Baseball America posted the bonus pool information for both the amateur draft and the international pool. The draft pool is just a rough figure at this time, as the Pirates final draft placement hasn’t been decided for any round. The international pool won’t change.
For the draft pool, Yovani Gallardo, Ian Desmond and Dexter Fowler all are unsigned at this point. Since they all got qualifying offers, their 2015 club will get a compensation pick, assuming they sign before the draft and they don’t re-sign with their original team. That could negatively affect any pick after the first round, depending on who signs them. The Pirates first round pick is #24 now, but could end up as high as #21 if three teams with unprotected first round picks sign those players.
Baseball America places the Pirates’ 2016 draft bonus pool at $6,945,400 right now, and their final total will end up in that general area. Last year, the Pirates had a $7,392,200 bonus pool, so they lost over $400,000 by finishing higher in the standings. That’s even with a 4.6% increase in the value of each pick through the first ten rounds.
The international pool will be $2,044,800, which is $67,100 less than last year. The 2016 signing period starts on July 2nd and runs through June 15, 2017. Only the St Louis Cardinals have a lower bonus pool, as they were the only team with a better record than the Pirates in 2015. With the known signing bonus amounts, the Pirates have spent $1,495,000 on international signings this current signing period, though they have signed multiple players who haven’t had their bonus announced yet. This current signing period ends on June 15th.
