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2015 MLB Draft: With deadline looming, are the St. Louis Cardinals done signing their picks?

The 2015 MLB Draft season is still upon us. At least until Friday. That's because July 17 is the last day for MLB clubs to sign this year's draftees.

Since the last time we checked in on the St. Louis Cardinals' signings of 2015 MLB Draft picks was June 29, I thought today would be a good time to check in on where the Redbirds stand with respect to inking draftees. The Cardinals have spiced things up a bit, agreeing to terms with some of the prospects they selected in the 11th round and later for dollar amounts in excess of the $100,000 bonus value assigned to all of those picks.

MLB.com's Jim Callis reported on the Cardinals' latest round of signings on Twitter as they were happening. Callis started by confirming what we all already knew. The Cards will not sign Kep Brown, the high-school slugger they selected in the 10th round, because they didn't have enough money left in their bonus pool to go overslot to a level that would entice Brown to renege on his commitment to play at college ball at A-Rod Field. Then Callis relayed that the Cards had enough wiggle room to sign two draftees to bonuses above slot:

Before we look at the updated 2015 Cardinals Draft tracker, let's review the bonus pool rules.

MLB assigns slot values to each of the picks in the Draft's first ten rounds. The slot values for each club's picks are then added together to get an overall bonus pool amount. Teams may sign players above or below the assigned slot value, but may not go over the overall bonus pool amount. After the tenth round, there's a $100,000 value for each pick. If a team goes over $100,000 to sign a player taken in the 11th round or later, the amount in excess of $100,000 counts against the organization's bonus pool.

If a club goes over its overall bonus pool amount with its draftee signings, it is subject to the following penalties, which are triggered based on the amount of overspending:

  • 0-5% Over: 75% tax on the overage amount
  • 5-10% Over: 75% tax on the overage amount and loss of the next year's first-round pick
  • 10-15% Over: 100% tax on the overage amount and loss of the next year's first- and second-round picks
  • 15%+ Over: 100% tax on the overage amount and the loss of two first-round picks

If a club fails to sign one of its picks from the first ten rounds, the organization has its overall bonus pool reduced by the slotted bonus value for that pick. Taking Brown as an example. The Cardinals selected the outfielder in the tenth round, which means that the assigned bonus value for that pick is subject to the bonus pool restrictions and penalties. If the Cardinals are unable to sign Brown to a pro contract their overall bonus pool will be reduced by the $149,700 MLB assigned to the 311th pick prior to the Draft.

The signing of Salazar is for $100,000 over the $100,000 bonus cap on players selected in the 11th round or later, so it counts against the Cardinals' bonus pool by $100,000. Likewise, Schlesenger's bonus is $225,000 overslot so his contract will count against the St. Louis bonus pool total by that amount.

After subtracting Brown's $149,700, the total value of the Cardinals' 2015 Draft bonus pool is $7,214,400. If we add together the bonus amounts for the Cardinals' selections in the first through ninth rounds as well as the Salazar and Schlesenger bonuses, we get $7,539,400. That's over their bonus amount, so the Cards will be paying a tax to MLB of 75% on the overage amount. But they will not lose a future draft pick because it's less than the 5% overage threshold by $60,395.

St. Louis Cardinals: 2015 MLB Draft Signing Tracker

I put together the following signing information using MLB.com's bonus tracker and the Baseball America signing tracker. For players drafted in the 11th round and later who signed for $100,000 or less, there is not information regarding the bonus amount. So I merely indicated that they signed. The information regarding the bonuses for players taken in the 11th round and later and signed for greater than $100,000 have been reported, so I included that information. If you've seen an reporting on any other signings, please share it in the comments.

Player

Level

Pos

Rnd

Pick

Slot Value

Bonus

+/- Slot

Nick Plummer

HS

OF

1

23

$2,124,400

$2,124,400

+/- $0

Jake Woodford

HS

RHP

CBA

39

$1,585,400

$1,800,000

+ $214,600

Bryce Denton

HS

3B

2

66

$935,400

$1,200,000

+ 264,600

Harrison Bader

College

OF

3

100

$570,300

$400,000

- $170,300

Jordan Hicks

HS

RHP

Comp

105

$543,300

$600,000

+ $56,700

Paul DeJong

College

3B

4

131

$422,900

$200,000

- $222,900

Ryan Helsley

College

RHP

5

161

$316,500

$225,000

- $91,500

Jacob Evans

College

LHP

6

191

$237,000

$150,000

- $87,000

Jesse Jenner

College

C

7

221

$179,100

$10,000

- $169,100

Ian Oxnevad

HS

LHP

8

251

$167,400

$500,000

+ $332,600

Andrew Brodbeck

College

2B

9

281

$156,200

$5,000

- $151,200

Kep Brown

HS

RF

10

311

$149,700



Paul Salazar

HS

RHP

11

341

$100,000

$200,000

+ $100,000

Jacob Schlesener

HS

LHP

12

371

$100,000

$325,000

+ $225,000

Craig Aikin

College

CF

13

401

-

Signed


Carson Cross

College

RHP

14

431

-

Signed


Ryan Merrill

College

SS

15

461

-



Max Almonte

College

RHP

16

491

-

Signed


Chris Chinea

College

C

17

521

-

Signed


Joshua Rolette

HS

C

18

551

-



Ryan McCarvel

College

C

19

581

-

Signed


Luke Doyle

College

2B

20

611

-

Signed


Cadyn Grenier

HS

SS

21

641

-



Hunter Newman

College

1B

22

671

-

Signed


Gio Brusa

College

RF

23

701

-



Daniel Martin

College

2B

24

731

-

Signed


Kyle Molnar

HS

RHP

25

761

-



Brennan Leitao

College

RHP

26

791

-

Signed


Greg Tomchick

College

RHP

27

821

-

Signed


Mitchell Traver

College

RHP

28

851

-



Ben Yokley

College

RHP

29

881

-

Signed


Matt Vierling

HS

OF

30

911

-



Aaron Coates

HS

LHP

31

941

-



Tom Spitz

College

CF

32

971

-

Signed


Chandler Hawkins

College

LHP

33

1001

-

Signed


Parker Kelly

HS

RHP

34

1031

-



Luke Harrison

College

RHP

35

1061

-

Signed


Dylan Tice

College

2B

36

1091

-

Signed


Stephen Zavala

College

C

37

1121

-

Signed


Orlando Olivera

College

OF

38

1151

-

Signed


R.J. Dennard

College

1B

39

1181

-

Signed


Joseph Hawkins

College

SS

40

1211

-

Signed