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Amid potential large-scale change to the MLB draft, this year’s class of selections are reaching deals for unprecedented signing bonuses.
Less than two weeks after the July 11 draft in Philadelphia, 18 of the top 20 picks have already signed contracts with MLB clubs, and the deals include a series of league records. Among them:
- A $10.35 million signing bonus for UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the No. 1 overall pick by the White Sox. The agreement sets an MLB record, beating the $9.25 million deals for the Reds’ Chase Burns and the Rockies’ Charlie Condon in 2024, and is the league’s first signing bonus to reach eight figures. Cholowsky’s signing bonus also surpasses the $8.2 million that the Nationals’ Eli Willits received last year as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 MLB draft.
- A $9.75 million signing bonus for Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson, selected at No. 2 by the Rays. The deal is the largest ever for any high school player, and only trails Cholowsky in MLB history for any selection.
- A $9.5 million signing bonus for Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, selected at No. 3 by the Twins, in a deal that is the highest in MLB history outside of the pacts for Cholowsky and Emerson.
The likelihood for historic deals with MLB draft picks was sealed in early April, when the league finalized a $358.7 total signing bonus pool that grew 2.5% from 2025. The pool is tied to overall league revenue, which also continues to rise.
Despite the robust spending, only three picks in the top 20 have signed deals at or above the recommended slot value for that draft position, as teams sought to save money to strike larger deals with lower-round selections. That’s particularly proven true for the draft’s second round, where 15 selections have already signed over-slot deals.
Teams have some latitude to go above or below recommended signing bonuses, with significant penalties such as stripped draft picks beginning when a club exceeds its aggregate bonus pool by more than 5%. The signing deadline for this year’s draft selections is July 27.
Changing Times
The entire structure of the MLB draft, and these signing bonuses, could be radically altered beginning next year as amateur entry into professional baseball has been a key early flashpoint in fractious labor talks between MLB and the MLB Players Association.
Management has proposed severe cutbacks to the draft system, including a reduction of the 20-round event to 12 rounds, a removal of draft eligibility for U.S.-born teenagers, the creation of a hard-slot system, and a cut by nearly half of the overall signing bonus pool to around $200 million.
The union is strongly rejecting that, and this week not only proposed to retain much of the current format, but return the draft to its traditional June scheduling.
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