The Royals will have $15,954,000 to spend on draftees this summer, the sixth-largest draft bonus pool in baseball. The Pirates will have the most money to spend, with a record pool of $19,130,700. The Royals benefit from being selected for the sixth pick through the MLB Draft lottery, the measure instituted to discourage tanking.
The MLB Draft bonus pool is essentially a capped spending system that limits how much each team can spend on signing its draft picks. Each draft slot position is assigned a dollar value, and the slot values for the first ten rounds are added to comprise each team’s “bonus pool.” The Royals will also receive a Competitive Balance pick in Round A due to being a small market team. They will pick sixth only in the first round, the remaining rounds are determined by reverse order of last year’s standings.
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1st round (#6 overall) – $7,746,100
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Competitive Balance Round A (#30) – $3,190,500
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2nd round (#56) – $1,721,700
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3rd round (#91) – $872,900
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4th round (#119) – $651,500
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5th round (#151) – $476,900
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6th round (#180) – $367,600
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7th round (#209) – $289,900
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8th round (#239) – $233,400
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9th round (#269) – $207,900
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10th round (#299) – $195,600
Teams that exceed their bonus pool face a penalty. Clubs that outspend their allotment by 0-5 percent pay a 75 percent tax on the overage. At higher thresholds, teams lose future selections: 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.
Teams are not required to spend the slot value on a particular draft pick, but can allocate the bonus pool as they see fit. Many teams will skimp on some picks, in order to offer other picks money well over slot. If a player does not sign, the team loses that bonus slot value from their pool. You can find complete slot values and each team’s bonus pool here.
The 2026 MLB Draft will begin on July 11-12 in Philadelphia as part of the All-Star Week celebrations.
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