THE SOLUTION TO YESTERDAY'S DRAFT MESS

Thinking about it last night I have the solution. If you believe, as I do, that these guys are really huge overdrafts then note this. Here are the bonuses that these guys are in line to get, based on MLB's slotting system:

Chisenhall $1.1 million
Haley $490,000
Phelps $360,000
Roberts $150,000

We will be spending a lot of money on these overdrafts in addition to getting sub-par players.

So here's the solution:

Offer Chisehnall $800,000
Offer Haley $450,000
Offer Phleps $50,000
Offer Roberts $2500

In this way, if these guys sign they sign for well below slot and we save some money. Inherent in this is my REAL solution. Haley won't sign for below slot and Phelps is unlikely to sign for $50,000, which is like 12th round money. Roberts pobably won't sign either, just on principle. In the collective bargaining agreement the Indians will receive a 2009 draft pick equal to Haley's slot if they fail to sign him and a sandwich pick after the 3rd round if they fail to sign Roberts, which, since the Indians drafted 29th out of 30 teams this year, is almost exactly like getting the same pick back next year. With Roberts, all that we would save would be a lot of money if he signed.

Take that money and spend it on one stud Latin prospect this year and maybe a few lesser ones that we might not have been budgeted for right now.

If it is clear that the house you built is screwed up you can try to live in it or tear it down and start over. Well, in this case MLB has given the tribe 'house insurance' to help offset this FUBAR.

The Indins need to use it. Frankly, I wouldn't even care if Chisenhall failed to sign. We would get the same pick back next year for him, too.

So, there you have it. Don't sign any of our top four draft picks unless they will sign for significantly under slot and then use the money in Latin America. Doing anything else, at this point, is just throwing money down the drain with these bad draft picks.

Not signing them and using the money elsewhere gives us, essentially, a do-over in 2009 and doesn't really hurt this draft class as none of these guys except for Chisenhall have a ghost's chance of playing in the majors for the Indians and Chisenhall will NEVER play at 3B for the Indians because he won't hit for enough power. If they wanted a REAL thirdbaseman with questionable power they should have drafted Gillaspie.

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