Baseball America reported Thursday that Major League Baseball has sent out information to all 30 teams detailing the signing bonus pools for June’s Draft and the 2015-16 International Free Agent signing period.
The Cubs have the ninth overall pick in the First Year Player Draft and have the 14th highest bonus pool for the draft. The Cubs have the eighth highest pool to spend on International Free Agent bonus eligible players and are expected to be very aggressive during the next International signing period.
According to John Manuel’s report, “the industry revenue growth of 8.77 percent is reflected in the increased bonus pools.” The information acquired by Baseball America did not provide individual slot allotments but “does reflect a total of $223,834,500, which would be the largest outlay in the four-year history of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).”
According to Baseball America, the Cubs will have $7,236,100 to spend on the first 10 rounds of June’s Draft, which is $34,000 less than Jonathan Mayo’s estimated bonus pool from earlier in the month. Mayo projected the Cubs would have around $7,270,100 for the first 10 picks in the 2015 Draft and $3,366,700 for the ninth overall pick in the first round.
The Astros have the largest bonus pool for June’s Draft of $17,289,200 because Houston did not sign LHP Brady Aiken and have five picks in the first 79 selections.
On the International side, the Cubs will have $3,230,700 to spend on amateur players that are signing bonus pool eligible. Multiple reports have pointed to the Cubs overspending during the next International signing period that begins on July 2. The Cubs will not be restricted to signing players for $250,000 or less during the new J2 signing period.
The Diamondbacks, Yankees, Angels and Red Sox cannot sign a bonus pool eligible player for more than $300,000 for the next two International signing periods. The four teams spent more than 15 percent of their team’s bonus pool during the current signing period that ends on June 15.
- 2015 MLB Draft Order
- 2015 MLB Draft Bonus Pools – Baseball America
- 2015-16 MLB International Bonus Pools – Baseball America
The Cubs have the ninth overall pick in the first round of June’s draft (June 8-10) and the No. 47 overall pick in the second round. The Cubs third round pick is No. 82 overall and the fourth round selection is No. 122 overall.
The Cubs selected C Kyle Schwarber, RHP Jake Stinnett and C/OF Mark Zagunis with the first three picks in last year’s draft. The team’s signing bonus pool for the first 10 rounds of the 2014 draft was $8,352,200 million.
The front office spent $8,764,000 million on 12 picks in last year’s draft, $411,000 over the signing bonus pool allotment for the 2014 draft. The Cubs signed each of the first 22 picks and 27 of the 40 players that Jason McLeod and his staff selected last June.
Baseball America: Draft pools cover the top 10 rounds and any bonuses over $100,000 given to players taken in the final 30 rounds, starting with round 11. If a player selected in the first 10 rounds doesn’t sign, his assigned value is subtracted from his team’s pool.
Baseball America: MLB taxes clubs that exceed their draft pools by 0-5 percent with a 75 percent tax on the overage. The higher the overage, the more severe the penalties, so severe that no team has gone over the five percent threshold. Going over by more than five percent and up to 10 percent would result in forfeiture of a first-round pick and a 75 percent tax. From over 10 percent to 15 percent, it’s a 100 percent tax and forfeiture of first- and second-round picks. Clubs would lose two first round picks and incur a 100 percent tax if they went over by more than 15 percent.