Why The White Sox Draft Lottery Win Goes Beyond The Top Pick
The White Sox had luck on their side when they won the draft lottery, as they were the first team to have the best odds to win the pick and actually win it. While typically winning the first overall pick in baseball isn’t a huge deal, as most players aren’t a guarantee, this year was different. For the first time in a while, there is a consensus top pick, one that scouts have been gushing about.
That player is Roch Cholowsky, a shortstop from UCLA. Cholowsky won the Baseball America College Baseball Player of the Year award last season and looks to build on his already stellar resume. When it’s all said and done, barring anything crazy happening, he will be the pick for the White Sox when they’re on the clock. This will net the White Sox the best player on the board, and instantly give them a top-10 prospect in all of baseball.
However, the White Sox getting the best player in the draft isn’t the only perk. Getting the first overall pick gives them more money to work with, as the slot value for the first pick is a significant amount of money. As of right now, barring any acquisitions of compensatory picks, the White Sox will have just over 17 million to spend in the draft, according to Dan Soemann of Spotrac.
This gives the White Sox the third most money to spend in the draft, as they sit behind the Pirates and the Rays. The just Rays hopped over the White Sox, as they acquired a compensatory pick from the Orioles in a recent trade, which gave them a few extra million in their bonus pool.
Now, the White Sox are armed with a significant sum of money and the ability to get the best prospect in the draft. But, since the slot value is so high for the first pick, that gives the White Sox even more flexibility throughout the draft.
James Fox of Future Sox gave a great example of what this allows the White Sox to do with this bonus pool money.
For example: the #WhiteSox could sign Roch Cholowsky for $10 million and he’d break the bonus record by $700K. They’d still save around $1.3 million on the pick to use later.
— James Fox (@JamesFox917) December 10, 2025
The estimated value of the number one pick will be about 11.3 million dollars. Nobody has ever been given a bonus in the double digits in the history of the draft. This means the White Sox can give Cholowsky an unprecedented signing bonus and spread that money throughout the rest of the draft.
As Fox points out above, the largest bonus ever given out was around 9.3 million dollars, given to both Chase Burns and Charlie Condon. The White Sox could break that record by almost 1 million dollars and still have around a million extra to play with. That is a game changer.
For comparison, that money is equal slot value to a late second/early third round pick. This could allow the White Sox to convince a top prep player to sign with them in the second round by almost doubling the value of the pick. That could allow them to get two significant players in the draft.
For the first time in a while, it seems the White Sox are back on track and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The team will be fun to watch this year and the farm system will be absolutely loaded after this draft. When Justin Ishbia finally takes over, the team could really be cooking with fire.