Every year, I plan on doing a shadow draft for a team. This last season I used the Houston Astros when I did it. I may use them again this season for continuity. I chose them because their farm system is poor and their major league team is rebuilding. The Astros Payroll was projected to be $10 million less in 2010 than the previous season. The trades of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman opened up at least $30 million of salary over the next 2 years. They didn't get a lot prospect wise in the trades, so why not invest it in the future of the team. If I were in charge I would open up the checkbook, so my draft budget was to be between 13 and 26 Million, depending on who would sign. This we will never know because many of these guys didn't sign but this is just an idea of what a team could do if they wanted to really spend on the future. I plan to keep track of my drafts and compare my team to the real life Astros.
I didn't go strictly on talent, I took a few guys that I like in other ways to fill rosters. Since I did this to prove a point, my plan is to keep all of these players in my shadow Astros farm system. I don't really plan on doing this in the future, I just wanted to see how much one draft can turn around a farm system. Below is the round for each Astros pick as well as what number it was overall, the player I chose there as well as my offers to the player. The actual bonus is posted if they signed. Players in bold are the players that signed with their real drafting team.
| Round | Overall | Name, POS, TEAM | Initial Offer | Max Offer | Actual Bonus |
| 1 | 8 | Josh Sale, OF, TB | $2,043,000 | $2,043,000 | $1,620,000 |
| 1 | 19 | Nick Castellanos, 3B, DET | $1,863,000 | $4,000,000 | $3,450,000 |
| 1s | 33 | A.J. Cole, P, WSH | $2,043,000 | $2,043,000 | $2,000,000 |
| 2 | 58 | Stetson Allie, P, PIT | $2,043,000 | $2,043,000 | $2,250,000 |
| 3 | 90 | Garin Cecchini, SS, BOS | $1,332,000 | $1,332,000 | $1,310,000 |
| 4 | 123 | Kevin Gausman, P, LAD | $1,467,000 | $1,467,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 5 | 153 | Drew Cisco, P, CIN | $1,242,000 | $1,242,000 | $975,000 |
| 6 | 183 | Chris Hernandez, P, BOS | $500,000 | $500,000 | $375,000 |
| 7 | 213 | Austin Wilson, OF, STL | $972,000 | $4,000,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 8 | 243 | Kris Bryant, 3B, TOR | $918,000 | $918,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 9 | 273 | DeAndre Smelter, P, MIN | $858,600 | $858,600 | Did Not Sign |
| 10 | 303 | Jared Lakind, 1B, PIT | $537,300 | $537,300 | $400,000 |
| 11 | 333 | Jacoby Jones, SS, HOU | $450,000 | $450,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 12 | 363 | Michael Ojala, P, FLA | $150,000 | $150,000 | |
| 13 | 393 | Michael Palazzone, P, CLE | $150,000 | $150,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 14 | 423 | Evan Rutckyj, P, NYY | $258,300 | $1,000,000 | $500,000 |
| 15 | 453 | Kevin Patterson, 1B, TB | $150,000 | $218,700 | Did Not Sign |
| 16 | 483 | Daniel Renken, P, CIN | $150,000 | $150,000 | |
| 17 | 513 | Zach Alvord, 2B, ATL | $430,200 | $500,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 18 | 543 | Kevin Jordan, CF, NYY | $275,500 | $500,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 19 | 573 | Rock Shoulders, 1B, BOS | $150,000 | $150,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 20 | 603 | Dale Carey, OF, PIT | $150,000 | $150,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 21 | 633 | Brian Ragira, OF, TEX | $150,000 | $500,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 22 | 663 | Krey Bratsen, OF, OAK | $150,000 | $500,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 23 | 693 | Alex Sogard, P, HOU | |||
| 24 | 723 | Trae Davis, P, TEX | $100,000 | $100,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 25 | 753 | Kirby Bellow, P, CLE | $100,000 | $100,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 26 | 783 | Make Payton, OF, MIN | $100,000 | $100,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 27 | 813 | Rolando Botello, P, WSH | $100,000 | $100,000 | Did Not Sign |
| 28 | 843 | Kyle Necke, P, MIN | |||
| 29 | 873 | Forrest Snow, P, SEA | |||
| 30 | 903 | Brett Bruening, P, CHW | |||
| 31 | 933 | Casey Upperman, P, ARZ | |||
| 32 | 963 | Daniel Barnes, P, TOR | |||
| 33 | 993 | Matt Roberts, C, ARZ | Did Not Sign | ||
| 34 | 1023 | Dean Kiekhefer, P, STL | |||
| 35 | 1053 | Cody Martin, 1B, LAD | Did Not Sign | ||
| 36 | 1083 | Ethan Stewart, P, PHI | |||
| 37 | 1113 | Andrew Smith, P, OAK | Did Not Sign | ||
| 38 | 1143 | Seth Maness, P, FLA | Did Not Sign | ||
| 39 | 1173 | Thomas Pecoraro, P, HOU | Did Not Sign | ||
| 40 | 1203 | Daniel Child, P, SD | Did Not Sign | ||
| 41 | 1233 | Trevor Teykl, P, TEX | Did Not Sign | ||
| 42 | 1263 | Lonnie Kauppila, SS, OAK | Did Not Sign | ||
| 43 | 1293 | Jonathan Crawford, P, FLA | Did Not Sign | ||
| 44 | 1323 | Clayton Crum, P, CHC | Did Not Sign | ||
| 45 | 1353 | Christopher Triplett, SS, DET | Did Not Sign | ||
| 46 | 1383 | Alex Schmarzo, P, BAL | |||
| 47 | 1413 | Kelly Norris-Jones, C, TOR | Did Not Sign | ||
| 48 | 1443 | Matt Rice, C, NYY | Did Not Sign | ||
| 49 | 1473 | Trey Griffin, OF, Not Drafted | Did Not Sign | ||
| 50 | 1503 | Rudy Acosta, P, Not Drafted | Did Not Sign | ||
| Total | $18,832,900 | $25,802,600 | $12,880,000 |
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