2026 MLB Draft Bonus Pool Information is Now Available

The 2026 MLB Draft is just over three months away and Major League Baseball just revealed the bonus pools for each team as well as the assigned slot value for each pick in the first ten rounds of the draft. For those unaware of how the bonus pool system works, each team is given an allotted amount of money to use to sign players they draft according to the slot value of each of their picks. These slot values are designed to help players and organizations negotiate signing bonuses ahead of the draft. There’s a lot of strategy that goes into how teams manage their bonus pool money, but that’s a completely separate topic for another day. Team’s can incur a penalty if they spend at a threshold 5% higher than their given bonus pool, although that has yet to happen in the bonus pool era.

Teams that are selecting higher up in the draft typically have higher bonus pools than teams drafting lower down the list, but teams with additional selections in the competitive balance rounds will also be given boosts in their bonus pool to account for the additional slot values. The entire bonus pool scales alongside MLB’s revenue, so this year’s bonus pool increased 2.5% compared to last year. With that being said, the first overall pick comes with a record-breaking slot value of $11,350,600 while the Pirates own the highest bonus pool in the history of the bonus pool era at $19,130,700. Here are the bonus pools for each organization in order from highest to lowest:

Pirates - $19,130,700

Rays - $19,009,300

White Sox - $17,592,100

Twins - $16,929,600

Cardinals - $16,612,300

Royals - $15,954,000

Braves - $15,870,800

Rockies - $15,557,600

Giants - $14,080,400

Athletics - $13,840,300

Astros - $13,712,700

D-backs - $13,603,100

Orioles - $13,114,000

Guardians - $12,573,900

Nationals - $12,278,300

Marlins - $11,960,100

Angels - $11,755,400

Reds - $10,758,500

Rangers - $10,219,200

Cubs - $9,644,100

Padres - $9,479,000

Tigers - $9,165,100

Red Sox - $8,219,200

Mariners - $8,218,200

Brewers - $8,042,900

Phillies - $7,773,000

Yankees - $7,342,800

Mets - $6,730,900

Blue Jays - $5,543,100

Dodgers - $3,951,900

You might notice that although the White Sox have the first overall pick in the draft, the Pirates who pick fifth overall and the Rays who pick second overall have higher bonus pools by roughly $1.5 million. As stated earlier, the bonus pools aren’t determined by draft order alone, but also by the amount of picks each team has. The Rays and Pirates both have an extra pick in competitive balance round A, with the Rays having the 33rd overall pick and the Pirates the 34th while the Pirates have an additional compensation pick in the second round at 51st overall. Here are the assigned slot values for each first round pick:

1. White Sox: $11,350,600

2. Rays: $10,507,000

3. Twins: $9,740,100

4. Giants: $8,988,400

5. Pirates: $8,336,500

6. Royals: $7,746,100

7. Orioles: $7,327,200

8. Athletics: $6,982,600

9. Braves: $6,675,300

10. Rockies: $6,393,100

11. Nationals: $6,133,500

12. Angels: $5,889,300

13. Cardinals: $5,661,300

14. Marlins: $5,444,900

15. Diamondbacks: $5,241,000

16. Rangers: $5,051,900

17. Astros: $4,868,600

18. Reds: $4,695,500

19. Guardians: $4,530,500

20. Red Sox: $4,373,900

21. Padres: $4,224,700

22. Tigers: $4,082,700

23. Cubs: $3,947,600

24. Mariners: $3,818,700

25. Brewers: $3,696,000

26. Braves: $3,578,800

27. Mets: $3,466,500

28. Astros: $3,363,600

29. Guardians: $3,270,200

30. Royals: $3,190,500

31. Diamondbacks: $3,118,300

32. Cardinals: $3,044,600

33. Rays: $2,970,200

34. Pirates: $2,897,400

35. Yankees: $2,826,700

36. Phillies: $2,758,800

37. Rockies: $2,696,700

38. Rockies: $2,633,100

39. Blue Jays: $2,571,700

40. Dodgers: $2,504,200

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