The Economic Effect on the 09 Draft

[McNulty]

I'm curious to see what other people think about this.

If the mid and lower level market teams continue to be leery of signing free agents in the financial climate, how will this affect the draft? Will they try to allocate more resources towards the draft because you can get more talented players this way for less money (comparatively speaking to free agency); or, will they not take Boras clients because of the huge bonuses they demand to try and cut costs in every aspect of the organization?

Currently, the top of the draft board (and lets face it, who cares what happens after the 5th pick around here) looks like this:

1 Washington

2 Seattle

3 San Diego

4 Pittsburgh

5 Baltimore

San Diego, I think we can all agree, will avoid taking someone over slot. I'd be willing to be Pittsburgh might do likewise. Washington showed a ridiculously tight financial posture towards Crow last year, and perhaps they'll do the same?

I wouldn't say that its inconceivable for Strasburg to fall our way because of financial reasons (this is not the point of the thread, to lay out a scenario where we get Strasburg).

Again, I'm just looking for opinions about what will happen, what top prospects have what agents, and what the other draft nerds around here believe might happen next year with regards to finances.

[Stotle]

I think teams will likely have their monies set aside for the draft as usual. We aren't talking about crazy money (a couple million between the bottom and top teams). FA contracts are on the books for multiple seasons, and I think what frightens teams/businesses more than anything is the uncertainty of the future. The draft should still fall within the year's operating budget.

Just my take.