This is the Phuture Phillies 2026 Draft Discussion for comments about the 2026 draft.

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This is a forum for 2026 draft discussion to keep it separate from other conversations.  This is not a forum for complaining about past picks and past/current draft philosophy.  That horse has been beaten to death in weekly open discussions.  If you must, keep it there.

As in previous years, I’ll post follow-up discussions as needed until the signing period is over.  Draft signings will be tracked here – 2026 Draft Tracker

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The Phillies had the 26th overall selection in the first round.  However, five teams, including the Phillies, were dropped 10 draft slots because they exceeded the second surcharge threshold of the competitive-balance tax the previous season.  This penalty dropped the Phillies out of the first round to the 36th pick.  Others penalized were the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Dodgers.

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The Phillies’ total bonus pool is only $7,773,000.  Interesting to note that the CBT penalty not only costs the Phillies position in the draft, but they also lost the bonus allotment for the 26th pick ($3,578,800) which was replaced with the slot money assigned to the 36th pick ($2,758,800).  (Seems like a double penalty to me.  I suggest that they should retain the slot money for #26 at #36.  Call me a homer, call me a whiner, call me a visionary.)

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What are the Prospect Promotion Incentive Picks?  If a player who was rated as a preseason Top 100 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and/or ESPN (at least two of the three) and was on his team’s Opening Day roster and goes on to win the Rookie of the Year Award or place in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting prior to qualifying for arbitration, the club is awarded a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick after the first round.

• Day 1: Saturday, July 11 (Rounds 1-4; first 135 picks, rounds one through four, prospect incentive picks, competitive balance round A, competitive balance round B, QFA compensation picks between second and third round, QFA compensation picks between the fourth and fifth rounds.)
  • 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET – Picks 1-10 (NBC/Peacock)
  • 2:30-4:30 p.m. ET – Picks 11-40 (MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+)
  • 4:30-7:45 p.m. ET – Picks 41-135 (MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+)
• Day 2: Sunday, July 12 (Rounds 5-20; picks 136 through 313.)
  • 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. ET (MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+)

Coverage (provided on the MLB site)

• Everything you need to know | Draft prospect guides
• Who will go 1-1? | Top tools | Bonus pools, pick values
• Top 250 | Breaking down the list | Golden Spikes Award
• Latest mock draft | Tracker | Order | Complete coverage

 

I didn’t bother going through all the mock drafts this year.  Last year, three of the eight mocks I saw mentioned the Phillies and prep RHP Matthew Fisher.  One outright suggested he could be selected in the first round.  Two others waffled a little suggesting he was on their first round radar.  Only one of the eight I talked about considered a college pitcher.  Their was no consensus among the mocks as they suggested eight different players.

By the way, the Phillies did select Fisher … in the seventh round, after six college arms.

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Last year, the Phillies used the 26th pick in the first round to selected Gage Wood, a right-handed pitcher out of Arkansas.

Their first 8 picks were pitchers, one a prep player, before selecting a shortstop at nine before completing their first ten picks with another pitcher.  In all, they selected 14 pitchers (3 LHP), 4 shortstops, 1 catcher, and 1 outfielder.  They selected 9 four-year juniors, 3 four-year seniors, 3 four-year grad students, 1 JUCO player, 4 high school seniors.

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This year the Phillies’ total bonus pool is $7,773,000.

The Phillies have 11 picks.  Their complete bonus breakdown is (bold, round, pick, $):

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Some Q and A

Who is draft eligible?

Players attending four-year colleges are eligible to be drafted upon completing their junior year or turning 21-years-old. Players who have graduated high school but have not attended college are draft-eligible.  So are those who have completed at least one year of junior college. Players must also be a resident of the United States a resident of a U.S. territory (e.g., Puerto Rico), or Canada to be eligible for the Draft.

What’s next?

Teams have 15 days (until Monday, July 27 at 5 p.m. ET) to agree to deals with players they draft out of four-year colleges and high schools. For players who are selected out of junior colleges, teams have a draft-and-follow option, in which they can sign between the end of their juco season and the beginning of next year’s Draft for up to $225,000.

(I need to continue researching this.  Does this apply to a second-year juco player who is going on to a 4-year college for his junior year?  Does it apply to a first-year juco player who is continuing at his present juco or switching to a 4-year program?  Which juco season? The one that just ended in May or the one that ends next May?  If a juco player was drafted in rounds 11 thru 20 he would be limited to $150K before the overage went against the pool.  How does the $225K figure against the pool?  Is the limit still $150K or has it been lowered?  If a signing occurs for $225K next May, does any part of it count against the previous pool?  Can a team exceed the $225K and apply the overage against the pool?  As you can see this causes me some degree of uncertainty.)

How do draft picks affect roster limits?

Draft picks do not count against roster limits until 15 days after they are signed, unless they are activated with one of the affiliates before that deadline.  This means that whether or not they are on a roster, they will count against the 165-man limit for stateside players.

Undrafted free agents (UDFAs) count against the roster limit as soon as they are signed.

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If I find that any of the above is no longer accurate, I will update and pass the info along.

Please remember that this is a forum for 2026 draft discussion to keep it separate from other conversations.