The 2012 MLB Draft is in the books, and the Minnesota Twins got an exciting haul, to be sure. Of course, that starts with outfielder Byron Buxton, who was drafted with the second overall pick after Mark Appel of Stanford went to the Houston Astros at No. 1 overall. Buxton has a lot of potential and it's likely he would have went No. 2 overall to most teams in Major League Baseball, though he wasn't the consensus that Appel was at No. 1.
Minnesota had 13 picks in the 10 rounds of the draft, more than any other team. According to the Pioneer Press, the new labor agreement for the MLB includes recommended signing bonuses for each team's first 10 rounds of draft picks. It says the Twins are allowed to spend about $12.35 million in signing bonuses on those picks specifically.
Right there in the headline of the piece they mention that $10.5 million of that could go to the top five picks. There are suggested slots for many of the picks as well, and Buxton's slot pays him $6.2 million. It also noted the rest of the top five:
For the Twins' next pick, pitcher Jose Berrios (No. 32 overall), the recommended bonus is $1.55 million. For the Twins' No. 3 pick, pitcher Luke Bard (No. 42 overall), $1.227 million; No. 4, pitcher Mason Melotakis (63 overall), $818,500; No. 5, pitcher Jon Chargois (72 overall), $712,600.
To contrast, the Twins' final pick in the first 10 rounds is pitcher D.J. Baxendale, and the report says that his slot suggests a signing bonus of $125,000 - further affirming most of the allotment is going to the top guys.
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