Baseball Signing Bonus

A baseball signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new player by a Major League Baseball team as an incentive to join that franchise. Once drafted, players are offered signing bonuses as inducements to sign with the major league franchise and begin their professional careers. These bonuses are often determined by the slot of first round picks or the round of later picks.

Signing bonuses for first round picks typically run in the millions, but may drop off quickly after that to just a few thousand dollars for players in the bottom round. Once signed players are paid the standard minor league salary which is considerably less than the major league minimum salary. Players who play only baseball, have completed their senior year of college or may not qualify to play college baseball academically typically have little leverage and may be offered a signing bonus less than that of a high school senior or a player with scholarships to player other sports.

Baseball Almanac is putting together a list of every known baseball signing bonus in Major League history. We will continue to list these signing bonuses on this page as they are verified AND on the player's page. PLEASE NOTE that this project began in November 2009 so its far from comprehensive, but it will continue to grow on a regular basis.