By Weston Blasi

The first overall selection in the MLB draft, Henry Davis, could earn over $8 million from the Pittsburgh Pirates

To demonstrate the rash of money-saving signings, take a look at the number of seniors who received slot in the entire draft (receiving more than $125,000 after the tenth round also qualifies. The draft is here! First round coverage of the 2021 MLB Draft begins Sunday night on MLB Network and ESPN at 7 p.m. We have a host of coverage preparing you for tonight here at Baseball America.

A group of new athletes will join the Major League Baseball family this week as the MLB holds its annual draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the first overall pick and the Texas Rangers grabbed Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter -- son of retired big league All-Star Al Leiter -- with the second overall pick.

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For players, the team that drafts them can have a major impact on how they develop as baseball players, but it also can have a huge impact on how much money they earn.

Each draft slot in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft is assigned a certain amount of guaranteed bonus money it can offer that player, referred to as the 'slot value.' The slot value is guaranteed in the form of a signing bonus.

A team could opt to spend more than the slot value but could incur a penalty from MLB if they do -- a team could also spend less than the slot value, but risk the drafted player not accepting the offer. Unlike the NBA and NFL drafts (link), athletes selected into MLB can opt to go back to college if they are drafted out of high school, thus forfeiting any bonus money from the MLB team.

In baseball, all drafted players begin their careers in the minor league system, where salaries are low, so the signing bonus they receive on draft day makes up most of the money they will earn until they reach the majors. Once in the majors, they can begin to negotiate a new contract -- only about 10% of minor leaguers make the big leagues (link), according to data from MotherJones.

A more detailed look at the MLB's slot value system can be found here (link).

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Because of this system, dropping a few spots during the draft can actually cost players hundreds of thousands and dropping 10 or more spots can cost a young athlete over a million of dollars.

Here are the estimated signing bonuses for the first round selections of the 2021 MLB draft, according to contract monitoring site Spotrac (link).

Mlb draft 20th round slot money value chart 2018

Pick No. 1 Henry Davis, Pittsburgh Pirates

Slotted bonus: $8,415,300

Pick No. 2 Jack Leiter, Texas Rangers

Slotted bonus:$7,789,900

Pick No. 3 Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers

Slotted bonus:$7,221,200

Pick No. 4 Marcelo Mayer, Boston Red Sox

Slotted bonus: $6.664,000

Pick No. 5 Colton Cowser, Baltimore Orioles

Slotted bonus: $6.180,700

Pick No. 6 Jordan Lawlar, Arizona Diamondbacks

Slotted bonus: $5,742,900

Pick No. 7 Frank Mozzicato, Kansas City Royals

Slotted bonus: $5,432,400

Pick No. 8 Benny Montgomery, Colorado Rockies

Slotted bonus: $5,175,900

Pick No. 9 Sam Buchman, Los Angeles Angels

Slotted bonus: $4,949,100

Pick No. 10 Kumar Rocker, New York Mets

Slotted bonus: $4,739,900

Pick No. 11 Brady House, Washington Nationals

Slotted bonus: $4,547,500

Pick No. 12 Harry Ford, Seattle Mariners

Slotted bonus: $4,366,400

Pick No. 13 Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies

Slotted bonus: $4,197,300

Pick No. 14 Will Bednar, San Francisco Giants

Slotted bonus: $4,036800

Pick No. 15 Sal Frelick, Milwaukee Brewers

Slotted bonus: $3,885,800

Pick No. 16 Khalil Watson, Miami Marlins

Slotted bonus: $3,745,500

Pick No. 17 Matt McLain, Cincinnati Reds

Slotted bonus: $3,609,700

Pick No. 18 Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals

Slotted bonus: $3,481,300

Pick No. 19 Gunnar Hoglund, Toronto Blue Jays

Mlb Draft Rounds 11 40

Slotted bonus: $3,359,000

Mlb Draft 20th Round Slot Money Chart

Pick No. 20 Trey Sweeney, New York Yankees

Slotted bonus: $3,242,900

Pick No. 21 Jordan Wicks, Chicago Cubs

Slotted bonus: $3,132,300

Pick No. 22 Colson Montomery, Chicago White Sox

Slotted bonus: $3,027,000

Pick No. 23 Gavin Williams, Cleveland Indians

Slotted bonus: $2,926,800

Pick No. 24 Ryan Cusick, Atlanta Braves

Slotted bonus: $2,831,300

Pick No. 25 Max Muncy, Oakland Athletics

Slotted bonus: $2,740,300

Pick No. 26 Chase Petty, Minnesota Twins

Slotted bonus: $2,653,400

Pick No. 27 Jackson Merill, San Diego Padres

Slotted bonus: $2,570,100

Pick No. 28 Carson Williams, Tampa Bay Rays

Slotted bonus: $2,493,900

Pick No. 29 Maddux Bruns, Los Angeles Dodgers

Slotted bonus: $2,424,600

The 2021 MLB Draft wraps up Tuesday with rounds 11-20 on MLB.com

-Weston Blasi; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-13-21 1137ET