2026 Boston Red Sox MLB Draft Day 1 Thread

The 2026 MLB Draft will feature 20 round draft and like last season, festivities will take place over the course of two days. Rounds 1-4 will take place from 1:00 PM - 7:45 PM E.T. on Saturday , and then rounds 5-20 will be all day Sunday from 11:30 AM - 7:30 E.T. 

Day one is split into three sections with picks 1-10 being broadcast on NBC/Peacock only. Picks 11-40 will be on MLB Network and the remainder of the draft will be on MLB.TV. The entirety of the draft Sunday will be on MLB TV, MLB.com, or MLB+. 

The Boston Red Sox will make three selections on day one of the draft.

20th Overall (Round 1)

67th Overall (Competitive Balance Round B)

[Acquired in trade: Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler for Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, and David Hamilton with Milwaukee Brewers]

96th Overall (Round 3)

The Red Sox forfeited their second and fifth-highest selections, as well as $1 million in draft pool money, in this years' draft after they signed Ranger Suarez to a five-year, $130 million contract. This is due to Suárez being offered the qualifying offer by the Philadelphia Phillies. Per the MLB rules, the Red Sox had to forfeit those picks because they eclipsed the $241 million Competitive Balance Tax Threshold.

Baseball is incredibly unique in the ways that address draft picks. Each team has its bonus pool which is assigned by MLB in the spring based off of league-wide revenue the previous season. Along with that, each draft pick is assigned its own slot value, which is essentially the expected cost to sign a player at that spot. Teams don't have to follow that number exactly, which is why you see teams sign players or over or under slot values. 

For example, in last years draft, the Los Angeles Angles had the 2nd overall selection which was valued at $10,252,700 but ultimately ended up signing their selection Tyler Bremner for only $7,689,525, nearly $3 million below the projected value of the selection. Teams can then use the money they save at the top half of the draft to lure better players with more bonus money later on in the draft.

The Red Sox have $8,219,200 to play with in this year's draft, the eighth-lowest pool, with the slot value of their 20th overall pick coming in at $4,373,900. 

Another note regarding slot money from Baseball America: "In the MLB draft, each pick inside the first 10 rounds comes with assigned slot values. The sum of those slot values creates each team’s bonus pool. From rounds 11-20, players can sign for up to $150,000 without counting towards the bonus pool. Anything beyond that value does count towards the pool. Teams are free to sign players for more than an assigned slot value or less than an assigned slot value, though going over a bonus pool comes with penalties."

It's also worth noting that with the CBA expiring this offseason and the MLB's proposal to change the draft format, this likely the last time we see the draft in the format we see it in today. 

We here at Talk Sox will continue to feature the Red Sox Draft Tracker, which will be kept up-to-date, not just as the draft happens, but also as we learn about the signing bonuses for each draft pick throughout the signing period. Thanks for joining us during one of the most exciting times of the season and keep coming back for updates!

Check out our 2026 mock draft board, updated regularly, and with detailed player write-ups!