In an offseason that’s been largely quiet for the White Sox thus far, the best news came at the Winter Meetings, where the team won the draft lottery and earned the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft. The White Sox will get to choose first in a draft class considered to be strong and general manager Chris Getz shared more insight about the team’s plans on Tuesday.
“To get this”, Getz said with 670 The Score’s Mully and Haugh. “It’s that extra boost and obviously a signal of okay, number one pick is a big deal for an organization and a fanbase. But the great thing is, this looks like a draft that you really want the number one pick. Obviously Roch Cholowsky gets a lot of attention but there are some other players as well, which is just not always the case going into a draft.”
Getz reiterated the strength of this draft class and the excellent position the White Sox are in. Often, if teams feel there is no elite player or players at the top of a draft class, they’ll reach down the board a bit and take someone they like that they can pay less, saving money and giving them an opportunity to take a more talented player later in the draft. That doesn’t appear to be the White Sox strategy with the first pick. Whichever player they choose will likely break the record for largest signing bonus, and the White Sox having the highest allocated bonus pool will still give them extra money to overslot players later in the class.
Getting the #1 pick is franchise altering for the #WhiteSox. Landing the player is the most important thing but their bonus pool will be around $17 million. The amount of flexibility they’ll have is paramount.
— James Fox (@JamesFox917) December 10, 2025
White Sox may be leaning towards college players in the first round
Whether the White Sox will focus on a college player like Cholowsky or Justin Lebron, or consider a prep bat like Grady Emerson or Jacob Lombard is unknown, but Chris Getz spoke on the possibility of adding a college bat a bit later on:
“When you’re talking about a top pick”, Getz said. “And if it is a college player, which there’s a handful of them, it’s proximity. I mean these guys can really move quickly and impact quickly. You look at Nick Kurtz and what he was able to do in a short period of time. So just envisioning the current group that we have, the group that’s pushing just underneath the major league level, and then to add this potentially as quickly as some of these guys have moved, is really encouraging. I feel the excitement and I hope that our fan base does as well.”
Getz’s emphasis on quick moving players certainly makes a ton of sense for the White Sox. The team is looking to take another step forward in 2026 and potentially be in contention for the division in the next couple years, so adding a college bat that can arrive during this window would be ideal over a prep hitter who is four years away. The White Sox took SS Billy Carlson and OF Jaden Fauske with their top two picks last year and they’ll help be a foundation for the “next wave” of prospects, but the White Sox would love to add a top player that can make an impact on the big league team as early as 2027.
White Sox officials have mentioned Roch Cholowsky by name a couple times, and most evaluators have him as the consensus top prospect in the class. It certainly feels like it’s a no-brainer for the White Sox, but there’s a whole high school and college season to play, so things can change. Whether Cholowsky is the pick or another candidate emerges, the White Sox are in an excellent position in an excellent draft, and are finally starting to see the struggles of the past few seasons pay off. Better times are on the horizon on the south side.