2018 Draft bonus pools, pick values
Royals have largest allotment, followed by Tigers, Rays
While the Tigers have the No. 1 overall choice in the 2018 Draft, they don't have the largest bonus pool.
By virtue of adding two late first-round picks as compensation for the loss of free agents Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer, the Royals have the biggest allotment at $12,781,900. The Rays, who gained two late first-rounders for the departure of free agent Alex Cobb and the failure to sign 2017 supplemental first-rounder Drew Rasmussen, rank second at $12,415,600. Detroit is a close third at $12,414,800, falling behind Tampa Bay after the Cardinals signed free agent Greg Holland and shuffled the picks from 59 through 76.
:: 2018 Draft coverage ::
MLB notified teams of the official pools for Draft and international spending in 2018 on Wednesday. Each pick in the first 10 rounds of the Draft has an assigned value, and the total for each of a club's selections equals what it can spend in those rounds without incurring a penalty. Any bonus money above $125,000 given to an individual player picked in rounds 11-40 also counts against a team's allotment.
The assigned slots are 4.2 percent higher than last year, reflecting the increase in MLB's annual revenues. Detroit's No. 1 overall choice is valued at $8,096,300, up from $7,770,700 in 2017.
Seven clubs have eight-figure bonus pools. In addition to the Royals, Rays and Tigers, that group includes the Giants ($11,747,500), Reds ($10,900,400), White Sox ($10,589,900) and Pirates ($10,390,400). The Dodgers, who have a full complement of picks, but select last in each round because they won an MLB-best 104 games last season, have the smallest pool at $5,288,200.
The pools for all 30 teams total $255,969,600, an average of $8,532,320 per club. Last year, they combined to spend a record $287,575,870 on Draft bonuses, including $45,435,100 after the 10th round.
Since the bonus pool system was introduced in 2012, no player has signed for more than the $7.23 million Hunter Greene received from the Reds as the No. 2 overall choice in 2017. The Tigers and other teams at the top of the Draft -- the Giants at No. 2 (valued at $7,494,600) and the Phillies at No. 3 ($6,947,500) -- likely will spend less than their full allotment for those selections and use the savings to spend more on later picks.
If a player selected in the first 10 rounds doesn't sign, his pick's value is subtracted from his club's pool. If a team exceeds its allotment, it faces a penalty.
A team that outspends its pool by 0-5 percent pays a 75 percent tax on the overage. At higher thresholds, clubs lose future picks: a first-rounder and a 75 percent tax for surpassing their pool by more than 5 and up to 10 percent; a first- and a second-rounder and a 100 percent tax for more than 10 and up to 15 percent; and two first-rounders and a 100 percent tax for more than 15 percent.
In six years with these rules, teams have outspent their allotments a total of 95 times, but never by more than 5 percent. Twenty-one of the 30 clubs exceeded their pools last year.
Here are the bonus pools for all 30 clubs:
Royals: $12,781,900
Rays: $12,415,600
Tigers: $12,414,800
Giants: $11,747,500
Reds: $10,900,400
White Sox: $10,589,900
Padres: $10,462,000
Pirates: $10,390,400
Mets: $9,580,900
A's: $9,553,200
Indians: $9,145,200
Phillies: $8,858,500
Orioles: $8,754,400
Marlins: $8,658,400
Braves: $8,267,300
Blue Jays: $7,982,100
Cardinals: $7,968,400
D-backs: $7,683,700
Rockies: $7,633,900
Mariners: $7,555,200
Cubs: $7,517,100
Rangers: $7,356,000
Angels: $6,984,400
Brewers: $6,611,900
Yankees: $6,115,100
Twins: $5,933,200
Red Sox: $5,723,300
Nationals: $5,603,800
Astros: $5,492,900
Dodgers: $5,288,200
Here are the assigned values for each pick in the first 10 rounds:
First Round
- Tigers: $8,096,300
- Giants: $7,494,600
- Phillies: $6,947,500
- White Sox: $6,411,400
- Reds: $5,946,400
- Mets: $5,525,200
- Padres: $5,226,500
- Braves: $4,980,700
- A's: $4,761,500
- Pirates: $4,560,200
- Orioles: $4,375,100
- Blue Jays: $4,200,900
- Marlins: $4,038,200
- Mariners: $3,883,800
- Rangers: $3,738,500
- Rays: $3,603,500
- Angels: $3,472,900
- Royals: $3,349,300
- Cardinals: $3,231,700
- Twins: $3,120,000
- Brewers: $3,013,600
- Rockies: $2,912,300
- Yankees: $2,815,900
- Cubs: $2,724,000
- D-backs: $2,636,400
- Red Sox: $2,552,800
- Nationals: $2,472,700
- Astros: $2,399,400
- Indians: $2,332,700
- Dodgers: $2,275,800
Compensation picks - Rays: $2,224,400
- Rays: $2,171,700
- Royals: $2,118,700
- Royals: $2,066,700
- Indians: $2,016,400
Competitive Balance Round A - Pirates: $1,967,900
- Orioles: $1,923,500
- Padres: $1,878,300
- D-backs: $1,834,500
- Royals: $1,786,300
- Indians: $1,744,800
- Rockies: $1,704,000
- Cardinals: $1,664,200
Second Round - Tigers: $1,625,500
- Giants: $1,587,600
- White Sox: $1,556,100
- Reds: $1,520,300
- Mets: $1,485,100
- Braves: $1,450,500
- A's: $1,414,200
- Pirates: $1,382,400
- Blue Jays: $1,350,000
- Marlins: $1,318,500
- Mariners: $1,287,800
- Rangers: $1,257,500
- Rays: $1,228,000
- Angels: $1,196,500
- Royals: $1,168,300
- Twins: $1,140,600
- Brewers: $1,113,500
- Yankees: $1,086,900
- Cubs: $1,060,900
- D-backs: $1,035,500
- Red Sox: $1,010,500
- Nationals: $986,200
- Astros: $965,300
- Indians: $939,700
- Dodgers: $917,000
Competitive Balance Round B - Marlins: $894,600
- A's: $872,400
- Rays: $850,700
- Reds: $837,700
- Brewers: $824,900
- Padres: $812,200
Compensation Picks - Cardinals: $799,600
- Rockies: $787,200
- Cubs: $775,100
- Cubs: $762,900
Third Round: - Tigers: $750,800
- Giants: $738,700
- White Sox: $726,700
- Reds: $716,000
- Mets: $705,300
- Padres: $694,500
- A's: $683,800
- Pirates: $673,200
- Orioles: $663,200
- Blue Jays: $652,900
- Marlins: $642,600
- Mariners: $632,700
- Rangers: $622,800
- Rays: $613,400
- Angels: $604,100
- Royals: $594,800
- Cardinals: $587,600
- Rockies: $581,900
- Yankees: $576,400
- Cubs: $570,600
- D-backs: $565,100
- Red Sox: $559,600
- Nationals: $555,100
- Astros: $549,700
- Indians: $544,200
- Dodgers: $538,800
Fourth round - Tigers: $533,300
- Giants: $528,200
- Phillies: $522,900
- White Sox: $517,800
- Reds: $512,800
- Mets: $507,800
- Padres: $502,800
- Braves: $497,800
- A's: $493,000
- Pirates: $488,200
- Orioles: $483,300
- Blue Jays: $478,600
- Marlins: $474,000
- Mariners: $469,400
- Rangers: $464,700
- Rays: $460,200
- Angels: $455,700
- Royals: $451,200
- Cardinals: $446,900
- Twins: $442,600
- Brewers: $438,300
- Rockies: $434,700
- Yankees: $430,400
- Cubs: $426,100
- D-backs: $422,100
- Red Sox: $417,800
- Nationals: $414,500
- Astros: $410,400
- Indians: $406,300
- Dodgers: $402,300
Fifth round - Tigers: $398,300
- Giants: $394,600
- Phillies: $390,600
- White Sox: $386,800
- Reds: $382,900
- Mets: $379,400
- Padres: $375,600
- Braves: $371,900
- A's: $368,200
- Pirates: $364,600
- Orioles: $361,000
- Blue Jays: $357,500
- Marlins: $354,000
- Mariners: $350,600
- Rangers: $347,100
- Rays: $343,600
- Angels: $340,300
- Royals: $337,000
- Cardinals: $333,700
- Twins: $330,400
- Brewers: $327,100
- Rockies: $323,800
- Yankees: $320,700
- Cubs: $317,600
- D-backs: $314,800
- Red Sox: $311,800
- Nationals: $308,900
- Astros: $306,100
- Indians: $303,400
- Dodgers: $300,600
Sixth Round - Tigers: $297,800
- Giants: $295,200
- Phillies: $292,700
- White Sox: $290,200
- Reds: $287,700
- Mets: $285,200
- Padres: $282,700
- Braves: $280,400
- A's: $278,000
- Pirates: $275,600
- Orioles: $273,400
- Blue Jays: $271,100
- Marlins: $268,900
- Mariners: $266,600
- Rangers: $264,400
- Rays: $262,200
- Angels: $260,100
- Royals: $258,000
- Cardinals: $255,900
- Twins: $253,700
- Brewers: $251,700
- Rockies: $249,600
- Yankees: $247,600
- Cubs: $245,600
- D-backs: $243,700
- Red Sox: $241,600
- Nationals: $239,600
- Astros: $237,600
- Indians: $235,600
- Dodgers: $233,800
Seventh Round - Tigers: $231,900
- Giants: $229,900
- Phillies: $228,000
- White Sox: $226,200
- Reds: $224,200
- Mets: $222,300
- Padres: $221,000
- Braves: $219,100
- A's: $217,200
- Pirates: $215,500
- Orioles: $213,700
- Blue Jays: $211,900
- Marlins: $210,200
- Mariners: $208,400
- Rangers: $206,800
- Rays: $205,200
- Angels: $203,500
- Royals: $201,800
- Cardinals: $200,300
- Twins: $198,700
- Brewers: $197,000
- Rockies: $195,700
- Yankees: $194,000
- Cubs: $192,500
- D-backs: $191,000
- Red Sox: $189,800
- Nationals: $188,300
- Astros: $187,000
- Indians: $185,600
- Dodgers: $184,200
Eighth Round: - Tigers: $182,900
- Giants: $181,700
- Phillies: $180,600
- White Sox: $179,200
- Reds: $177,700
- Mets: $176,700
- Padres: $175,400
- Braves: $174,300
- A's: $173,000
- Pirates: $171,800
- Orioles: $170,700
- Blue Jays: $169,600
- Marlins: $168,400
- Mariners: $167,400
- Rangers: $166,400
- Rays: $165,600
- Angels: $164,700
- Royals: $163,800
- Cardinals: $163,100
- Twins: $162,100
- Brewers: $161,400
- Rockies: $160,700
- Yankees: $159,800
- Cubs: $159,100
- D-backs: $158,500
- Red Sox: $157,700
- Nationals: $157,200
- Astros: $156,500
- Indians: $155,900
- Dodgers: $155,300
Ninth Round: - Tigers: $154,700
- Giants: $154,200
- Phillies: $153,600
- White Sox: $153,200
- Reds: $152,600
- Mets: $152,100
- Padres: $151,600
- Braves: $151,200
- A's: $150,700
- Pirates: $150,200
- Orioles: $149,900
- Blue Jays: $149,400
- Marlins: $149,000
- Mariners: $148,700
- Rangers: $148,300
- Rays: $147,800
- Angels: $147,500
- Royals: $147,100
- Cardinals: $146,800
- Twins: $146,500
- Brewers: $146,200
- Rockies: $145,900
- Yankees: $145,600
- Cubs: $145,100
- D-backs: $144,800
- Red Sox: $144,600
- Nationals: $144,400
- Astros: $144,100
- Indians: $143,800
- Dodgers: $143,600
10th Round: - Tigers: $143,300
- Giants: $142,800
- Phillies: $142,600
- White Sox: $142,300
- Reds: $142,100
- Mets: $141,800
- Padres: $141,600
- Braves: $141,400
- A's: $141,200
- Pirates: $140,800
- Orioles: $140,600
- Blue Jays: $140,200
- Marlins: $140,000
- Mariners: $139,800
- Rangers: $139,500
- Rays: $139,300
- Angels: $139,100
- Royals: $138,900
- Cardinals: $138,600
- Twins: $138,400
- Brewers: $138,200
- Rockies: $138,100
- Yankees: $137,800
- Cubs: $137,600
- D-backs: $137,300
- Red Sox: $137,100
- Nationals: $136,900
- Astros: $136,800
- Indians: $136,800
- Dodgers: $136,800