2017 MLB Draft: Dodgers’ bonus pool is just shy of $5.8 million

The MLB Draft is here, and over the next few weeks the number to continually track is the Dodgers’ bonus pool.

The bonus pool is derived from the sum of the allotted slot values of every pick in the first 10 rounds. This year, with no compensatory picks or trade competitive balance picks, the Dodgers’ draft is pretty normal. 40 picks for 40 rounds, including 10 picks in the first 10 rounds.

That means a lower bonus pool in 2017, compared to 2016. We looked back in March at the slot estimates from Baseball America, but now the actual numbers are out, per MLB.com.

The Dodgers’ first pick, No. 23 overall, has a slot value of $2,702,700, which because the draft is top heavy accounts for nearly half of the Dodgers’ entire bonus pool of $5,794,200.

In 2016, with a pair of compensatory picks, the Dodgers’ total bonus pool was $9,336,500.

The way the bonus pool works is that if a team doesn’t sign one of its picks in the first 10 rounds, they don’t get to use that slot amount.

Every signing bonus in the first 10 rounds counts against the bonus pool, and for Rounds 11-40 any bonus amount above $125,000 also counts against the pool. This is up from $100,000 in the new collective bargaining agreement.

In addition, the Dodgers previously had some bizarre loophole that allowed them to not count $2,500 of each signing bonus against their bonus pool, but with the new CBA that glitch in the matrix has been erased.

Here is a breakdown of the Dodgers’ 2017 draft bonus pool.