The Chicago White Sox have signed number 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky to a record setting deal which will feature a $10.35M signing bonus. Back in 2024, Chase Burns (CIN), and Charlie Condon (COL) each earned $9.25M bonuses to jointly set the previous record.
“At the end of the day, we were most comfortable with Roch Cholowsky with our first pick, regardless of what the signing bonus was going to be,” Chicago GM Chris Getz told reporters. “You look at what he has done throughout his baseball career, both at UCLA, but prior to that…We had interest in him in high school and then to be able to watch his college career unfold and see what he accomplished and the impact that he had on his teammates and that program and now to envision that type of influence within this organization is something that attracted us to select him at No. 1.”
The 6’2″ shortstop hit .320 with 21 home runs, and 60 RBIs across 60 games for the Bruins this past season. Over the course of his 3 year collegiate career, Cholowsky amassed 52 homers, with 167 RBIs, and a 1.072 OPS in 178 games on the west coast.
The right handed bat becomes the third player selected first overall by the White Sox in franchise history joining Harold Baines (1977) and Danny Goodwin (1971). He’s also the 2nd UCLA player to be chosen atop the amateur draft joining fellow alum Gerrit Cole who was taken 1st overall by the Pirates back in 2011.
With three years of college ball on his resume, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how much time Cholowsky will require in the minors. However, most scouts agree that they can’t foresee him making an appearance on the club’s big league roster in 2026 despite their surprising spot in the standings.
At 50-45 the White Sox currently sit atop the AL Central standings at the All-Star break, but are in a virtual dead head with the Cleveland Guardians (51-46). When regular season action resumes on Friday, Chicago will travel to Toronto for a 3 game series, followed by a trip to Texas to take on the Rangers.
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