When it comes to draft signings, a lot of emphasis is placed on how much money certain picks got and why. With good reason, too - it can often explain why a draft pick went as high as he did or why another slid to the later rounds despite being a top talent.
However, another important indicator of a draft haul is the total amount of money a team spends on its draft class and its percentage above slot bonus. The Red Sox, for one, did not hand out any extremely large contracts such as those given to Zach Lee of the Dodgers or Nick Castellanos of the Tigers, but spent the 3rd most money of any team in 2010, behind the Pirates and Nationals who each had a large chunk of their draft budget go to the #2 and #1 picks, respectively.
Nick Castellanos got a record $3.45M signing bonus for a supplemental round pick from the Tigers
Similarly, the Yankees spent "only" $5.126M on their 2020 draft class, which would put them in the middle of the pack, but were 188% over slot value, good for fourth.
The draft signing numbers are courtesy of Baseball America's Jim Callis who compiled the team numbers and plenty more. For those of you who love to see the numbers behind baseball, especially as it pertains to money (like me), Jim's got a bunch of great charts to look at.
