After months of draft speculation, rumors and mock drafts, the Chicago White Sox ultimately made the expected choice, selecting Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick.
From the moment the White Sox won the draft lottery, the UCLA shortstop felt like a foregone conclusion to go first overall. While standout high school shortstop Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey certainly muddied the waters, Cholowsky offered the White Sox the highest floor in the draft and a chance to make an impact on the MLB roster quickly, potentially as soon as this season.
If all goes according to plan, the White Sox could eventually feature an infield anchored by Colson Montgomery at third base and Cholowsky at shortstop, with Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami splitting time between first base and designated hitter. That’s a lineup on paper that would stack up with any team in baseball.
The last shortstop chosen No. 1 overall was Dansby Swanson in 2015. The comparison is fitting. Like Swanson, Cholowsky is known for his polished defense, steady leadership and ability to control the infield. Evaluators believe he has the tools to develop into a Gold Glove-caliber defender while providing the kind of stability teams covet at shortstop.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
The beauty of the pick is the White Sox already have a player that teams would covet at shortstop in Montogery. And while no White Sox fan would complain if Cholowsky followed Dansby Swanson’s path and became a two-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, there is an argument that his offensive ceiling could be even higher.
Throughout his career, all he has done is hit. Cholowsky enrolled at UCLA after going undrafted out of Hamilton High School in Arizona, despite being a Gatorade Arizona Baseball Player of the Year and a top 2023 prep prospect. He immediately became a lineup staple, batting .308 with eight home runs as a freshman before blossoming into one of the nation’s most complete players.
Over the next two seasons, Cholowsky hit .353 with 23 home runs in 2025 and .320 with 21 homers in 2026, earning back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year honors while helping lead UCLA to its first College World Series appearance since 2013 and finishing runner-up for the Golden Spikes Award. He also captured Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2025, cementing his reputation as one of the premier two-way players in college baseball.
He now marks just the second UCLA alum to go No.1 in the draft, alongside Gerrit Cole, who was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011.
One of the lingering questions surrounding Cholowsky entering the draft was his signing bonus, which helped fuel speculation that the White Sox could pivot to Grady Emerson. By taking Emerson, the White Sox could use a larger portion of their $20,489,500 draft pool to pursue high-upside talent later in the draft by offering above-slot bonuses elsewhere.
However, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Cholowsky agreed to sign for less than the $11.3 million slot value attached to the No. 1 overall pick. While his bonus is still expected to approach $10 million, the below-slot agreement would give the White Sox additional flexibility to still take another first-round caliber player with their later picks.
Saturday marked only the third time the White Sox have held the No. 1 overall pick, and the organization hopes it will be the last as it looks to turn the page on its rebuild. While Danny Goodwin never signed with Chicago after being selected first overall in 1971, Harold Baines became a franchise icon after the White Sox drafted him No. 1 overall in 1977. Chicago hopes that Cholowsky will take a similar path.
While the White Sox spent months evaluating every possibility, Chris Getz ultimately didn’t try to outsmart the room.
Cholowsky was widely regarded as one of the safest and most complete players in the draft, giving the White Sox a polished shortstop with the tools to become a cornerstone of the franchise. On paper, it looks like a home-run pick. Now comes the hard part: hitting plenty of them at Rate Field.
