Lottery luck: White Sox will pick first in ‘26 MLB Draft
Finally, the White Sox found an effective lucky charm.
The Sox won the MLB Draft lottery and will pick first in the 2026 draft next July. Their last No. 1 overall pick, Harold Baines, represented the team on the lottery stage Tuesday.
“I can't understate how big of a deal this is,” White Sox general manager Chris Getz said on MLB Network after winning the top prize. “It looks like the top of the draft is a really impressive one. I'm just excited for our fan base and the people that work for the White Sox. It's an honor, its' a huge responsibility.”
At the moment, there appears to be a clear-cut No. 1 overall pick, which is UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. Of course, there's still a college season to be played, but he hit .353 with 23 home runs as a sophomore, when he earned four national player of the year awards, was named Big Ten player of the year, Big Ten defensive player of the year and led the Bruins to the College World Series.
Cholowsky is listed at 6-foot-2, 202 pounds and is a native of Chandler, Ariz. His father Dan was the No. 39 pick of the 1991 draft by the Cardinals out of Cal-Berkeley. He spent some time with the Iowa Cubs, but never reached the major leagues.
If not Cholowsky, the other top prospects listed by MLB Pipeline include high school shortstops Grady Emerson from Fort Worth, Texas, and Jacob Lombardi from Miami; along with Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron.
The rest of the top 10 picks in next year's draft will have Tampa Bay at No. 2, followed by Minnesota, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore, the Athletics, Atlanta and Colorado.
The Rockies finished with the worst record, but like the White Sox a year ago, were not eligible for the top pick due to anti-tanking rules. The Cubs have the No. 23 pick.
The White Sox also officially announced the signing of pitcher Anthony Kay to a reported two-year deal worth $12 million.
Kay, 30, was a first-round pick of the Mets in 2016 and spent five years in the majors, mostly as a reliever, and played for the Cubs in 2023. He attended the same high school on Long Island as Cubs pitcher Ben Brown.
The left-hander spent the past two years in Japan, became a starter and last season posted a 1.74 ERA. The Sox are hoping he'll be a success story in the mold of Erick Fedde, who came back from Korea to be a successful starter and trade piece on the South Side in 2024.
“I think it was pretty similar situation, to be able to come back over and thrive,” Kay said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “Another thing is the success they had with Garrett Crochet, having him go from a reliever back to a starter. I think it shows they have a plan for guys like me.”