Today is the last day for teams to sign their 2009 draft picks, and in many cases it is coming down to the wire.  This is a key moment in all long-term planning for any team.  The time to decide if a player is “can’t miss” enough to get big money of if there might be a better someone at that position for less money in the future.  Does the team have enough pitching coming along that they don’t need to give one guy that much money now? (Remember, they never have enough pitching- just ask the Red Sox!)

Jamey Newberg writes today about a 2-month period two-years ago when the Rangers signed some talent and traded away Mark Teixeira for some more talent- all which helped them beat Boston this past week-end.  Long-term planning at work, though only two years ago, these were decisions made for 5+years out.  Teixeira will be long gone, and Elvis Andrus and Derek Holland might be more important to the team.