Just good business? Or just cheapness?

Here at The Nationals Enquirer, we're not too concerned that the Nationals haven't signed any of their top five 2008 draft picks yet. After all, these things take time, and they've still got a month (Aug. 15) to wrap 'em up. But the second item in Washington Times' Ben Goessling's Notebook this morning raises some serious red flags:

...And according to a source close to one of those picks, the team could have trouble signing several of them.

The source said the Nationals front office has been given a directive by ownership not to give any of the picks a larger signing bonus than MLB's slot system recommends. All of those picks are believed to be looking for above-slot signing bonuses.

"I spoke with [scouting director] Dana Brown recently, and he sounded absolutely devastated," the source said. "I'm actually kind of stunned they're doing this."

Hold a second, let's dust off our copy of "The Plan", so we can look up the organization's philosophy on using the draft to stock the farm system with top prospects... Hmm...well...this 'below-slot-or-bye-bye' posturing certainly doesn't seem to match up with what we've been hearing all along from ownership. I don't get it. Surely the Nationals' farm system isn't so fully stocked yet that they'd be in the position to draw a line in the sand like this with its latest crop of top picks, right? Maybe it's all just a negotiation tactic, just posturing?