We don’t know the exact date of the 2020 amateur draft yet or whether or not MLB will have more than five rounds, but we know that the Pittsburgh Pirates will have the fifth highest bonus pool.
MLB Pipeline released the figures for all 30 teams and the Pirates have the fifth highest pool with $11,154,500 to spend on the first five rounds. If the draft goes to ten rounds, the Pirates will have $12,191,300 and still remain with the fifth highest pool. The Pirates have the seventh overall pick this year, but they also have the 31st pick as a competitive balance pick, which moves them up two spots higher in the draft pool rankings.
Here are the slot values of the first five rounds for the Pirates, along with the spot where they make their selections:
7th: $5,432,400
31st: $2,312,000
44th: $1,689,500
79th: $780,400
108th: $538,200
138th: $402,000
MLB recently decided to keep the same bonus slot amounts as last year. They also noted that the draft will take place some time between the originally scheduled June 10th date and July 20th, which will be the latest possible date. The amount of rounds still has to be decided, will five rounds being the absolute lowest, while the normal 40 rounds hasn’t been completely ruled out yet (but it’s more likely going to be 5-10 rounds). What has been decided already is that NDFA players will be limited to $20,000 signing bonuses, down from $125,000 in the past. If the draft is 5-10 rounds, then that will really limit the amount of college juniors and high school players signed after the fifth/tenth round. College senior signings almost always received less than $20,000 due to a lack of negotiating leverage, so they aren’t affected.
