The 27 first-round picks who have signed have received an average bonus of $2,484,963, shattering the previous record of $2,154,280 established in 2001. The average will come down slightly once the Mariners sign No. 20 overall choice Joshua Fields (a college senior to whom the signing deadline doesn’t apply) but still will be well over the old mark.

This year’s average represents an 18.4 percent increase from last year’s figure of $2,098,083. That’s the biggest single-year rise of the slotting era, and the largest since a 23.1 percent jump from 1997-98.