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2017 MLB Draft Slots And Bonus Pools

SEE ALSO: MLB Draft Order SEE ALSO: Complete 2017 Draft Coverage


The Twins will have the first pick in the 2017 draft and the largest bonus pool, giving them a financial advantage over every other team. But that advantage is significantly less than it has been in past years. After Major League Baseball decided to compress the difference between slots at the top of the draft in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Twins’ top draft slot is set at $7,770,700, according to the final official slots that were recently sent to all 30 major league teams. The Twins’ allotment is roughly $1.25 million less than what the Phillies were slotted for the top pick in last year’s draft. The Reds’ second pick ($7,193,200) is a $569,700 reduction from last year. But at the Padres’ third pick, the slot allotment is actually $157,000 higher than last year’s. Every pick from third to 60th is actually a higher allotment than last year before it switches over again, with lower slots throughout the rest of the top 10 rounds. This adjustment will change the incentives and the bargaining power at the top of the draft. The Astros worked a deal with Carlos Correa at the top of the 2012 draft (the first under the new slotting rules) and used the savings on his deal to land Lance McCullers and Rio Ruiz to slot-busting deals later on in the draft. In the five drafts held under the current rules, only once has the top pick in the draft received the largest bonus (Dansby Swanson in 2015). And no player has come close to receiving the full value of the first pick in those five years. The signing bonus record under the current system is the $6,708,400 Kris Bryant received as the second pick in the 2013 draft. Carlos Rodon (third pick, 2014) is the only other player to receive more than $6.5 million under the current rules, even though the slot for the top spot has been at $7.2 million or more in each of the past five drafts. Teams are assuredly delving deep into game theory to figure out what is the best approach to using the new slots, but there are some obvious adjustments to come. For one, the teams picking at the top have much less leverage than they had under the slots of previous years. Last year, the team picking at the top had a nearly $2 million advantage over the team picking second in last year’s draft and a massive $4.3 million advantage over the team picking fourth. That massive difference meant a player who was in the mix to go 1-1 in recent years knew that if he turned down the offer at No. 1 and fell just a few spots to fourth or fifth, he was assured of getting significantly less money, even if the team picking No. 1 offered him a deal well below slot. Since these rules began in 2012, no player taken after the third pick has landed a deal of $5 million or more–Riley Pint’s $4.8 million bonus as the fourth pick in 2016 and Kohl Stewart’s $4.544 million as the fourth pick in 2013 are the only players taken fourth or later to land a bonus larger than $4.5 million. But in the top three picks, 12 of the 14 players who have signed from 2012 to 2016 have landed bonuses of $4.8 million or more. So under the slots until this year, there was a massive incentive to work out a deal in the top three picks. This year, there’s much less danger financially for a player who slides from the top pick to even sixth or seventh. Last year, the Brewers had only $4,382,200 slotted for the fifth pick. This year, the Diamondbacks could offer $5 million to a player they pick at pick seven without going above their slot. The Twins have the largest total allotment with $14,156,800 but the Reds aren’t far behind at $13,658,400. The Cardinals have the smallest allotment ($2,176,000) after they forfeited their first pick to sign free agent Dexter Fowler and then were ordered to send their second-round pick (pick 56) and their supplemental second round pick (pick 75) to the Astros as penalty for former scouting director Chris Correa’s hacking into the Astros’ database. St. Louis’ first pick is not until pick 94.

Team Bonus Pool
Twins $14,156,800
Reds 13,658,400
Rays 12,528,100
Padres 11,839,000
Athletics 11,407,500
Brewers 10,447,700
Pirates 10 ,135,900
Diamondbacks 9,905,900
Braves 9,881,200
Marlins 9,375,500
Astros 9,039,600
Phillies 8 ,729,100
Blue Jays 8,231,000
Angels 8,212,800
Royals 8,076,900
White Sox 7,921,400
Rangers 7 ,626,600
Cubs 7,454,900
Yankees 6,912,800
Orioles 6,846,700
Mariners 6,737,300
Tigers 6,520,100
Giants 6,363,600
Mets 6,212,500
Dodgers 5,794,200
Red Sox 5,667,100
Nationals 5,503,500
Rockies 4,615,700
Indians 3,829,000
Cardinals 2,176,000

In the chart below, DIFF. compares this year’s pick value to last year’s. PCT DIFF stands for percentage of the previous pick’s amount. In other words, the No. 2 pick value is 92.6 percent of the No. 1 pick value.

OVERALL TEAM BONUS DIFF. PCT DIFF
1 MIN $7,770,700 ($1,244,300)  
2 CIN $7,193,200 ($569,700) 92.6%
3 SDP $6,668,100 $157,300 92.7%
4 TBR $6,153,600 $894,900 92.3%
5 ATL $5,707,300 $1,325,100 92.7%
6 OAK $5,303,000 $1,233,800 92.9%
7 ARI $5,016,300 $1,260,000 94.6%
8 PHI $4,780,400 $1,149,500 95.3%
9 MIL $4,570,000 $1,064,200 95.6%
10 LAA $4,376,800 $996,200 95.8%
11 CWS $4,199,200 $912,500 95.9%
12 PIT $4,032,000 $839,200 96.0%
13 MIA $3,875,800 $776,900 96.1%
14 KCR $3,727,600 $753,900 96.2%
15 HOU $3,588,200 $771,100 96.3%
16 NYY $3,458,600 $797,800 96.4%
17 SEA $3,333,200 $829,000 96.4%
18 DET $3,214,600 $773,000 96.4%
19 SFG $3,101,700 $722,900 96.5%
20 NYM $2,994,500 $678,200 96.5%
21 BAL $2,892,400 $607,300 96.6%
22 TOR $2,795,200 $541,500 96.6%
23 LAD $2,702,700 $480,200 96.7%
24 BOS $2,614,500 $423,300 96.7%
25 WAS $2,530,400 $370,500 96.8%
26 TEX $2,450,100 $321,600 96.8%
27 CHC $2,373,300 $276,100 96.9%
28 TOR $2,302,900 $237,000 97.0%
29 TEX $2,238,900 $204,300 97.2%
30 CHC $2,184,300 $180,900 97.6%
Supplemental first round
31 TBR $2,134,900 $162,800 97.7%
32 CIN $2,084,400 $143,700 97.6%
33 OAK $2,033,500 $124,000 97.6%
34 MIL $1,983,600 $105,600 97.5%
35 MIN $1,935,300 $98,100 97.6%
36 MIA $1,888,800 $97,800 97.6%
Second Round
37 MIN $1,846,100 $100,400 97.7%
38 CIN $1,802,800 $101,200 97.7%
39 SDP $1,760,700 $102,100 97.7%
40 TBR $1,714,500 $97,700 97.4%
41 ATL $1,674,600 $98,600 97.7%
42 PIT $1,635,500 $99,300 97.7%
43 OAK $1,597,300 $99,800 97.7%
44 ARI $1,560,100 $100,400 97.7%
45 PHI $1,523,800 $100,900 97.7%
46 MIL $1,493,500 $106,600 98.0%
47 LAA $1,459,200 $107,400 97.7%
48 COL $1,425,400 $107,600 97.7%
49 CWS $1,392,200 $107,700 97.7%
50 PIT $1,357,300 $105,200 97.5%
51 MIA $1,326,800 $94,000 97.8%
52 KCR $1,295,700 $81,600 97.7%
53 HOU $1,265,500 $70,000 97.7%
54 NYY $1,236,000 $58,800 97.7%
55 SEA $1,206,900 $47,700 97.6%
56 HOU $1,178,600 $37,000 97.7%
57 DET $1,148,400 $24,400 97.4%
58 SFG $1,121,300 $14,300 97.6%
59 NYM $1,094,700 $4,700 97.6%
60 BAL $1,068,700 ($4,600) 97.6%
61 TOR $1,043,200 ($13,600) 97.6%
62 LAD $1,018,200 ($22,600) 97.6%
63 BOS $993,900 ($31,000) 97.6%
64 CLE $969,900 ($39,300) 97.6%
65 WAS $946,500 ($47,300) 97.6%
66 TEX $926,500 ($52,100) 97.9%
67 CHC $901,900 ($61,800) 97.3%
Supplemental Second Round
68 ARI $880,100 ($68,800) 97.6%
69 SD $858,600 ($75,800) 97.6%
70 COL $837,300 ($82,800) 97.5%
71 CLE $816,500 ($89,400) 97.5%
72 PIT $804,000 ($88,200) 98.5%
73 KCR $791,700 ($86,800) 98.5%
74 BAL $779,500 ($85,700) 98.5%
75 HOU $767,400 ($84,500) 98.4%
Third Round
76 MIN $755,400 ($83,500) 98.4%
77 CIN $743,900 ($82,300) 98.5%
78 SDP $732,200 ($81,300) 98.4%
79 TBR $720,600 ($80,400) 98.4%
80 ATL $709,000 ($79,800) 98.4%
81 OAK $697,500 ($79,200) 98.4%
82 ARI $687,200 ($77,600) 98.5%
83 PHI $676,900 ($76,200) 98.5%
84 MIL $666,600 ($75,100) 98.5%
85 LAA $656,300 ($74,100) 98.5%
86 COL $646,100 ($73,000) 98.4%
87 CWS $636,500 ($71,700) 98.5%
88 PIT $626,600 ($70,700) 98.4%
89 MIA $616,800 ($69,800) 98.4%
90 KCR $607,300 ($68,900) 98.5%
91 HOU $597,800 ($68,000) 98.4%
92 NYY $588,700 ($66,800) 98.5%
93 SEA $579,800 ($65,800) 98.5%
94 STL $570,900 ($64,900) 98.5%
95 DET $564,000 ($61,900) 98.8%
96 SFG $558,500 ($61,600) 99.0%
97 NYM $553,200 ($60,800) 99.1%
98 BAL $547,700 ($60,500) 99.0%
99 TOR $542,400 ($60,000) 99.0%
100 LAD $537,100 ($59,500) 99.0%
101 BOS $532,800 ($58,000) 99.2%
102 CLE $527,600 ($57,500) 99.0%
103 WAS $522,300 ($57,400) 99.0%
104 TEX $517,100 ($56,800) 99.0%
105 CHC $511,900 ($56,500) 99.0%
Fourth Round
106 MIN $507,000 ($56,100) 99.0%
107 CIN $501,900 ($55,700) 99.0%
108 SDP $497,000 ($55,400) 99.0%
109 TBR $492,200 ($54,600) 99.0%
110 ATL $487,400 ($54,400) 99.0%
111 OAK $482,600 ($53,800) 99.0%
112 ARI $477,800 ($53,700) 99.0%
113 PHI $473,200 ($53,100) 99.0%
114 MIL $468,600 ($52,600) 99.0%
115 LAA $463,900 ($52,300) 99.0%
116 COL $459,400 ($51,900) 99.0%
117 CWS $454,900 ($51,500) 99.0%
118 PIT $450,500 ($50,800) 99.0%
119 MIA $446,000 ($50,700) 99.0%
120 KCR $441,700 ($50,200) 99.0%
121 HOU $437,400 ($49,700) 99.0%
122 NYY $433,100 ($49,400) 99.0%
123 SEA $428,900 ($49,000) 99.0%
124 STL $424,800 ($48,500) 99.0%
125 DET $420,700 ($48,000) 99.0%
126 SFG $417,200 ($47,100) 99.2%
127 NYM $413,100 ($46,600) 99.0%
128 BAL $409,000 ($46,400) 99.0%
129 TOR $405,100 ($45,900) 99.0%
130 LAD $401,000 ($45,500) 99.0%
131 BOS $397,800 ($44,600) 99.2%
132 CLE $393,900 ($44,200) 99.0%
133 WAS $390,000 ($43,900) 99.0%
134 TEX $386,100 ($43,600) 99.0%
135 CHC $382,300 ($43,400) 99.0%
Fifth Round
136 MIN $378,700 ($42,900) 99.1%
137 CIN $374,900 ($42,600) 99.0%
138 SDP $371,200 ($42,400) 99.0%
139 TBR $367,500 ($42,100) 99.0%
140 ATL $364,100 ($41,500) 99.1%
141 OAK $360,500 ($41,200) 99.0%
142 ARI $356,900 ($41,100) 99.0%
143 PHI $353,400 ($40,700) 99.0%
144 MIL $349,900 ($40,400) 99.0%
145 LAA $346,500 ($40,000) 99.0%
146 COL $343,100 ($39,700) 99.0%
147 CWS $339,800 ($39,200) 99.0%
148 PIT $336,500 ($39,000) 99.0%
149 MIA $333,100 ($38,800) 99.0%
150 KCR $329,800 ($38,600) 99.0%
151 HOU $326,600 ($38,100) 99.0%
152 NYY $323,400 ($37,900) 99.0%
153 SEA $320,300 ($37,500) 99.0%
154 STL $317,100 ($37,200) 99.0%
155 DET $313,900 ($37,000) 99.0%
156 SFG $310,800 ($36,900) 99.0%
157 NYM $307,800 ($36,500) 99.0%
158 BAL $304,800 ($36,200) 99.0%
159 TOR $302,100 ($35,500) 99.1%
160 LAD $299,300 ($35,200) 99.1%
161 BOS $296,500 ($34,600) 99.1%
162 CLE $293,800 ($34,300) 99.1%
163 WAS $291,200 ($33,600) 99.1%
164 TEX $288,500 ($33,300) 99.1%
165 CHC $285,800 ($33,000) 99.1%
Sixth Round
166 MIN $283,300 ($32,300) 99.1%
167 CIN $280,900 ($31,800) 99.2%
168 SDP $278,500 ($31,200) 99.1%
169 TBR $276,100 ($30,500) 99.1%
170 ATL $273,700 ($30,000) 99.1%
171 OAK $271,300 ($29,500) 99.1%
172 ARI $269,100 ($28,900) 99.2%
173 PHI $266,800 ($28,100) 99.1%
174 MIL $264,500 ($27,700) 99.1%
175 LAA $262,400 ($27,000) 99.2%
176 COL $260,200 ($26,500) 99.2%
177 CWS $258,100 ($25,700) 99.2%
178 PIT $255,900 ($25,200) 99.1%
179 MIA $253,800 ($24,700) 99.2%
180 KCR $251,700 ($24,200) 99.2%
181 HOU $249,600 ($23,500) 99.2%
182 NYY $247,600 ($22,700) 99.2%
183 SEA $245,600 ($22,200) 99.2%
184 STL $243,500 ($21,900) 99.1%
185 DET $241,600 ($21,100) 99.2%
186 SFG $239,600 ($20,700) 99.2%
187 NYM $237,600 ($20,300) 99.2%
188 BAL $235,700 ($19,600) 99.2%
189 TOR $233,900 ($19,000) 99.2%
190 LAD $231,900 ($18,600) 99.1%
191 BOS $230,000 ($17,900) 99.2%
192 CLE $228,000 ($17,600) 99.1%
193 WAS $226,100 ($17,200) 99.2%
194 TEX $224,400 ($16,600) 99.2%
195 CHC $222,600 ($16,000) 99.2%
Seventh Round
196 MIN $220,700 ($15,700) 99.1%
197 CIN $218,800 ($15,200) 99.1%
198 SDP $217,100 ($14,800) 99.2%
199 TBR $215,200 ($14,500) 99.1%
200 ATL $213,400 ($14,000) 99.2%
201 OAK $212,100 ($13,400) 99.4%
202 ARI $210,300 ($13,000) 99.2%
203 PHI $208,500 ($12,600) 99.1%
204 MIL $206,800 ($12,200) 99.2%
205 LAA $205,100 ($11,800) 99.2%
206 COL $203,400 ($11,500) 99.2%
207 CWS $201,700 ($11,000) 99.2%
208 PIT $200,000 ($10,700) 99.2%
209 MIA $198,500 ($10,200) 99.3%
210 KCR $196,900 ($9,700) 99.2%
211 HOU $195,300 ($9,400) 99.2%
212 NYY $193,700 ($9,200) 99.2%
213 SEA $192,200 ($8,700) 99.2%
214 STL $190,700 ($8,200) 99.2%
215 DET $189,100 ($8,000) 99.2%
216 SFG $187,800 ($7,400) 99.3%
217 NYM $186,200 ($7,100) 99.1%
218 BAL $184,800 ($6,700) 99.2%
219 TOR $183,300 ($6,300) 99.2%
220 LAD $182,200 ($5,600) 99.4%
221 BOS $180,700 ($6,700) 99.2%
222 CLE $179,500 ($7,400) 99.3%
223 WAS $178,100 ($8,400) 99.2%
224 TEX $176,800 ($9,200) 99.3%
225 CHC $175,500 ($10,200) 99.3%
Eighth Round
226 MIN $174,400 ($10,900) 99.4%
227 CIN $173,300 ($11,500) 99.4%
228 SDP $172,000 ($12,400) 99.2%
229 TBR $170,600 ($13,500) 99.2%
230 ATL $169,600 ($13,900) 99.4%
231 OAK $168,300 ($14,900) 99.2%
232 ARI $167,300 ($15,600) 99.4%
233 PHI $166,000 ($16,200) 99.2%
234 MIL $164,900 ($17,000) 99.3%
235 LAA $163,800 ($17,800) 99.3%
236 COL $162,800 ($18,300) 99.4%
237 CWS $161,600 ($19,000) 99.3%
238 PIT $160,700 ($19,600) 99.4%
239 MIA $159,700 ($20,100) 99.4%
240 KCR $158,900 ($20,500) 99.5%
241 HOU $158,100 ($20,900) 99.5%
242 NYY $157,200 ($21,500) 99.4%
243 SEA $156,500 ($21,700) 99.6%
244 STL $155,600 ($22,100) 99.4%
245 DET $154,900 ($22,500) 99.6%
246 SFG $154,200 ($22,800) 99.5%
247 NYM $153,400 ($23,200) 99.5%
248 BAL $152,700 ($23,500) 99.5%
249 TOR $152,100 ($23,700) 99.6%
250 LAD $151,400 ($24,000) 99.5%
251 BOS $150,900 ($24,200) 99.7%
252 CLE $150,200 ($24,500) 99.5%
253 WAS $149,600 ($24,500) 99.6%
254 TEX $149,100 ($24,700) 99.7%
255 CHC $148,500 ($25,000) 99.6%
Ninth Round
256 MIN $148,000 ($24,900) 99.7%
257 CIN $147,400 ($25,200) 99.6%
258 SDP $147,000 ($25,300) 99.7%
259 TBR $146,500 ($25,300) 99.7%
260 ATL $146,000 ($25,400) 99.7%
261 OAK $145,500 ($25,600) 99.7%
262 ARI $145,100 ($25,600) 99.7%
263 PHI $144,600 ($25,700) 99.7%
264 MIL $144,200 ($25,700) 99.7%
265 LAA $143,900 ($25,700) 99.8%
266 COL $143,400 ($25,800) 99.7%
267 CWS $143,000 ($25,900) 99.7%
268 PIT $142,700 ($25,700) 99.8%
269 MIA $142,300 ($25,800) 99.7%
270 KCR $141,900 ($25,600) 99.7%
271 HOU $141,600 ($25,500) 99.8%
272 NYY $141,200 ($25,500) 99.7%
273 SEA $140,900 ($25,400) 99.8%
274 STL $140,600 ($25,400) 99.8%
275 DET $140,300 ($25,300) 99.8%
276 SFG $140,000 ($25,200) 99.8%
277 NYM $139,700 ($25,200) 99.8%
278 BAL $139,300 ($25,300) 99.7%
279 TOR $139,000 ($25,300) 99.8%
280 LAD $138,800 ($24,900) 99.9%
281 BOS $138,600 ($24,800) 99.9%
282 CLE $138,300 ($24,800) 99.8%
283 WAS $138,000 ($24,700) 99.8%
284 TEX $137,800 ($24,500) 99.9%
285 CHC $137,500 ($24,500) 99.8%
10th Round
286 MIN $137,100 ($24,600) 99.7%
287 CIN $136,900 ($24,400) 99.9%
288 SDP $136,600 ($24,200) 99.8%
289 TBR $136,400 ($24,100) 99.9%
290 ATL $136,100 ($24,000) 99.8%
291 OAK $135,900 ($23,900) 99.9%
292 ARI $135,700 ($23,600) 99.9%
293 PHI $135,500 ($23,500) 99.9%
294 MIL $135,100 ($23,500) 99.7%
295 LAA $134,900 ($23,400) 99.9%
296 COL $134,600 ($23,300) 99.8%
297 CWS $134,400 ($23,200) 99.9%
298 PIT $134,200 ($23,000) 99.9%
299 MIA $133,900 ($23,000) 99.8%
300 KCR $133,700 ($22,900) 99.9%
301 HOU $133,500 ($23,100) 99.9%
302 NYY $133,300 ($23,300) 99.9%
303 SEA $133,000 ($23,600) 99.8%
304 STL $132,800 ($23,800) 99.8%
305 DET $132,600 ($24,000) 99.8%
306 SFG $132,500 ($24,100) 99.9%
307 NYM $132,300 ($24,300) 99.8%
308 BAL $132,100 ($24,500) 99.8%
309 TOR $131,800 ($24,800) 99.8%
310 LAD $131,600 ($25,000) 99.8%
311 BOS $131,400 ($25,200) 99.8%
312 CLE $131,300 ($25,300) 99.9%
313 WAS $131,300 ($25,300) 100.0%
314 TEX $131,300 ($25,300) 100.0%
315 CHC $131,300 ($25,300) 100.0%

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