The prospect of having to give up a first-round draft pick has been enough to turn many clubs off. Even now that the market has depressed and players can be had at bargain rates, teams are reluctant to sign type A players. Just look at Orlando Hudson and the Dodgers and you have to believe that the only reason the Dodgers have not jumped at signing him is because of the draft pick. The Dodgers would get a steal of a deal and on a short 1 year contract which is exactly what they want!

So how do we get around this?

There is a thing called a “sign and trade” deal that the NBA has been using to maneuver rosters while getting around the NBA’s Salary cap rules. Major League Baseball should take some cues from the NBA on this one. How it works is that a player’s 2008 team resigns him, then they trade him in a prearranged deal to a team wants to sign him but that does not want to give up the draft pick.

Of course the new team will still need to give something up in return. But the idea is that they can give up a minors player rather than a first-round pick, which could be potentially a big deal. They can give up a pick in the later in the draft, prospects, or maybe even cash but whatever it is it will have to be close to the prospective picks.

Players will need to sign a waiver before resigning with their team in advance of any deals made. The commissioner’s office has confirmed that they would support this in hopes that it helps the remaining free agents to find a team. This sort of thing is unprecedented in MLB history but these are tough times that we are in economically and they require drastic measures.

So we will see if the Dodgers and Ned Colletti can pull of some magic and work a deal for Hudson. Or if the Oakland A’s can pull something off for Cabrera. This will be a very interesting year for baseball to say the least.