When Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin took home the National League Rookie of the Year award, fans were certainly excited that the 24-year-old had run away with the award, but they were also excited for what the award meant to the team.
Not only did did the Braves take home their third NL Rookie of the Year in the last eight seasons, they also received draft benefits that very well might contribute to a future Rookie of the Year in coming seasons.
Breaking down how Drake Baldwin's Rookie of the Year changes the Braves' 2026 MLB Draft bonus pool
Thanks to the Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) rewards that were established in 2022, the Braves are receiving an extra first round pick in the 2026 draft because Baldwin was on a top-100 prospect list entering the season, made the Opening Day roster, and was never optioned to the minors.
A team has managed to net a PPI draft pick in every season since the incentives were established. In 2023, the Mariners received a 29th overall pick after Julio Rodriguez won AL Rookie of the Year. In 2024, the Diamondbacks and Orioles received the 31st and 32nd overall picks, respectively, after Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson both won Rookie of the Year. Last season, the Royals had a 28th overall pick when Bobby Witt Jr. placed second in MVP voting.
The Braves will be one of two teams receiving PPI picks in 2026, with the Astros also receiving one for Hunter Brown's top-three finish in Cy Young voting. While we don't know the exact pick the Braves will receive, it's safe to assume it will be somewhere between the 28th overall pick and the 31st overall pick. In 2025, the slot value for the 28th pick was $3.28 million, and picks 29 through 31 all had slot values of at least $3 million.
If the Braves do indeed score the sixth overall pick (the team's most likely positioning after having the sixth-worst record in 2025), which had a slot value of $7.56 million in 2025, the team will likely have a bonus pool of pushing $11 million in the first round alone.
Of course, that's assuming that the bonus pool remains somewhat stagnant between 2025 and 2026, which is likely not the case. In 2025, the bonus pool rose by roughly $16 million, from $334.38 million in 2024 to $350.36 million, an increase of about five percent.
If each slot increased by the same percentage in 2025, the sixth overall pick would have a value of $7.94 million and if the 28th-overall pick is indeed their slot for the PPI pick, that pick would have an overall value of $3.44 million. this would give the Braves a bonus pool of $11.38 million through the first round alone.
The Nationals had the sixth-worst record in baseball in 2024 and had a bonus pool of $5.52 million from their second- through 10th-round picks. Assuming a bonus pool increase of five percent, the Braves would have a bonus pool of $5.8 million for their remaining picks through the 10th-round.
Overall, this would bring the Braves bonus pool for the 2026 draft up to roughly $16.8 million, which is quite a hefty pool, especially without the help of competitive balance or free agent compensation picks. In 2025, this would have been the third-highest bonus pool out of the 30 teams.