Day 2: Rounds 6-10

Updated: February 3, 2009, 1:44 PM ET
ESPN.com

Draft Rules

• Draft order was selected at random.

• Player salaries based on 2009 salaries. For those involved in arbitration cases at the time of the draft, the midpoint between what the player wanted and what the team was offering was taken. Players with 1-plus year of service time but not eligible for arbitration were given 10 percent raises from their 2008 salaries; those with 2-plus were given 15 percent. Those with 0-plus were given the 2009 minimum of $400,000.

• Seeding for the tournament will be based on payroll -- No. 1 payroll vs. No. 4 payroll; No. 2 vs. No. 3.

• Each team must carry 11 pitchers.

• Each will act as a National League team -- so, no DH.

The economy is impacting everyone, baseball included. Teams are looking to build more cost-conscious rosters. But how? Is it doable? Are there enough talented, relatively inexpensive players to build a competitive roster for, say, $40 million, which is roughly the payroll the San Diego Padres hope to operate at in 2009?

Well, ESPN.com put four of its experts on the case.

Over a recent five-day stretch, Baseball Tonight's Steve Phillips, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney and ESPN.com's Jayson Stark and Rob Neyer drafted their own 25-man rosters.

All this week, we reveal their selections -- and their thoughts on each other's selections. On Monday, Feb. 9, the four teams will begin going head-to-head in seven-game series conducted by ImagineSports.com, which provides online simulation baseball games, using its Diamond Mind Baseball software. Our ultimate general manager will pit his budget-conscious team against the deep-pocketed New York Yankees in a seven-game series.

On Day 1, Steve Phillips and Rob Neyer came out spending, while Buster Olney was quite careful with his money. Jayson Stark, meanwhile, wondered if any of the other three GMs really wanted a piece of his team. The guys got serious on Day 2, the chatter less frequent as our execs tried to outsmart one another. By no means, though, has the trash talk ended.

ROUND 6

21. Jayson Stark selects Ryan Doumit (C, Pittsburgh Pirates, $2,000,000)
Jayson Stark: Pretty scary team, isn't it?

22. Steve Phillips selects Ervin Santana (P, Los Angeles Angels, $3,962,500)

23. Buster Olney selects Carlos Marmol (P, Chicago Cubs, $494,500)
Jayson Stark: Hey Buster, you're going to have a lower payroll than the Trenton Thunder!

Buster Olney: Old habits from the days growing up on the farm. We moved nickels like tractor tires.

24. Rob Neyer selects Scott Baker (P, Minnesota Twins, $485,875)

ROUND 7

25. Rob Neyer selects James Shields (P, Tampa Bay Rays, $1,500,000)

26. Buster Olney selects John Danks (P, Chicago White Sox, $460,000)

27. Steve Phillips selects Matt Garza (P, Tampa Bay Rays, $445,060)

28. Jayson Stark selects Joey Votto (1B, Cincinnati Reds, $429,000)

ROUND 8

29. Jayson Stark selects Joe Saunders (P, Los Angeles Angels, $488,750)
Jayson Stark: I can't believe they were still on the board in the seventh and eighth rounds!

30. Steve Phillips selects Adrian Gonzalez (OF, San Diego Padres, $3,000,000)
Steve Phillips: I needed a left-handed bat between Braun and Quentin. I may score 1,500 runs.

Buster Olney: 1,500 runs? Not against my team, you won't.

31. Buster Olney selects Jose Arredondo (P, Los Angeles Angels, $429,000)

32. Rob Neyer selects Nick Markakis (OF, Baltimore Orioles, $3,000,000)

ROUND 9

33. Rob Neyer selects Yunel Escobar (SS, Atlanta Braves, $500,000)

34. Buster Olney selects Cliff Lee (P, Cleveland Indians, $5,750,000)

35. Steve Phillips selects Grant Balfour (P, Tampa Bay Rays, $1,400,000)

36. Jayson Stark selects Brandon Morrow (P, Seattle Mariners, $429,000)
Jayson Stark: His role to be determined later.

ROUND 10

37. Jayson Stark selects Josh Johnson (P, Florida Marlins, $1,400,000)

38. Steve Phillips selects David Wright (3B, New York Mets, $7,500,000)
Steve Phillips: I just couldn't go to the other options at third, so I figured I had a shot at two more guys making some $$$. So, I just combined them for David. By the way, did I ever tell you I drafted him? Plus, Buster was going to take him and I couldn't let his strategy work.

Buster Olney: You are right, he was among those I was thinking about. But you can't keep 'em ALL away from me, Sparky.

39. Buster Olney selects Shin-Soo Choo (OF, Cleveland Indians, $448,960)

40. Rob Neyer selects Alex Gordon (3B, Kansas City Royals, $466,900)

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