Thanks to the Orioles' July 2018 trades and a general avoidance of the international amateur free-agent market when a new crop of Latin American talent became available in July, the organization had a massive account of signing bonus slots last summer without any premium talent to spend it on.
Dan Duquette, then the executive vice president of baseball operations, acquired a combined $2.75 million in pool money from the Atlanta Braves last summer in trades for Brad Brach, Kevin Gausman and Darren O'Day. Combined with the team's allotted $5.