2016-17 International Bonus Pools
Teams received their international bonus pool allotments from the commissioner’s office for the 2016-17 signing period, which begins on July 2.
The pools are determined based on reverse order of major league winning percentage in 2015, so teams already knew roughly what their pool would be based on last year’s pool allotments. The Phillies have the highest bonus pool ($5,610,800) after finishing with the worst record, while the Cardinals have the lowest pool ($2,027,300) for having the best record. Each bonus pool is increased around 3-4 percent from last year.
Several teams, however, will be restricted in how they can spend their pool space. As a penalty for exceeding their pools in previous signing periods, there are 10 teams so far that are officially in the penalty box for the 2016-17 signing period and will be unable to sign a player subject to the pools for more than $300,000. Those teams—the Angels, Blue Jays, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Rays, Red Sox, Royals and Yankees—can still spend their entire pool allotment, they just can’t give more than $300,000 to one player.
Players are exempt from the bonus pools if they are at least 23 and have played at least five seasons in a foreign professional league, such as Cuban outfielder Guillermo Heredia or infielder Luis Yander La O, so those restrictions don’t apply to those players or the teams penalized for exceeding their pools.
At least four teams—the Braves, Cardinals, Nationals and Padres—are planning to exceed their 2016-17 bonus pools, and others might also join them.
| Club | International |
| Phillies | $5,610,800 |
| Reds | $5,163,400 |
| Braves | $4,766,000 |
| Rockies | $4,412,700 |
| Brewers | $4,098,500 |
| Athletics | $3,818,700 |
| Marlins | $3,569,600 |
| Padres | $3,347,600 |
| Tigers | $3,150,000 |
| White Sox | $2,973,500 |
| Mariners | $2,875,400 |
| Red Sox | $2,783,800 |
| Diamondbacks | $2,697,400 |
| Rays | $2,615,900 |
| Orioles | $2,539,600 |
| Indians | $2,467,400 |
| Twins | $2,399,100 |
| Nationals | $2,335,000 |
| Giants | $2,274,400 |
| Angels | $2,217,300 |
| Astros | $2,197,000 |
| Yankees | $2,177,100 |
| Rangers | $2,157,400 |
| Mets | $2,138,200 |
| Dodgers | $2,118,900 |
| Blue Jays | $2,100,200 |
| Royals | $2,081,200 |
| Cubs | $2,063,100 |
| Pirates | $2,044,800 |
| Cardinals | $2,027,300 |
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