SF Giants hand out massive signing bonus to 2026 16th-round pick

The SF Giants 2026 draft is almost in the rearview mirror. On Sunday, they reportedly agreed to a $584,955 signing bonus with 16th-round pick Dalton Wentz, per Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline.

That sounds like an oddly specific number, right? Players selected after the 10th round can sign for up to $150,000 without it counting against the bonus pool. Any amount above that does count. For Wentz, $434,955 counts against the Giants' bonus pool.

When they signed Carson Bolemon and Kaden Waechter a couple of days ago to a pair of overslot bonuses, they had about $435,000 in bonus pool space remaining. That amount evidently was earmarked for Wentz.

The Giants began the draft with about $17.3 million in available bonus pool space. They could exceed that by five percent with only paying a tax on the overage. That brought the maximum bonus pool to about $18.2 million, and they spent nearly every dollar of that.

SF Giants have spent all of available bonus pool space in 2026 MLB draft

The remaining unsigned picks are 19th-round pick Mikey Bell and 20th-round pick JP Robertson. Bell recently announced that he would be returning to college. The deadline to sign Robertson is July 27.

The Giants felt like they got a great value when they selected Wentz out of Wake Forest University. He was ranked as the No. 165 player in this year's draft class, but slid due to signability concerns. Wentz was a draft-eligible sophomore, and the chance to return to school gave him leverage in draft talks. Ultimately, his signing bonus was equivalent to the slot value of a fourth-round pick.

The switch-hitter posted a .306/.414/.629 line with 18 home runs, 52 RBI, and 65 runs in 278 plate appearances in college this year. This included a 15.1 percent walk rate against a 22.6 percent strikeout rate. He hits for power, but there are questions about his approach and contact skills.

MLB Pipeline believes that there is even more power in his bat than what he displayed in college:

"Wentz's combination of bat speed and strength gives him at least plus raw power, and he could tap into more of it if he became more selective and pulled more balls in the air... He draws his share of walks because pitchers are reticent to challenge him, but he needs to tone down his approach."

MLB Pipeline on Dalton Wentz

Wentz appeared at second base and third base during his time in college. He also saw some time in the outfield during summer ball. He has a strong arm, but with below-average speed.

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