Chris Getz Speaks on Importance of First Pick in 2026 Compared To Previous Years
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The MLB Draft lottery system did the White Sox no favors in 2025, but perhaps it worked out for the better.
Despite enduring a record-breaking 121-loss 2024 season, which would typically result in having the No. 1 pick, the White Sox received the 10th pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. That was a result of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rule that prohibits "payor clubs" –– those that give rather than receive revenue sharing dollars –– from having consecutive lottery picks.
The White Sox are a payor club and had a lottery pick in 2024, when they selected left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith fifth overall, rendering them ineligible for the 2025 draft lottery. So with the 10th pick in 2025, the club took high school shortstop Billy Carlson, who some consider the top defensive prospect in recent years.
Regardless of how Carlson turns out, the White Sox picking 10th instead of first –– after being the worst team in the league –– made their uphill battle even steeper and had to be somewhat discouraging at the time. But knowing what they know now, perhaps it played out in their favor in the long term.
The White Sox won the 2026 MLB Draft lottery last week in Orlando, Fla. and will pick No. 1 overall in July. That's cause for excitement any year, but especially when there's such an intriguing top prospect.
"The great thing is this looks like a draft that you really want the No. 1 pick," White Sox general manager Chris Getz said Tuesday on 670 The Score. "Obviously Roch Cholowsky gets a lot of attention, but there are some other players as well."
MLB.com says Cholowsky is considered by some to be the best all-around college shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki, who was drafted in 2005.
During the 2025 season at UCLA, Cholowsky slashed .363/.480/.710/1.190 with 23 home runs, 74 RBIs, seven stolen bases, 45 walks and 30 strikeouts in 324 plate appearances. He won four national player of the year awards, as well as Big Ten defensive player of the year and the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove award at shortstop.
There's still a lot of baseball to be played and evaluations to make before July, but one would be hard-pressed to find a 2026 MLB mock draft that doesn't have Cholowsky as the top pick right now. MLB.com's Jim Callis recently wrote that, over the last decade, only Adley Rutschman was a bigger lock than Cholowsky in December to be the next No. 1 pick.
Like last year, when Eli Willits was taken No. 1 despite being ranked as the No. 5 prospect by MLB.com, such a consensus isn't a given.
"It's just not always the case going into a draft," Getz said. "There's been plenty drafts through the years where, okay, are we gonna go this pathway? You focused on perhaps more the spending throughout the draft just because you feel like the talent isn't so extreme at the top. But in this case, it looks like we got a chance to get a player that is big-time impactful. So, super excited."
So for all that was made about the White Sox being hurt by last year's draft lottery rules, maybe they'll look back in a few years and prefer to have picked No. 1 in 2026 as opposed to 2025.
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Jack Ankony is the beat writer for “Chicago White Sox on SI.” He has been with the Sports Illustrated network since 2022. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism in 2022. Follow Jack on Twitter @ankony_jack
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