Final Thoughts on the White Sox 2026 Draft Class

Another MLB Draft is in the books, and the Chicago White Sox now have 21 new faces who will try to work their way up the minor league ranks.

Heading into this week, Chris Getz was preparing for his third MLB Draft as General Manager with the No. 1 overall pick and a bonus pool of roughly $17.5 million. Less than 24 hours before getting on the clock, however, he swung a trade with the Pirates to acquire their Competitive Balance Round A draft pick, giving him even more ammo with an extra selection and the largest bonus pool in MLB history.

With everything going in their favor, Getz, Mike Shirley, and the rest of the front office were ready to piece together their latest draft class.

Back in February, the No. 1 overall was supposed to be a slam-dunk, with Roch Cholowsky coming off a prolific sophomore season and seemingly cementing himself as the clear top prospect. In the months leading up to the draft, however, fellow prospects like Grady Emerson and Vahn Lackey caught steam, and rumors of the Giants trying to float Cholowsky down to the fourth pick had many speculating if the Sox would go in a different direction. In the end, they made the correct decision in sticking with Cholowsky, the star UCLA slugger who is one of the best college shortstops of the 21st century.

Cholowsky looks like he can be the face of a franchise, with the chance to have four-plus tools at his disposal. He hits for both power and average, and looks like an MLB-ready shortstop on defense. He has the highest floor of any prospect in this draft, and still has the upside to be a regular All-Star.

The icing on the cake with the Cholowsky pick is that even though he will likely shatter the previous record for largest MLB Draft signing bonus, it will still be under-slot and give the Sox extra room to sign talent. Combine that with the addition of the Pirates’ Competitive Balance A pick, and the Sox were well-equipped to attack the draft any way they saw fit.

With that being said, their pick at No. 34 may have been the most predictable in the draft, as they selected Nazareth infielder Landon Thome. The son of Jim Thome, Landon had long been viewed as a favorite of the White Sox front office. The only question was whether he would make it to their second-round pick. The Sox clearly weren’t sure, and that was likely part of the motivation to acquire the extra pick before the second round.

Predictable doesn’t equal bad, however. Thome is an excellent hitter and was viewed as a potential first-round caliber prospect in this draft. He isn’t quite as physically imposing as his dad, but he makes up for it with incredible bat speed and a sound approach at the plate. While questions about his eventual defensive home in pro ball put more pressure on the bat, he should be up for the challenge as someone who could hit for both average and power.

With two big names to kick off their class, the Sox still had plenty of flexibility to target upside with their second-round pick, and that’s exactly what they did with the selection of third baseman and catcher Cole Prosek. A Mississippi commit, the 19-year-old prep hitter has one of the better hit/power combinations of anyone in this draft.

Prosek is similar to Thome in that he’s a hit-first prospect who played shortstop in high school, but is likely to move off that position in pro ball. He did play some catcher during his senior year, but the Sox may prefer to keep his bat in the lineup as often as possible with a less demanding defensive position. If he reaches his potential with the bat, though, it won’t matter where he ultimately plays.

The Sox followed up Prosek with three straight college arms in Georgia’s Joey Volchko, Oregon State’s Eric Segura, and Oregon’s Cal Scolari. Volchko offers the most upside of the three, pairing a fastball that can touch triple digits with a sweeping slider that has a ton of spin on it. He has first-round caliber stuff, but command issues lead to a good amount of reliever risk.

Both Segura and Scolari are projectable college arms who had strong junior seasons with their respective schools. They both carry some reliever risk, but also have mid-rotation upside. Segura doesn’t get quite the same velocity as Scolari does on his fastball, but he has a deeper arsenal. Scolari, meanwhile, can touch 98 mph with his fastball and pair it with a good slider, but his other pitches need further development before being usable in pro ball.

With the flexibility of the largest bonus pool in MLB history still on the Sox side, they took another swing in the sixth round with New Jersey prep two-way player Alex Weingartner. While he was a pitcher and a shortstop in high school, the Sox announced him as an outfielder, which likely forecasts where they envision him playing in pro ball. The Penn State commit is extremely toolsy, with plus to double-plus athleticism and arm strength, and at least average power with room to get stronger. He has the tools to develop into an All-Star caliber center fielder, but he has a long developmental road ahead of him to prove that he can even stick in the minor leagues first.

The organization followed up Weingartner with another outfielder in the seventh round, Xavier Burdette, who also has some loud tools with plus power and excellent athleticism. While he posted some elite exit velocities in college, he struggles to hit consistently, with a concerningly high tendency to chase pitches out of the zone.

The Sox rounded out the top 10 rounds with three senior draft picks in Wichita State third baseman Jayson Jones, Virginia Tech right-hander Luke Craytor, and Fairfield outfielder Matthew Bucciero. All three prospects have interesting tools to work with, but all three were drafted as money-saving selections.

Rounds 11 and 12 are often where teams like to take final swings on over-slot upside picks, as any picks after round 10 only count toward a team’s bonus pool if they sign for a signing bonus greater than $150,000. The White Sox deployed that strategy here, with two selections likely to top that number.

In Round 11, they took Pennsylvania prep pitcher Kyle Casteel, who was viewed as a potential fourth- or fifth-round pick. He’s a projectable 6-foot-4 righty who can hit the mid-90s with his fastball, and can gain even more velocity as he matures. He also utilizes a solid slider and changeup, and features decent command of all three pitches. The West Virginia commit will require a respectable signing bonus to leave his college commitment, but the Sox are well-positioned to make that happen.

12th-round pick Braden Holomb also offers some upside as a bottom-half-of-the-draft prospect. The Vanderbilt utility man is a unit on the field at 6-foot-4, 245 lbs, and can play several positions, although the Sox announced him as an outfielder. He posted some of the best exit velocities in all of college baseball, but struggles with velocity and has a tendency to whiff at pitches. Still, the talent and versatility make him a strong prospect this late in the draft.

The Sox continued their draft with senior first baseman Grayson Fitzwater from Virginia Military Institute and right-hander Isaac Yeager, then rounded out the top 15 with an intriguing arm in Cameron Johnson. The 6-foot-6, 255 lb lefty flashes plus stuff, but to say his command is below average might be generous. The stuff paired with a funky release offer intriguing upside, though it is also possible he will never throw enough strikes to reach the upper minors.

There isn’t a ton of information out there on the White Sox’s final five draft picks, although Brigham Young outfielder Crew McChesney features an 80-grade baseball name, and Minnesota State’s Jake Berkland was very productive this past season. The Sox concluded their draft with Vanderbilt right-hander Connor Fennell, who doesn’t post great velocities but is viewed as a bit of an analytics darling. There are rumblings that he may be just an insurance policy and might not end up signing, however.

As a whole, this feels like a fantastic haul of young talent for Chris Getz, Mike Shirley, and co. Obviously, the MLB draft is far from the avenue to collect sure-fire contributors, but they did a great job infusing the farm system with more talent and depth. The Sox had an easy path to secure high-end talent with a massive bonus pool to work with, but they did a great job balancing risk/reward players with safer bets to move up the system. Ultimately, this is the Cholowsky draft, and it will likely be remembered based on how his career ends up. But after Cholowsky, the Sox put themselves in a position to potentially develop some very useful players.

The club finds itself outside the rebuild and entering their contention window. While that is always the goal and is rightfully being celebrated, it does mean that the front office will not have the luxury of high draft picks and deep bonus pools to revitalize their farm system to replenish organizational depth. Having a strong draft now can go a long way in helping to solidify the franchise’s ability to fill roster gaps and provide trade assets to maintain a playoff-worthy roster, so the level of success of this year’s draft class can absolutely play a role in whether the Sox can cross the finish line in the years to come.

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