The 2018 MLB Draft kicks off with Rounds 1 and 2 tonight, and it remains the single most important event of the year for the long-term health of a baseball organization.
And that may go double for a team like the Cubs, who happen to pick FOUR times tonight – 24th (1st round), 62nd (2nd round), 77th (compensation for Wade Davis signing with the Rockies) and 78th (compensation for Jake Arrieta signing with the Phillies). After having zero picks in the top 100 two years ago and trading away a number of top prospects over the last three seasons, you can bet the Cubs front office is is dying to get these picks right tonight.
So here’s how it all works in case you forgot …
The Bonus Pool
Teams are assigned a “pool” of dollars that they can use to sign players. The pool is based on the “slot” value of each of the team’s picks in the first 10 rounds (each pick in the Draft is given a certain value, and each of a team’s picks’ values are added up to determine the pool amount). You can sign the players for more or less than their individual slot value, but the total of your bonuses has to stay under the bonus pool amount, lest you incur penalties (discussed below).
Picks after the 10th round have no slot value attached to them, but the amount of a bonus over $125,000 for a pick in those rounds does count against the pool (i.e., if you sign a 15th rounder for $200,000, then $75,000 will count against your pool).
The Slot Values
The individual slot values for the first round picks are as follows:
- Tigers – $8,096,300
- Giants – $7,494,600
- Phillies – $6,947,500
- White Sox – $6,411,400
- Reds – $5,946,400
- Mets – $5,525,200
- Padres – $5,226,500
- Braves – $4,980,700
- Athletics – $4,761,500
- Pirates – $4,560,200
- Orioles – $4,375,100
- Blue Jays – $4,200,900
- Marlins – $4,038,200
- Mariners – $3,883,800
- Rangers – $3,738,500
- Rays – $3,603,500
- Angels – $3,472,900
- Royals – $3,349,300
- Cardinals – $3,231,700
- Twins – $3,120,000
- Brewers – $3,013,600
- Rockies – $2,912,300
- Yankees – $2,815,900
- Chicago Cubs – $2,724,000
- Diamondbacks – $2,636,400
- Red Sox – $2,552,800
- Nationals – $2,472,700
- Astros – $2,399,400
- Indians – $2,332,700
- Dodgers – $2,275,800
If you’d like to see the rest of the individual bonus slots for every team, head over to Baseball America.
The rest of the Cubs picks have the following bonus pool slots:
Total Bonus Pool for the Cubs: $7,491,700 (20th highest in MLB)
The Penalties
Those bonus pools and slot values matter because if a team exceeds its bonus pool, it is subject to penalties.
Note: If a team fails to sign a player, the slot value from that pick is removed from the bonus pool. This is why you’ll see teams heavily taking college seniors in the 6 to 10 round range: the team can sign those players for $1,000 to $10,000, and “save” money to be applied elsewhere in the Draft.
Note II: Picks after the 10th round have no slot value (and you don’t lose any bonus pool money for failing to sign them), but any amount given to them in excess of $125,000 (up from $100,000 two years ago) counts against the bonus pool.
As for the penalties: Any team that exceeds its pool by 0 to 5% must pay a 75% tax on the amount of the overage. Any team that exceeds its pool by more than 5% but less than 10% must pay a 75% tax on the amount of the overage AND loses a first round draft pick next year. Any team that exceeds its pool by more than 10% but less than 15% must pay a 100% tax on the amount of the overage AND loses a first round draft pick next year AND loses a second round draft pick next year. Any team that exceeds its pool by more than 15% must pay a 100% tax on the amount of the overage AND lose a first round draft pick in each of the next TWO drafts.
Given that penalty structure, it was unsurprising to see the Cubs gladly exceed their pool the last few years, but by an amount less than 5% over the pool. Assuming they’re willing to pay the tax again this year (they will be), you can think of the Cubs’ bonus pool as closer to $ 7,866,285.
For more on each individual slot value and total bonus pools for every team, visit this article at Baseball America or this one from MLB.com. We also have all the slot values for every pick going tonight at the bottom of this post.
The Schedule
The Coverage
Coverage begins with the draft preview show on MLB Network and MLB.com at 5pm CT. Then, full coverage from MLB Network’s Studio 42 begins at 6pm CT, with Round 1 and Competitive Balance Round A (picks 1-43) broadcast on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com. Picks 44-78 (Round 2, Competitive Balance Round B and second-round compensation picks) will be streamed on MLB.com. All rounds can be viewed live here.
We’ll have all of the Cubs’ picks covered here at BN, of course, if you don’t want to watch the stream yourself. It’s annually a tough but fun stretch of hours for us each day, so we hope you enjoy the fast-paced coverage, and we’ll do our best to keep up with whatever we can find on the picks.
The Order
First Round
- Detroit Tigers – Slot value: $8,096,300
- San Francisco Giants – Slot value: $7,494,600
- Philadelphia Phillies – Slot value: $6,947,500
- Chicago White Sox – Slot value: $6,411,400
- Cincinnati Reds – Slot value: $5,946,400
- New York Mets – Slot value: $5,525,200
- San Diego Padres – Slot value: $5,226,500
- Atlanta Braves – Slot value: $4,980,700
- Oakland Athletics – Slot value: $4,761,500
- Pittsburgh Pirates – Slot value: $4,560,200
- Baltimore Orioles – Slot value: $4,375,100
- Toronto Blue Jays – Slot value: $4,200,900
- Miami Marlins – Slot value: $4,038,200
- Seattle Mariners – Slot value: $3,883,300
- Texas Rangers – Slot value: $3,738,500
- Tampa Bay Rays – Slot value: $3,603,500
- Los Angeles Angels – Slot value: $3,472,900
- Kansas City Royals – Slot value: $3,349,300
- St. Louis Cardinals – Slot value: $3,231,700
- Minnesota Twins – Slot value: $3,120,000
- Milwaukee Brewers – Slot value: $3,013,600
- Colorado Rockies – Slot value: $2,912,300
- New York Yankees – Slot value: $2,815,900
- Chicago Cubs – Slot value: $2,724,000
- Arizona Diamondbacks – Slot value: $2,636,400
- Boston Red Sox – Slot value: $2,552,800
- Washington Nationals – Slot value: $2,472,700
- Houston Astros – Slot value: $2,399,400
- Cleveland Indians – Slot value: $2,332,700
- Los Angeles Dodgers – Slot value: $2,275,800
Compensation picks
- Tampa Bay Rays – $2,224,400
- Tampa Bay Rays – $2,171,700
- Kansas City Royals – $2,118,700
- Kansas City Royals – $2,066,700
- Cleveland Indians – $2,016,400
Competitive Balance Round A
- Pittsburgh Pirates – $1,967,900
- Baltimore Orioles – $1,923,500
- San Diego Padres – $1,878,300
- Arizona Diamondbacks – $1,834,500
- Kansas City Royals – $1,786,300
- Cleveland Indians – $1,744,800
- Colorado Rockies – $1,704,000
- St. Louis Cardinals – $1,664,200
Second Round
- Detroit Tigers – $1,625,500
- San Francisco Giants – $1,587,600
- Chicago White Sox – $1,556,100
- Cincinnati Reds – $1,520,300
- New York Mets – $1,485,100
- Atlanta Braves – $1,450,500
- Oakland Athletics – $1,414,200
- Pittsburgh Pirates – $1,382,400
- Toronto Blue Jays – $1,350,000
- Miami Marlins – $1,318,500
- Seattle Mariners – $1,287,800
- Texas Rangers – $1,257,500
- Tampa Bay Rays – $1,228,000
- Los Angeles Angels – $1,196,500
- Kansas City Royals – $1,168,300
- Minnesota Twins – $1,140,600
- Milwaukee Brewers – $1,113,500
- New York Yankees – $1,086,900
- Chicago Cubs – $1,060,900
- Arizona Diamondbacks – $1,035,500
- Boston Red Sox – $1,010,500
- Washington Nationals – $986,200
- Houston Astros – $965,300
- Cleveland Indians – $939,700
- Los Angeles Dodgers – $917,000
Competitive Balance Round B
- Miami Marlins – $894,600
- Oakland Athletics – $872,400
- Tampa Bay Rays – $850,700
- Cincinnati Reds – $837,700
- Milwaukee Brewers – $824,900
- San Diego Padres – $812,200
Compensation picks
- St. Louis Cardinals – $799,600
- Colorado Rockies – $787,200
- Chicago Cubs – $775,100
- Chicago Cubs – $762,900
See you tonight.
Brett Taylor contributed to this post.