As the No. 1 overall pick in 1990, Chipper Jones signed with the Braves for $275,000.
Even in today's dollars, that's about $450,000 -- or about 3 percent of Stephen Strasburg was guaranteed as this year's No. 1 pick.
And Jones agreed to his deal the night before the draft, while Strasburg came within two minutes of missing last Monday's deadline to sign.
"I think the only way that you're going to get kids signed and get them into the various camps is to put some kind of cap on it," Jones said. "I was always of the belief that you make your money at the big-league level."
That's how the teams want it too. When the current collective bargaining agreement is up in two years, Major League Baseball may pursue an NBA-style slotting system -- with signing bonuses locked in depending on how high a player is picked, as opposed to the current non-binding slot recommendations.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Team desperately needing a bat in the middle of the order. It's too bad money is so tight right now, because the Giants could certainly use a certain eccentric slugger in the middle of their order. They still aren't altogether out of the running for Manny Ramirez, but I believe he's staying put in Los Angeles. Too bad they wasted all that money on Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.
It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed Randy Johnson, Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry this offseason.
The Giants, the NL West's most active team this winter, are quietly making an aggressive play for free agent Manny Ramirez, according to a major-league source.
Acquiring Ramirez would come with a number of headaches -- from simply having the mercurial slugger on their roster to likely having to trade one of their incumbent outfielders (Randy Winn, Aaron Rowand, Dave Roberts). But all in all, he'd probably be worth it for a team that isn't all that far from seriously contending. They play in a soft division where 85 wins could easily equal a playoff berth.
That's especially true when you consider three factors: (1) the market for Ramirez is severely depressed because of the number of all-hit, no-field corner bats on the market, (2) signing him would simultaneously improve the Giants' offense and weaken the rival Dodgers and (3) it would save GM Brian Sabean from having to engineer a complex trade for a bat that would cost him one of his top young pitchers like Jonathan Sanchez.
Sign Manny? Sure, why not? It's not like folks in San Francisco aren't used to having a sometimes-surly, Hall of Fame slugger prowling around in left field after all.
Lost in the radical makeover under way in the Bronx this winter is the similarly stark turnover taking place in San Francisco. No, the Giants haven't spent 10 times the Opening Day payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays on a handful of players, but they have added shortstop Edgar Renteria, pitcher Randy Johnson and relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry.
With Johnson, reigning Cy Young Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, they've got the starting rotation to win the NL West, but probably not the offensive firepower just yet.
In fact, the signing of Johnson might serve another purpose besides bolstering an already strong rotation, it might allow GM Brian Sabean to deal some of his pitching depth -- namely Jonathan Sanchez -- to give San Francisco's lineup more punch.
Having resisted offers of corner infielders for Jonathan Sanchez, general manager Brian Sabean hinted that he might at least listen to trade proposals involving the left-hander, now that Johnson's aboard. "We're going to have to be open-minded," Sabean said, although he repeated that he wouldn't obtain a player who's eligible for free agency after 2009.
There's hardly a more valuable commodity in baseball than cost-controlled starting pitching, but the Giants have that in spades, especially if you factor in high-upside prospects Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson.
From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
Free agency has been open for nearly a week, but save the odd signing of Jeremy Affeldt and the expected re-signing of Ryan Dempster, it's gotten off to a relatively quiet start. That's to be expected. The Hot Stove won't get truly scalding until next month when the Winter Meetings convene in Las Vegas.
In the meantime, I've put together a Top 50 list of the best players on the market. There are three Japanese players, three White Sox, five Dodgers, five Diamondbacks and even two Nationals on the list.
Affeldt, 29, had his best season since 2003 while pitching for the Reds last year. In 78.1 innings, he struck out 80 hitters while walking just 25, and posted a 3.33 ERA. His 9.2 K/9 ratio was easily the best rate of his career. In the Giants' pen, he'll likely slot in before Brian Wilson, since only the latter has earned the "proven closer" label.
Regardless of titles, Affeldt will be the best pitcher in San Francisco's bullpen, and having him pitch before the ninth could actually be advantageous. Not only will it give manager Bruce Bochy the opportunity to have Affeldt face as many lefties as possible, he'll also be able to save him for key situations, rather than being "forced" to put him in for every save opportunity, which are not always high leverage situations.
The contract is only for a total of $8 million, which is a steal considering what some other relievers, such as Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, will likely end up getting. Both aspects of this deal -- the short length, and the low annual value -- have to be looked at as positives for the Giants. Additionally, since Affeldt is a Type B free agent, they won't be forced to part with a draft pick as compensation.
Earlier today, Mullet posted about Jeremy Affeldt joining the Reds in an unknown role. Well, anyone familiar with Jeremy's greatest contribution to baseball and Dugout lore should know exactly why they brought him over. Oh, and the answer isn't "to give up home runs and scratch his butt," no matter what that picture implies.
There were some rumblings after Brian Fuentespulled out of the All-Star game that he had a mysterious injury. The speculation by some, including myself, was that Fuentes just wanted some time to figure out his troubles; he had blown his previous four consecutive saves and been demoted as closer. This all didn't matter to Tony La Russa who selected him for the All-Star team anyways. It's not like it was a completely mysterious injury -- we knew it was a sore lat muscle. But it seemed mysterious that Fuentes had only complained about it after performing poorly. Turns out the injury was no joke.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed 
Lost in the radical makeover under way in the Bronx this winter is the similarly stark turnover taking place in San Francisco. No, the Giants haven't spent 10 times the Opening Day payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays on a handful of players, but they have added shortstop 
Baseball's free agent signing period began a few days ago, and now we have our first signing, as the San Francisco Giants 
There were some rumblings after 
