GMs meet at posh resort, but many with bargain budgets

At a dubious economic location, baseball's general managers met and put a start to the hot-stove season in Dana Point, Calif.

The GMs are staying and talking at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, which happens to be the same posh resort where executives from AIG held a retreat in the days following the company's federal bailout, sparking a storm of criticism across the country.

Baseball's executives aren't going to need a financial bailout, but there is a question whether the free-spending ways of the past will translate during what looks to be a serious economic recession.

It seems likely that attendance will go down in some places because of tougher times and expensive tickets. And corporate sponsorships are sure to suffer. Therefore, many teams with smaller pocketbooks might not be big spenders this offseason.

"I think in some places it may very well have an effect," Houston Astros president of baseball operations Tal Smith told the Associated Press. "From the standpoint of free agents, it's something clubs will probably take a look at."

But not all clubs, of course. The Yankees and Mets will open new stadiums in the spring that offer huge revenue sources. And big-market clubs coming off successful seasons - think Red Sox, Angels and Dodgers - have some wiggle room on their financial ledgers to go for free agents such as CC Sabathia, Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez.

"What I think is likely is that there are still a group of teams - due to either new revenue streams, extremely positive market conditions, big markets, positive markets or the newness of winning - that are sequestered from the realities of our country's economic challenges," Indians GM Mark Shapiro told Newsday. "I don't think what's going on in our country is going to affect the contracts of premium players. After that select group of teams, there clearly will be a large number of teams that are impacted by the economy."