The White Sox are sitting on a draft prize they haven’t had in nearly 50 years, and the twist is that it arrives at a time when they no longer look like a club in full teardown mode.
Chicago won the Draft Lottery on Dec. 9, 2025, at the Winter Meetings and landed the No. 1 pick in the 2026 Draft. For general manager Chris Getz, it was a moment that clearly hit hard. He looked even happier then than he did when former manager Ozzie Guillen named him the White Sox starting second baseman before the 2009 season.
But the bigger surprise is what has happened since. The White Sox, after three straight 100-loss seasons, have turned into a team that is actually in the race. They’re battling Cleveland for the top spot in the American League Central as the All-Star break nears, and they’re looking like a playoff team no matter how the division shakes out in July.
That changes the feel of the No. 1 pick before the card is even turned in. A player taken first overall could be expected to reach Chicago later in the 2027 season, depending on who gets selected, and that timing adds another layer to the decision.
“That’s the expectation from an exterior view,” White Sox director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley told MLB.com during an interview earlier this season. “Internally, the player always tells you when their time is. ... I think about some of the successes we are having right now [are because] we didn’t rush the player there and that those wins are showing their face.
“Our guys have done a tremendous job in letting the player mature. Even the 1-1 pick, he’ll tell us when he’s ready.
In some ways the development of this, maybe the player doesn’t have to be rushed to support the organization. … They don’t have to carry the load, but they will be obviously expected to contribute to it.”
This is only the third time the White Sox have held the No. 1 pick overall. Danny Goodwin did not sign after being selected out of Peoria High School in 1971, and Harold Baines went from St. Michael’s High School in Easton, Md., to the White Sox in 1977 before becoming a Hall of Famer and a franchise mainstay.
Chicago’s first day at the Draft includes picks 1, 41, 77 and 105, and the bonus pool sits at $17,592,100.
The club’s last top selection, Billy Carlson, came in at No. 10 overall out of Corona High School in California. He arrived with major expectations as the best defensive shortstop in the last 20 years coming out of the Draft, and he’s now the organization’s No. 4 prospect. Carlson has a .727 OPS in 59 games with Single-A Kannapolis, though he has been out since May 23 with a non-displaced fracture on the tip of his left thumb.
One year later, the White Sox already have a breakout candidate from their 2025 class in Anthony DePino. The seventh-round pick from Rhode Island has posted an .869 OPS across High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. The 23-year-old No. 29 prospect has 16 home runs, 56 RBIs, 46 runs scored and five stolen bases.
The real spotlight, though, is on the name at No. 1.
Roch Cholowsky, the shortstop from UCLA and a 2026 Golden Spikes finalist, had been the presumed favorite from the start. His fit in Chicago was discussed almost immediately after the lottery, and his numbers at UCLA backed up the buzz: a 1.099 OPS, 21 homers and 60 RBIs for the Big 10 powerhouse.
Now, though, Grady Emerson has moved ahead of Cholowsky as MLB.com’s No. 1 Draft prospect. Emerson, an 18-year-old shortstop from Fort Worth Christian High School, leads a top five that also includes catcher Vahn Lackey, right-hander Jackson Flora and high school shortstop Jacob Lombard.
Shirley said a couple of months ago that the White Sox were focused on four or five players and wasn’t about to reveal more. The organization has spent serious time and energy preparing for the entire Draft, not just the first pick, with the idea of adding impact talent throughout the class.
Still, this is the kind of opportunity a rising organization has to get right.
“I’m super excited about what the group is doing in Chicago and even the guys in the Minor Leagues - how they are transforming the organization,” Shirley said. “Everybody contributed to the growth.”
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