Image credit:
Rob Manfred (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

MLB sent clubs the slot values and bonus pools for the 2026 draft today. They come with a 2.5% increase from the 2025 draft.

That means the slot value for the White Sox first overall pick is $11,350,600, while the Pirates (thanks to a supplemental first round pick and second round compensation pick on top of the fifth overall pick) boast the largest total bonus pool ever at $19,130,700.

You can see each team’s total bonus pool in the table below:

TeamBonus PoolPirates$19,130,700Rays$19,009,300White Sox$17,592,100Twins$16,929,600Cardinals$16,612,300Royals$15,954,000Braves$15,870,800Rockies$15,557,600Giants$14,080,400Athletics$13,840,300Astros$13,712,700D-backs$13,603,100Orioles$13,114,000Guardians$12,573,900Nationals$12,278,300Marlins$11,960,100Angels$11,755,400Reds$10,758,500Rangers$10,219,200Cubs$9,644,100Padres$9,479,000Tigers$9,165,100Red Sox$8,219,200Mariners$8,218,200Brewers$8,042,900Phillies$7,773,000Yankees$7,342,800Mets$6,730,900Blue Jays$5,543,100Dodgers$3,951,900

How Slot Values Are Determined

The slot values for the draft are determined each year by matching growth in revenues in baseball. The 2.5% increase this year is a smaller figure than has become typical. A year ago slot values came with a 4.8% increase, while the increase from the 2023 to 2024 draft was 8.7%.

The No. 1 overall pick the White Sox have in 2026 is assigned a $11,350,600 value. In 2025 the first overall pick had a slot value of $11,075,900.

Ethan Holliday signed the largest bonus in the 2025 draft, at $9 million, and the overall draft bonus record is still the $9.25 million that both Chase Burns and Charlie Condon signed for in 2024 as the second and third overall picks. That leaves just over $2.1 million in wiggle room for a player—perhaps consensus 1-1 candidate Roch Cholowsky—to sign for a bonus record and still not earn a full slot. 

Breaking Down The Largest & Smallest Bonus Pools

No team will have more money to work with in this year’s draft than the Pirates. That’s always a benefit no matter the class, but it could be particularly crucial in 2026, given how much scouts and teams praise the high-quality depth of this year’s class. The Pirates pick fifth overall in the first round, at No. 34 overall in the supplemental first round, at No. 44 overall in the second round, then once again at No. 51 in the middle of the second round—which is compensation for not signing 2025 second-rounder Angel Cervantes.

While the Pirates have the most money to spend, the Rays aren’t that far behind with the second-largest bonus pool at $19,009,300. Their second overall pick comes with a slot value of $10,507,000, and they also have a supplemental first round pick at No. 33 (acquired from the Orioles in the Shane Bax trade) and then all of their typical picks in rounds 2-10. Tampa Bay was slated to pick in the supplemental second round this year, but they traded that pick (No. 72) to the Cardinals in a three-team trade along with the Mariners that sent Brendan Donovan to Seattle.

The White Sox have the third-largest bonus pool even with the first overall pick. They have no extra picks but do maintain each of their usual picks in rounds 2-10, where they will be picking second after the Rockies in each round.

The Cardinals have the fifth-largest bonus pool at $16,612,300, but they’re an interesting team to be aware of because that pool is an outsized amount given where they pick in the first round. They don’t pick until the 13th pick, but they have more pool money than every team in front of them except for the White Sox (1st), Rays (2nd), Twins (3rd) and Pirates (5th). That bonus pool capital could allow for greater creativity or leverage to slide players further down the board than expected. 

The Cardinals also pick at No. 32 with their own supplemental first round pick and acquired a pair of supplemental second round picks (Nos. 68 and 72) from the Mariners and Rays in the three-team trade that sent Brendan Donovan to Seattle. This year they have six picks inside the top 100.

The Dodgers have far and away the smallest bonus pool to work with at $3,951,900. It’s become commonplace for the Dodgers to pick at the back of the first round, and they’ve also had their first round pick drop 10 spots in back-to-back drafts for exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the CBA. 

On top of that, the Dodgers lost their second and fifth round picks for signing Edwin Diaz and their third and sixth round picks for signing Kyle Tucker. Signing free agents with qualified offers comes with draft pick losses, and the Dodgers doubled down this year. That leaves them with just one pick in the first 130 selections, two picks in the first 220 selections and just six total picks in the first 10 rounds. The Dodgers pick at No. 40, then in rounds four and 7-10 with the final pick in each round. 

The Blue Jays, Mets, Yankees and Phillies are the other four teams who had their first round picks drop 10 spots. And those teams bring up the bottom of the bonus pool pecking order after the Dodgers. 

Slot Values For 2026

In the MLB draft, each pick inside the first 10 rounds comes with assigned slot values. The sum of those slot values creates each team’s bonus pool. From rounds 11-20, players can sign for up to $150,000 without counting towards the bonus pool. Anything beyond that value does count towards the pool. 

Teams are free to sign players for more than an assigned slot value or less than an assigned slot value, though going over a bonus pool comes with penalties. Most teams spend up to 5% more than their allotted pool, but exceeding the 5% overage comes with said pick penalties. So far in the bonus pool era, no team has yet been willing to go over that 5% threshold and incur the penalty.

Below you can see the complete list of slot values for each pick in the draft:

PickRoundTeamSlot Value11White Sox$11,350,60021Rays$10,507,00031Twins$9,740,10041Giants$8,988,40051Pirates$8,336,50061Royals$7,746,10071Orioles$7,327,20081Athletics$6,982,60091Braves$6,675,300101Rockies$6,393,100111Nationals$6,133,500121Angels$5,889,300131Cardinals$5,661,300141Marlins$5,444,900151D-backs$5,241,000161Rangers$5,051,900171Astros$4,868,600181Reds$4,695,500191Guardians$4,530,500201Red Sox$4,373,900211Padres$4,224,700221Tigers$4,082,700231Cubs$3,947,600241Mariners$3,818,700251Brewers$3,696,00026PPIBraves$3,578,800271Mets$3,466,50028PPIAstros$3,363,60029CB-AGuardians$3,270,20030CB-ARoyals$3,190,50031CB-AD-backs$3,118,30032CB-ACardinals$3,044,60033CB-ARays$2,970,20034CB-APirates$2,897,400351Yankees$2,826,700361Phillies$2,758,80037CB-ARockies$2,696,700382Rockies$2,633,100391Blue Jays$2,571,700401Dodgers$2,504,200412White Sox$2,446,100422Nationals$2,388,800432Twins$2,333,200442Pirates$2,278,700452Angels$2,225,800462Orioles$2,181,600472Athletics$2,131,300482Braves$2,081,900492Rays$2,033,400502Cardinals$1,982,70051SUP-2Pirates$1,938,100522Marlins$1,892,500532D-backs$1,848,200542Rangers$1,805,300552Giants$1,763,000562Royals$1,721,700572Astros$1,677,400582Reds$1,637,700592Guardians$1,598,900602Padres$1,561,000612Tigers$1,523,600622Cubs$1,487,200632Yankees$1,451,700642Phillies$1,416,600652Mariners$1,382,600662Brewers$1,353,10067CB-BRed Sox$1,317,30068CB-BCardinals$1,285,50069CB-BTigers$1,254,20070CB-BReds$1,223,10071CB-BMarlins$1,192,60072CB-BCardinals$1,174,30073CB-BAthletics$1,156,40074CB-BTwins$1,138,600752-CCubs$1,120,900763Rockies$1,103,500773White Sox$1,086,600783Nationals$1,069,600793Twins$1,052,700803Pirates$1,035,700813Angels$1,018,500823Orioles$1,003,800833Athletics$988,700843Braves$973,700853Rays$958,500863Cardinals$943,600873Marlins$929,700883D-backs$915,100893Rangers$900,800903Giants$887,000913Royals$872,900923Mets$859,900933Astros$846,900943Reds$833,800953Guardians$823,800963Red Sox$815,700973Padres$808,100983Cubs$800,000993Yankees$792,3001003Phillies$784,4001013Mariners$778,2001023Brewers$770,6001033Blue Jays$762,9001044Rockies$755,3001054White Sox$747,7001064Nationals$740,5001074Twins$733,1001084Pirates$725,9001094Angels$718,7001104Orioles$711,8001114Athletics$704,9001124Braves$697,7001134Rays$691,0001144Cardinals$684,3001154Marlins$677,5001164D-backs$670,9001174Rangers$664,5001184Giants$658,1001194Royals$651,5001204Mets$645,1001214Astros$638,8001224Reds$632,5001234Guardians$626,5001244Padres$620,3001254Tigers$614,5001264Cubs$609,2001274Yankees$603,5001284Phillies$597,4001294Mariners$591,7001304Brewers$585,7001314Blue Jays$581,1001324Dodgers$575,3001334-CAstros$569,6001344-CPadres$563,9001354-CPhillies$558,4001365Rockies$553,1001375White Sox$547,7001385Nationals$542,2001395Twins$536,9001405Pirates$532,0001415Angels$526,6001425Orioles$521,5001435Athletics$516,3001445Braves$511,4001455Rays$506,1001465Cardinals$501,3001475Marlins$496,4001485D-backs$491,7001495Rangers$486,8001505Giants$481,8001515Royals$476,9001525Mets$472,5001535Astros$467,7001545Reds$463,2001555Guardians$458,5001565Red Sox$454,1001575Padres$449,5001585Tigers$445,2001595Cubs$441,3001605Yankees$437,2001615Phillies$433,2001625Mariners$429,1001635Brewers$425,4001645Blue Jays$421,3001656Rockies$417,4001666White Sox$413,9001676Nationals$410,3001686Twins$406,8001696Pirates$403,5001706Angels$399,8001716Orioles$396,3001726Athletics$393,1001736Braves$389,9001746Rays$386,5001756Cardinals$383,4001766Marlins$380,2001776D-backs$377,0001786Rangers$373,8001796Giants$370,6001806Royals$367,6001816Mets$364,6001826Astros$361,9001836Reds$358,9001846Guardians$355,7001856Red Sox$352,9001866Padres$350,1001876Tigers$347,3001886Cubs$344,4001896Yankees$341,8001906Phillies$338,8001916Mariners$335,9001926Brewers$333,2001936Blue Jays$330,3001947Rockies$327,7001957White Sox$325,1001967Nationals$322,3001977Twins$319,6001987Pirates$317,1001997Angels$314,3002007Orioles$311,7002017Athletics$310,0002027Braves$307,3002037Rays$304,8002047Cardinals$302,3002057Marlins$299,7002067D-backs$297,1002077Rangers$294,8002087Giants$292,3002097Royals$289,9002107Mets$287,8002117Astros$285,4002127Reds$283,0002137Guardians$280,9002147Red Sox$278,7002157Padres$276,4002167Tigers$274,3002177Cubs$272,0002187Yankees$270,0002197Phillies$267,8002207Mariners$266,1002217Brewers$264,1002227Blue Jays$262,3002237Dodgers$260,3002248Rockies$258,4002258White Sox$256,5002268Nationals$254,9002278Twins$253,3002288Pirates$251,5002298Angels$249,3002308Orioles$247,9002318Athletics$245,8002328Braves$244,5002338Rays$242,7002348Cardinals$241,0002358Marlins$239,2002368D-backs$237,8002378Rangers$236,1002388Giants$234,7002398Royals$233,4002408Mets$232,1002418Astros$231,0002428Reds$229,7002438Guardians$228,6002448Red Sox$227,2002458Padres$226,3002468Tigers$225,3002478Cubs$224,1002488Yankees$223,1002498Phillies$222,2002508Mariners$220,9002518Brewers$220,4002528Blue Jays$219,5002538Dodgers$218,5002549Rockies$217,8002559White Sox$217,0002569Nationals$216,1002579Twins$215,4002589Pirates$214,8002599Angels$213,9002609Orioles$213,3002619Athletics$212,6002629Braves$212,0002639Rays$211,2002649Cardinals$210,6002659Marlins$210,2002669D-backs$209,5002679Rangers$209,0002689Giants$208,5002699Royals$207,9002709Mets$207,2002719Astros$206,8002729Reds$206,3002739Guardians$205,8002749Red Sox$205,4002759Padres$205,0002769Tigers$204,4002779Cubs$204,1002789Yankees$203,5002799Phillies$202,9002809Mariners$202,7002819Brewers$202,5002829Blue Jays$202,1002839Dodgers$201,70028410Rockies$201,50028510White Sox$200,90028610Nationals$200,10028710Twins$199,90028810Pirates$199,50028910Angels$199,20029010Orioles$198,90029110Athletics$198,60029210Braves$198,30029310Rays$197,90029410Cardinals$197,40029510Marlins$197,20029610D-backs$196,50029710Rangers$196,20029810Giants$196,00029910Royals$195,60030010Mets$195,20030110Astros$195,00030210Reds$194,80030310Guardians$194,50030410Red Sox$194,00030510Padres$193,70030610Tigers$193,60030710Cubs$193,30030810Yankees$193,00030910Phillies$192,50031010Mariners$192,30031110Brewers$191,90031210Blue Jays$191,90031310Dodgers$191,900