Details on Blue Jays’ Bonus Pools for 2025 Draft, 2026 International Signing Period

This week, Major League Baseball released bonus pool allocations and pick values for the 2025 MLB Draft. Additionally, MLB released international signing bonus pools for the 2026 signing period.

The Blue Jays finished the 2024 season with the seventh-worst record in MLB. They were victims of some poor draft lottery luck, falling to the eighth spot in the first round. This might not seem impactful, but that’s a loss of around $336,300. That matters when you have limited financial and pick flexibility. The Jays will have the 20th-largest bonus pool overall, at $10,314,600.

The Blue Jays' top 100 picks and slot values are as follows:

• Slot value for pick 8: $6,813,600
• Slot value for pick 81: $993,900

The Blue Jays forfeited their second-round pick for signing Anthony Santander, who received a qualifying offer from the Orioles.

Their financial and pick inflexibility puts the Jays in a challenging position ahead of a draft class shaping up to be uncertain in terms of top-tier talent, but with plenty of depth through around 75 picks, with prep bats a demographic of strength.

Reminders on Draft Financials

Organizations are allowed to spend up to 5% more than their total pool without incurring a penalty, a choice many teams take advantage of. The Twins and the Rockies are the only MLB teams that have never spent any overage on their bonus pool.

Any amount up to 5% over the pool is met with a 75% tax on the overage. If a team spends between 5-10% more than their pool, the penalty is 75% tax on the overage and loss of a future first-rounder. Any team that exceeds their bonus pool by more than 10% and up to 15% pays 100% tax on the overage and will lose a first and second-round future pick. Any team that exceeds their bonus pool by more than 15% loses two future first-round picks in addition to paying 100% tax on the overage.

Rounds 11-20 work differently from the first half of the draft. Picks in these rounds do not come with an assigned slot value. Teams can spend up to $150,000 per pick without that spending coming out of their bonus pool. If they spend over that amount, any overage will be deducted from their bonus pool. For example, an 11th-round pick signing for $250,000 will result in $100,000 being subtracted from that team’s bonus pool. 

MLB Announces 2026 International Bonus Pools

MLB also announced bonus pools for the 2026 international signing period today. The 2026 signing window opens on January 15th, 2026 and runs through December 15th, 2026.

The Blue Jays are in a group of three teams (which also includes the Red Sox) that have the joint second smallest bonus pools. The Blue Jays can spend $5,940,000 in the 2026 international signing window.

Check out our 2026 mock draft board, updated regularly, and with detailed player write-ups!