This guy was my 1st round pick:  CurtWashington

He looks to be a nice 2B. Could play a decent SS, too. Or CF or anywhere.  Projects to 84-83-90-83 with the glove and 47-75-57-67-58 with the bat.  92 Durability and 100 Health indicate he'll play every day.

He's no all-star, but he's a nice piece. Tolerable bat and very flexable defensively.

He wanted $3.5M and I offered.  Later included a ST invite.  Now (a week later) he comes back with a demand of $5.5M.  I can afford it, no problem, as I have $8.5M in available. 

Would you sign him or put the 8.5 t an IFA (assuming a decent one is affordable) and take the compensation pick next year (I think I would get one).

Anyway...What do you think?  Since he's 21, If I'm going to sign him, I should do it soon and get some development points this year.

I'd sign him. He likely won't hit those exact fielding projections, but if he comes close he could still be a gold glover at many positions. I might not play him at SS unless he manages to really hit those fielding numbers, but I'd happily make him a starting 2B without giving it a second thought.

What are you going to do with the extra $$ if you don't sign the kid?  I'm only in one world, and it could be that the owners in Caray routinely overspend on IFAs.  But, my limited experience suggests that you can't sign an IFA as good as Washington for less than a $10-12 million signing bonus.  And, if you move the money to another category, you lose half of it. 

Using Caray as my frame of reference, since it's all I know, my thought would be that since you've already budgeted the money for prospect signings; and since you're unlikely to sign a comparable IFA for anything close to the amount you're talking about; go ahead and sign Washington. 

...words of wisdom right there.