better.
It'll be some time before we can truly examine the consequences of the new rules. They might work out as intended, they might backfire, or they might accomplish nothing. For now, you can go ahead and consider Scott Boras displeased. I should have asked you to sit down before reading that sentence. I'm so, so sorry.