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Where the Pirates Currently Stand with Their Draft Bonus Pool

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Jim Callis announced the bonus signing for eighth round draft pick Blake Weiman on Wednesday morning. He was the last signed top ten pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who we didn’t have a bonus for last night. Weiman received a $150,000 bonus, which is $10,700 under his slot amount. Our draft tracker has been updated and I wanted to take a quick look at where the Pirates stand right now.

The Pirates have three remaining picks in the top ten round who aren’t signed yet. That group includes 42nd overall pick, Steven Jennings, who has a $1,635,500 slot amount. There is also 3rd round pick Dylan Busby ($626,600) and sixth rounder Cody Bolton ($255,900).

Bolton and Jennings have indicated that they will sign, and Busby is in the College World Series right now, so we won’t hear about his signing for about a week after that tournament ends for FSU. Jennings is in fact on his way to Pittsburgh today, so we should hear about his signing tonight or tomorrow.

Right now the Pirates have spent $7,257,300 of their bonus pool, which leaves them with $2,878,600 for those three remaining picks. That also leaves them with $360,600 for over-slot deals. Bolton should receive an over-slot deal, while Jennings and Busby should be around slot. That total doesn’t include the 5% teams are allowed to go over their pool before receiving a severe penalty, which includes loss of future draft picks. If you include that money, then the Pirates have $867,395 left.

We have heard about players like 19th round pick Jake Webb agreeing to sign, as well as 16th round pick Hunter Stratton. Webb is a prep player, so he would likely require more than $125,000 to sign, though that might be enough for him to sign when you include the fact the Pirates would cover his college costs if he decides to go that route once baseball is over. Stratton as a JuCo player also had some leverage in his negotiations, so he could be in the same category.

We will have a better idea once the bonus for Jennings is announced, and possibly anyone else today. We haven’t heard any over-slot bonuses after the tenth round yet, but it’s possible 12th round pick Tristan Gray required more to sign. Sit tight and we should find out more later today.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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