Sept. 7, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

As the saying goes come draft time ...

It’s not when but how much?

Although teams have to adhere to slot money, they are still allowed to shuffle their allotted amount of funds. So, it is not as important what round a player is selected in, but rather how much of a signing bonus he was given.

Below is a list the top drafted players by signing bonus and then the up-to-date spending by major-league clubs ... based on six-figure bonuses or more

Of the 17 Canadian players drafted in 2024, 10 signed for six figures led by Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins with two apiece.

* * *

Round Overall Bonus Rank Position Name Team Hometown

1.1. $2.5M 1st (27th) OF Dante Nori Phillies Northville HS Northville, Mich./Toronto, Ont.

2.2. $1.52M 2nd (58th) INF Émilien Pitre Rays Kentucky/Academy Baseball Canada Repentigny, Que.

3.3. $774,000 3rd (94th) C Nathan Flewelling Rays Red Deer Braves/Junior National Team/Sylvan Lake Gulls Innisfail, Alta.

4.4. $597,00 4th (105th) RHP Louis-Philippe Langevin Kansas City Royals Louisiana-Lafayette Quebec, Que.

5.6. $550,000 6th (166) RHP Josiah Romeo Oakland A’s Mississauga Tigers/Junior National Team Caledon, Ont.

The Rays gave Okotoks Dawgs INF Jack Lines (Okotoks, Alta.) a signing bonus of $395,000.

6. 9. $395,000 12th (366th) INF Jack Lines Rays — TXNL/Okotoks Dawgs Okotoks, Alta.

7. 17. $337,500 20th (611th) OF Eric Hartman Atlanta Braves Okotoks Dawgs/Junior National Team St. Albert, Alta.

8. 7. $150,000 12th (355th) RHP Sean Heppner Cleveland Guardians University of British Columbia/Thunder Bay Border Cats Delta, BC.

9. 8. $100,000 12th (364th) C Connor Caskenette Marlins Purdue Duncan, BC

10. 13. $100,000 17th (514th) OF Micah McDowell Marlins Oregon State/Okotoks Dawgs Coldbrook, N.S.

* * *

The high-spending Rays moved from 29th overall to 16th of the 30 major league organizations spending on talents, while the Phillies moved from 26th to 14th

No. 1 remains the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed by the San Diego Padres — by a mere $15,551.. The Pirates largest signings are RHP Jameson Taillon, whose mom is from Toronto and his father from the St. Andrews West in the Cornwall area given $6.5 million as No. 2 behind Bryce Harper, Great Lake Canadians RHP Austin Shields (Dundas, Ont.) selected in the 33rd round in 2016 and given $205,000 , undrafted free agent RHP Noah Takacs (Victoria, BC) from the Sacramento State Hornets $150,000 bonus to and Team Sask’s RHP Logan Hofmann (Muenster, Sask.), a fifth rounder in 2020.

The Padres largest expenditures were: Terriers first rounder RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) awarded $3,963,045 from Stanford, FieldHouse Pirates OF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) given $1.2 million as a second rounder in 2020 and RHP Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) from the Kingston Thunder, who signed for $512,400 as a fourth rounder out of Niagara University in 2019.

Next were the Atlanta Braves, who gave Calgary PBF Redbirds RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) $1,974,700 after he was selected as a first rounder in 2015. The Braves mhave also spent on RHP Adam Maier (North Vancouver, BC) from Oregon, LHP Adam Shoemaker (Cambridge, Ont.) drafted by the Great Lakes Canadians and given $477,500, Ontario Blue Jays 1B David McCabe (Courtice, Ont.) from UNC Charlotte at $476,500 and OF Eric Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) $337,500.

The Milwaukee Brewers sit fourth spending $6,501,700 led by a 2021 first rounder INF Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) given $2.2 million to former Toronto Met.

And rounding out the top five are the Seattle Mariners, who gave $2 million to Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays as a second rounder in 2014.

Meanwhile, Canada’s team dropped from ninth place to 10th.

The Oakland A’s, with scout Matt Higginson (Grimsby, Ont.), jumped two spots from 10th to eighth.

Paying the least amount of attention to Canucks are the 30th place San Francisco Giants.

Team ranking spending on Canadians

(Six figure totals only)

2024 2023 2022 Team Team Total

1 1 2 Pirates $7,180,000

2 2 1 Padres $7,164,449

3 4 3 Braves $6,741,700

4 3 5 Brewers $6,501,700

5 5 4 Mariners $5,807,500

6 6 6 Orioles $5,391,800

7 7 7 Guardians $4,848,138

8 10 19 Athletics $4,272,500

9 8 8 Twins $4,224,500

10 9 9 Blue Jays $4,080,000

11 11 11 Reds $3,521,000

12 12 10 Cubs $3,309,500

13 14 13 Marlins $3,247,000

14 26 28 Phillies $3,210,000

15 13 12 Rangers $3,065,000

16 29 29 Rays $3,004,000

17 15 15 Yankees $2,709,500

18 16 17 Tigers $2,221,200

19 17 14 Rockies $2,187,000

20 18 18 Diamondbacks $1,930,800

RHP Blake Hawksworth (North Vancouver, BC) was given a $1.45 million signing bonus from the St. Louis Cardinals after he was drafted from Bellevue Community College.

21 19 16 Cardinals $1,875,000

22 23 22 Royals $1,697,500

23 20 20 Mets $1,481,000

24 21 23 Red Sox $1,262,500

25 22 21 Astros $1,123,800

26 24 24 Dodgers $897,500

27 25 25 Angels $744,200

28 27 26 Nationals/Expos $705,000

29 28 26 White Sox $475,000

30 30 30 Giants $205,000

Total $95,083,787

* * *

And the complete rundown of six-figure bonuses ..

Bonus Total: $95,083,787