Bleacher Bums Forum

It's true that Wilkin hasn't consistently been given top-5 budget, and hasn't always been given cash to sign multiple picks to 1st-round, multimillion contracts.  He's been given that perhaps in only 3 of his Cubs draft (last year, Samardz/Huseby, and Szczur).  (Not sure if the Donaldson and Flaherty drafts had even two million-dollar guys.) 

Over his reign as Cub draft boss, Wilkin's draft moneys have been in the upper half but not in the upper quarter.  But it's not like he's been consistently forced cheap, although I think that was true in at least one draft (Jackson). 

I don't think the high-floor-instead-of-high-ceiling thing was primarily necessitated by budget.  I think the lack of high-ceiling guys is simply a function of scouting.  Chris Carpenter seemed very high-ceiling.  Brett Jackson seemed like super high ceiling (power, speed, OBP, defense; if he could hit the ball solid more consistently often, he'd be a superstar.  Totally high ceiling.)  Cashner had a very high ceiling.  Perceived with the potential to pitch with control, to throw 100 mph, to have a heavy fastball and a devastating slider, hardly a conservative-low-ceiling pick.  If Vitters was the great contact guy with 35-HR's and normal walks, he'd be a super prospect.  If Shaffer recovered mid-90's velocity, with his control and curveball, his ceiling was plenty high.  With Colvin's power, if he could hit the ball and recognize balls versus strikes, his ceiling too was plenty, plenty high.  Hendry and Wilkin seemed to think that Lemahieu was a gifted hitter who'd hit for power.  As a pure contact .300-hitter without HR's, if you suddently added on 25 HR-hits, he'd be a superstud.  Flaherty and Donaldson had ceilings to hit with serious power and for high average. 

It's not that the budget forced them to draft guys knowing they couldn't become very good, it's just that guys they drafted didn't become all that good in many cases.  More scouting than budget. 

In 2007, Tampa drafted Matt Moore and signed him for $115K.  It's not that Wilkin couldn't afford him; he spent much more than that on Ryan Acosta, Jeff Russell, Josh Donaldson, Tony Thomas, Darwin Barney, and brandon Guyer; and while he may not have spent quite as much on Casey Lambert, Ty Wright, or Marquez Smith as Moore signed for, it's not that he passed on Moore for dollars, he did so based on his scouting preferences.  (Because he had hundreds of thousands left to spend on Ryan Acosta and Russell many rounds later in that draft, so it's not like his budget was exhausted.) 

So there were lots of choices in drafts in which scouting or preference, not dollars, went for guys who ended up being low-ceiling.