just as a result of picking in the top 10 (top 5 possibly) in each round. This is where I disagree with Al regarding draft position. While in baseball the difference between picking 5th and 10th isn’t a whole lot, at least regarding the 1st round, picking 5 spots higher in each and every round is certainly a benefit on the whole. Hopefully we see a large investment in the draft, and in the international free agent market. This would be a good year to spend big, as it is supposedly a strong class.

1) This is a question of ignorance: Obviously the owner determines the total budget for team expenses, but is it (shouldn’t it be) the general manager who determines how that budget is distributed among big league payroll, the draft, player development, ect.? It just doesn’t seem like a wise distribution of resources for a team that has paid it’s big league players ~$400 mil over the last 3 years to have only spent $14 mil on draft bonuses over the same time period. Imagine if the Cubs had foregone one of their large free agent signings. They could have easily doubled or tripled their draft budget and obtained at least 6 cheap years of one player acquired through the draft who could have matched that free agent’s production. Or more realistically, they could have increased their draft bonus spending by over 50% each year if they had not signed Henry Blanco in 08, Aaron Miles 09, and John Grabow in 10. It seems investing this money in the draft would go a lot further than paying role players who were unlikely to contribute much in the first place.

2) Several people have mentioned that spending has been low due to low draft position since the Cubs records have been decent lately, and surely it will go up next year having a high draft position. However, I would argue that draft position should have little to do with amount spent on the draft. As you would expect, bad teams like the Nationals and Pirates have spent heavily on draft bonuses because they had very high picks. But really smart teams that have been winning and drafting towards the bottom (ie. Red Sox and Yankees) have also spent heavily. Draft position is related more to signability than it is to player quality, and it is easy to draft 1st and 2nd round talents even past the 5th round, if you’re willing to pony up the cash, unless you restrict yourself the the toothless slotting recommendations. It seems that smart teams have recognized and are exploiting this advantage, and the Cubs who have the money should do it as well.