SF Giants among 4 teams with lowest bonus pool in 2026 international free agency cycle

Despite a light bonus pool, the SF Giants landed one of the top prospects during the 2025 international free agency cycle. They will be in a similar position in 2026, as they are among four teams with the lowest bonus pool available.

SF Giants among 4 teams with lowest bonus pool in 2026 international free agency cycle

Baseball America published the bonus pools for each team earlier this week. The top bonus pool was just over $8 million, with teams like the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals falling in that category.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Giants, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and New York Mets have the lowest bonus pool at $5.4 million. All four teams exceeded the $237 million Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold in 2024 while signing a player who rejected a qualifying offer this past offseason.

Generally, the penalty for signing a player who rejects a qualifying offer is the loss of the second-highest pick and $500,000 in international bonus pool money. That penalty becomes a bit steeper when a team does that while also being a CBT offender.

For the Giants, they signed Willy Adames to a seven-year deal after he rejected a qualifying offer from the Milwaukee Brewers. So, they will have limited funds in both the draft and in international free agency.

This is the second straight year where the Giants will have to work within constraints. They signed Matt Chapman and Blake Snell last offseason, both of whom rejected a qualifying offer from the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres, respectively.

The Giants still managed to sign one of the top prospects in last year's international class in Josuar De Jesus González. They did have to get a little creative to get it done.

They will be in a similar position in 2026, as they have long been connected to top middle infield prospect Luis Hernández out of Venezuela. Teams usually have handshake agreements in advance of the signing period opening.

In the case of Hernández, he is expected to command a significant portion of the Giants' bonus pool if they can get a deal done. They cannot exceed their allotted amount, but they can trade for additional bonus pool money up to a limit.