2026 MLB Draft Winners and Losers: White Sox Nailed It, Red Sox Play It Safe

Now that the dust from the rest of All-Star week has settled, let’s look at some of the most exciting (and disappointing) draft classes.

The Chicago White Sox nailed the top pick by selecting UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 2026 MLB draft is officially behind us, and while there weren’t any surprises at the top, there were twists and turns soon after. 

As was predicted for months, Roch Cholowsky, Grady Emerson and Vahn Lackey were the first three players off the board, and then things got a bit wild. There were some head-scratchers in the first round, and a few players inexplicably fell much further than anyone expected. The Marlins were the recipient of the most notable stock crash, as Jacob Lombard fell into their laps at No. 14. 

After a few days to digest and witness the rest of All-Star week, it’s time to recount our winners and losers from this year’s draft. It’s worth noting that baseball development is not a straight line, and getting guys to the big leagues can take years. Much can change in that time. 

With that said, here are my winners and losers from the 2026 MLB draft. 

Winners

White Sox

Chicago won the lottery in December and made it pay off in July. The White Sox nailed the top of the draft. At No. 1, they took the guy many believe was the top player in the class, Cholowsky. You could quibble with that pick and claim Emerson was the better pick, but you’ll get no complaints from me. 

After nailing the top pick, Chicago snagged prep infielder—and Jim Thome’s son—Landon Thome at No. 34, and one of the best prep bats in the class at No. 41 with the selection of Cole Prosek. Both guys are plus hitters with good raw power. Georgia righty Joey Volchko was a value pick at No. 77; high-upside prep outfielder Alex Weingartner was a good addition at No. 166; and I like prep righty Kyle Casteel, whom they landed in the 11th round. If they managed to get him signed, it could be a major steal. 

The White Sox had a massive bonus pool and attacked this draft with aggression. On paper, it’s the best class anyone hauled in this year. 

Athletics

Georgia Tech’s Drew Burress has what it takes to be a five-tool prospect for the A’s. | David J. Griffin/Getty Images

The A’s nailed it this draft, and each of their first six picks fit perfectly where they were selected. 

At No. 8, they grabbed Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress, who has been one of college baseball’s best players for three years. Despite being undersized at 5'9", Burress blasted 60 home runs over his three seasons. He has good tools across the board. At No. 47, the team grabbed USC lefty Mason Edwards, who led the nation with 169 strikeouts in 95 ⅔ innings and steadily rose up draft boards all spring. Arkansas righty Gabe Gaeckle (No. 73) and North Carolina State righty Jacob Dudan (No. 83) both have electric arms, though Dudan just underwent Tommy John surgery. 

The A’s also landed UCLA shortstop Roman Martin at No. 111, Georgia Tech third baseman Alex Hernandez at No. 143 and Miami catcher Alex Sosa at No. 172. All three are good college players with carrying tools. They’re the kind of smart mid-round picks that help an organization produce big leaguers. 

Rangers

The Rangers crushed their first three picks of the draft, landing three guys I had ticketed for the top 50. 

Gio Rojas, the top prep pitcher in the class and the best lefty in the draft, fell to them at No. 16. He has stuff and polish, and if his changeup continues to develop, he could race through the minors. At No. 55, they snagged Blake Comeau, a 6'4" prep infielder with a plus hit tool and tons of projection. Finally, they landed 6'9" prep lefty Brody Bumila at No. 89. Bumila was getting top 25 buzz as a massive pitcher with a fastball that can hit triple digits, a biting slider and a solid change. 

The rest of the draft was solid if unspectacular, as Texas was clearly trying to save money to sign its top three. The first three picks fell perfectly for the Rangers, and they were bold enough to capitalize.

Nationals

Texas A&M Aggies infielder Chris Hacopian is one of the draft’s best pure hitters. | John Rivera/Getty Images

Like the Rangers, the Nationals had good players fall to them and capitalized. They landed one of the draft’s best pure hitters at No. 11 in Texas A&M’s Chris Hacopian, then followed that at No. 42 with TCU’s Chase Brunson, a productive outfielder with solid tools across the board. It was a solid start to a productive Day 1.

Prep shortstop Luke Williams went to Washington at No. 78. He’s a speedster who is likely to stick at short, but has high upside despite questions about his hit tool and raw power.  Texas prep righty Cooper Harris was a value pick at No. 106 as he has the makings of four solid pitches, including a mid-90s fastball. Miami third baseman Daniel Cuvet has power for days and a good arm in the field, which made him a solid bet at No. 138. 

It was a really nice first day for Washington, followed by a solid second day without any standout selections. They did snag prep outfielder Anthony Murphy at No. 466, but he’s almost certainly headed to LSU. 

A job well done in Washington.

Rays

Lackey had to be tempting for Tampa Bay at No. 2 as the allure of a franchise catcher can't be understated. But the franchise showed discipline and took Emerson there, which was the right decision. They continued with another high-upside play in fellow prep shortstop Taj Marchand at No. 33. Marchand has good makeup across the board, with his arm and hit tools standing out. 

Liberty righty Ben Blair was a solid value at No. 49, while prep righty Gavin Giese is a projectable kid who already flashes a really good changeup. Tampa took two tough prep signs in pitchers AJ Rice (No. 203) and Logan Georges (No. 323), but it might not be impossible to land them with some careful accounting. 

It was a high-upside draft for the Rays. I have to applaud them for going all-in. 

College recruiters

College coaches must be thrilled with the draft, as loads of top prep prospects went undrafted or were picked far later than expected. That means virtually all of them will be going to college. All the effort their recruiters put in was worth it. 

Guys like shortstops Archer Horn and Ethan Bass, and pitchers Joseph Contreras, Bo Holloway, Cooper Sides and Landon Brown were all expected to come off the board early but never heard their names called at all. 

NIL may have helped, but strong college commitments likely scared away some teams. With a work stoppage on the horizon, most MLB teams likely wanted to lock in their entire classes and not risk blowing a valuable high selection. 

It was a big weekend for college baseball, which will have a massive influx of young talent next season.

Losers 

Braves

Virginia outfielder AJ Gracia felt like a reach for the Braves at No. 9. | Alyssa McDaniel/Getty Images

The Braves run one of baseball’s best organizations, which is why their draft decisions surprised me. They took Virginia outfielder AJ Gracia at No. 9, which was about 15 spots higher than I had him. There was a ton of talent still on the board, including prep stars Jacob Lombard and Gio Rojas. I figured Atlanta must have cut a deal to save money for the 26th pick. Instead of going big with a high-upside player still on the board, they took Indiana State outfielder Carter Beck, whom I had pegged as a Day 2 pick.

In the second and third rounds, they took prep pitchers Kaiden McCarthy and Jensen Hirschkorn. McCarthy has four competitive pitches but little projection at 6' and 185 pounds. Hirschkorn, on the other hand, is all projection at 6'7" with a mid-90s heater and a low-80s slider. The rest of the draft was fine, but there were no real standout picks. They took a chance on prep third baseman Ryne Barker in the 11th round, and that could pay off given a few of his tools. 

In general, it felt like a missed opportunity given the extra pick and bonus pool money.

Padres

San Diego’s draft felt like a big fireworks show that never went off. Given A.J. Preller’s penchant for flair, I kept waiting for a big swing. In the end, none materialized. 

The Padres took massive prep righty Coleman Borthwick at No. 21. He’s a big fastball-slider guy at 6’6" and 245 pounds. They snagged him about 20 spots higher than he was projected. At No. 60, they snagged Canadian prep infielder Elliot Lascelles, a lefty hitter who had some helium over the last month. I think Lascelles’s bat could wind up being elite, but given that he won’t stick at short, I thought he was a late Day 1 guy. Given its top two picks, I figured San Diego was saving money to take a big-time move later. 

North Carolina righty Ryan Lynch went at No. 97, about where he was projected. There’s a lot of upside there, but also reliever risk despite his electric stuff. After that, the Padres opted for a lot of high-floor college guys, including five seniors. It felt like Preller and Co. were saving money with some of those picks, but other than 17th-round prep right Denton Lord (who is teammates with Borthwick), there’s no one to really use it on in the class. Lord is almost certainly headed to Mississippi State unless the Padres can pull off a financial miracle. 

We’ll see how it plays out. If they’re able to ink Lord, this draft looks completely different. Absent that, this looks like a really bland draft from one of baseball’s most exciting executives.

Mets

Carson Wiggins only played 14 innings in his college career. | Aryanna Frank/Getty Images

The Mets took a huge gamble with the 27th pick, and how it plays out will determine what this draft looks like. They risked their top selection on Arkansas righty Carson Wiggins, who only threw 14 innings in his college career after blowing out his elbow last season. He didn’t pitch this spring while recovering. Wiggins is 6'5" and 215 pounds, can run his fastball up to 102 mph and pairs it with a wicked slider. The issue here is the lack of a track record and there is a lot of reliever risk. It’s a huge gamble with a first-round pick. 

New York was able to get a bit of a steal with potential first-rounder Aiden Robbins at No. 92, but 120th pick Shane Sdao is another Tommy John case who was still working his way back for Texas A&M this year and posted a 7.03 ERA in 71 ⅔ innings. They nabbed Florida righty Luke McNeillie in the fifth round, a 21-year-old with good stuff but spotty command. The rest of the draft was solid at best, though they did roll the dice on California prep catcher Jacon Madrid at No. 390. He’s a field-over hit guy right now, and it’ll take a big investment to pry him away from Oregon, but there’s big upside there.

Overall, the Mets wound up with some intriguing players, but there’s so much risk here that it could be a disaster. If Wiggins stays healthy and becomes a top-end starter, I’ll look silly for questioning this class.

Brewers

Like some other teams on this list, Milwaukee shocked everyone with its first-round pick. At No. 25, the Brewers took California prep shortstop Trey Ebel, after selecting his older brother at No. 32 last year. They are the sons of Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel. I had the younger Ebel ticketed for the fourth round, so the pick made little sense other than to facilitate a family reunion. He has a decent hit tool, enough arm for shortstop and off-the-charts makeup, but does not possess first-round talent.

They followed that up by getting solid value at No. 66 with TCU outfielder Sawyer Strosnider, who had first-round buzz a few weeks ago. California prep righty Julian Garcia has a big fastball and a high-spin curve, and fit well as a fourth-rounder. The team took 10 high schoolers in total, but I simply didn’t see a lot of upside or value in much of the class. 

Like the Braves, the Brewers are one of the best-run organizations in baseball. They know what they’re doing when it comes to acquiring and developing talent. I just don’t see it with this class. 

Red Sox

I’ll be honest, I have no idea what the Red Sox were thinking. At No. 20, they took North Carolina shortstop Jake Schaffner, whom I had as a third-rounder. The 21-year-old has a plus hit tool and is a plus-plus runner, but has no power to speak of and almost certainly won’t stick at shortstop long term thanks to an average-at-best arm. Schaffner is a solid player and could be a good big leaguer, but this was a massive reach with tons of talent still on the board. 

They took Schaffner’s teammate, outfielder Owen Hull at No. 67, which was a solid value, and intriguing Wisconsin prep shortstop Jace Mataczynski at No. 96. I was fine with both of those picks, especially given Mataczynski’s considerable upside. The rest of their Day 1 picks didn't excite, though prep outfielder Martin Shelar (No. 274) has some solid tools, including good raw power. The rest of the class was college-heavy without a ton of upside. 

The Schaffner pick felt like Boston getting a discount to facilitate an overpay later in the draft. But, like the Padres, that really didn’t play out. This class isn't horrible. It just feels like a missed opportunity.

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