Inside access as White Sox make Cholowsky No. 1 MLB draft pickplayWhat No. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky brings to the White Sox (0:41)Jesse RogersJul 15, 2026, 07:05 AM ETClose
- Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
CHICAGO — It was 20 hours before the Chicago White Sox would be officially on the clock to start the 2026 MLB draft, and they still weren’t fully decided on who they were going to take with the No. 1 pick.
At 4 p.m. local time Friday in the bowels of Rate Field, where the first-place White Sox would host the Athletics later that evening, more than two dozen team personnel filed into the team’s theater — a three-level news conference room that doubles as a meeting area and was serving as their draft war room on this day.
The White Sox had owned the No. 1 pick since winning the draft lottery during December’s winter meetings. But even after months of scouting trips and countless hours pouring over video and metrics, staff members weren’t completely convinced of their direction. They had whittled their choices down from hundreds of draft-eligible players to two shortstops: 21-year-old UCLA junior Roch Cholowsky and 18-year-old Texas high school senior Grady Emerson.
General manager Chris Getz appeared in front of personnel from every department within the organization and started the final meeting.
“I can’t say we’ve got complete clarity quite yet,” he mentioned to the group. “Certainly, no harm in going through these guys again.”
And thus began a 40-minute debate — 20 minutes on Cholowsky and 20 minutes on Emerson — wherein each department weighed in on the pros and cons of each player as highlights of both played on an overhead projection screen. ESPN was granted access to the meeting without any restrictions — a rare look behind the scenes as the main decision-makers contemplated their franchise-altering choice.
Getz was the ringmaster throughout, steering the conversation to each department as personnel shared what they’ve learned about each player. Each group was important and heard. Each came with a different perspective — all in the name of collaboration. While Getz would ultimately make the final call, it became clearer with every voice that this was a group decision. And in Chicago’s case, the hardest part was that neither player was a bad choice.
“Regardless of where we go, just f—ing make it happen,” Getz mentioned. “They’re both good players. We all acknowledge that they’re going to be really good major league players. And we control a lot of this too, right? If we believe that these guys are going to be good major league players, they’re going to be good major league players.”
The Cholowsky discussion
To begin, Getz asked vice president of amateur scouting Mike Shirley for his take on the right-handed-hitting Cholowsky and what he could bring to the organization.
Shirley: “What did Alex Bregman do for the Astros? Didn’t that push something forward? He helped them build out what they did. These college players at the top of the scale are different.”
Like Getz, Shirley acknowledged “it’s close” between the two prospects, urging those in the room to share a new take on either player if they had one. Shirley then handed off to West Coast supervisor Scott Thomas.
Thomas: “The totality of the package. The tools, the instincts, there’s not a whole lot of holes you can really look at with him.
“Just keep going back to the makeup and the ability to make adjustments. I think this guy is an every-day contributor on a championship club. I think this guy fits in extremely well with what’s going on here in our organization.”
Cholowsky’s ability to make adjustments came up often, as he isn’t a finished product at the plate. Though his junior year at UCLA was good — he slashed .320/.452/.636 (1.088 OPS) — it was actually a slight step back from his sophomore season. He “held serve,” as Shirley had put it earlier in the week, while Emerson was closing the gap.
Shirley: “We took the plane off the ground and we all felt really good about this, right? And we got to cruising altitude and everybody started to feel really good. They did. But then all of a sudden, there’s some turbulence on this thing. We started getting bumpy.”
Thomas: “The way he was being pitched to, I wish he would have made more of an adjustment knowing that he was getting pitched hard in, soft away. I do think he did his part throughout the entirety of the spring in regards to making those adjustments. But knowing that he’s never worked with a hitting coach, there’s things to unlock here.”
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He then emphasized Cholowsky’s defensive versatility, noting his ability to play second base, shortstop or third base without any concerns. Getz then asked director of hitting Ryan Fuller if there was a “pathway” to solving any issues at the plate.
Fuller: “I really see this as two different players. Before two strikes and with two strikes. Half of his ABs came from that really compromised position [behind in the count/two strikes] where you can nitpick a lot. Those produced the softest contact. His hard hit rate fell off 16% with two strikes, pop-up rate [went up] and he was hitting .198.
“Before two strikes [were] my favorite swings. He had a 1.400 OPS pre-two strikes. So, the more we could have that show up, I think that’s going to be even more special rather than hitting from a compromised position half the time.”
Fuller and Getz noted mechanical work needed on Cholowsky’s lead arm during his swing — “softening” the arm bar, according to Getz. And the group took note of some potential untapped power, recognizing his 12% strikeout rate would rise — along with his home run rate.
Getz: “Let’s say there was a give upwards to 18, even towards 20%. What does that mean from a production standpoint? That’s an additional home run a week. Then what does this whole thing look like?”
The group debated Cholowsky’s two-strike approach some more, chalking most of it up to playing big-time college baseball. No matter his issues, the room agreed, the White Sox would be getting someone willing to be coached.
Fuller: “I told him, ‘What if I told you we hate your arm bar and your two-strike approach? He was just like, ‘Yeah. Yeah, my dad told me I’m done [with that]. Two-strike approach. Just, like, put the ball in play, be a good teammate. I’m ready to do that.’
“He was really juiced up to see the plan that we would have in place for him.”
A look inside the Chicago White Sox’s 2026 MLB draft war room. Jesse Rogers/ESPNSitting near the center of the room, possessing a deep, recognizable voice, was special assistant to player development Phil Nevin. The former No. 1 draft pick also was a vital voice, lending MLB playing and coaching credentials to a room full of scouts and analysts. Getz asked him for his take.Nevin: “The person is off the charts for me. Zero concerns. In fact, I go the other way. For a while you think, ‘Is this real? Is this real?’ And then the more you talk to him, it’s real. This is a real dude. It’s a real leader in that atmosphere.”When you draft a college player 1-1, you’re kind of almost expecting like this time next year when we’re sitting in this room, we’re walking outside and watching Roch play. And so what does that leadership mean when you put him in that room next year? He doesn’t walk in and become a leader right away. That’s earned. I don’t care who you are and where you come from. Does he fit in that room? Absolutely. I think he already fit in that room two weeks ago and he loves being part of that.”The reference was to a secret visit by Cholowsky in June. It could not have been scripted any better as the White Sox beat the visiting Atlanta Braves in walk-off fashion, with rookie Braden Montgomery hitting an extra-inning home run in his major league debut.
Nevin: “I think we’re talking about two very similar personalities when you get to know the insides of both of these players. One’s three years younger; one’s three years older. And that’s it.”
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After that subjective analysis, Getz turned to a more objective voice by asking Matt Grabowski, the team’s director of acquisitions (essentially research and development), for his input. Grabowski compared Cholowsky to Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto, noting that Cholowsky was a tick ahead of Neto at that point in his career, with room to improve.
Grabowski: “I think what gives us more comfort is there’s a clear path to improving the damage and improving the two-strike approach. So, even given just average development, we’re projecting out a very, very, very stable player.
“We might underestimate how big the ceiling really is.”
The comparison to Neto boiled down to this: If the floor is Neto, both offensively and defensively, that’s still a good outcome considering Neto posted 5.3 bWAR last season. Grabowski noted that picking Cholowsky would be “culture safe.”
Chicago’s VP of amateur scouting jumped in at that reference to Cholowsky’s intangibles.
Shirley: “I’ve never seen a college shortstop be as intentional and into the game, pitch to pitch, than this guy. That says a lot. Just his makeup. He runs the club, every pitch at UCLA.”
At that point, Cholowsky’s “physicality” came up. Getz turned to Geoff Head, Chicago’s director of sports performance.
Head: “He weighed in around 205 pounds. Our models for projection likely would put him around adding 15 pounds in the next few years, which honestly would favor his athleticism.
“When we run the model, if he loses weight, his athleticism actually regresses a good bit. Now it’s not common to lose weight, so we don’t think that’s a very likely outcome.”
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Head indicated Cholowsky’s lower-body strength put him in the 90th percentile of current White Sox players, with room to grow as a baserunner.
“He’s one of the first ones into the gym, if not the first one,” he mentioned. “He takes his body very seriously. He takes his routine very seriously. He loves to train.”
Getz wrapped up the Cholowsky conversation by adding that if he’s the pick, there’s no more rush to get him to the majors than if they took the younger Emerson.
Getz: “We’ve got a really solid infield at the major league level. Our major league holes are not on the infield. You can allow more of a natural development to happen versus oftentimes when you have the first pick, you’re very much in either the beginning of a rebuild or the midst of a rebuild. It’s like this pressure to get this player up to change the direction of things, where here it can be more of an organic natural fit in there.
“And it just sets the player up just to go out there and play.”
The Emerson discussion
The group then turned its attention to the left-handed-hitting Emerson, who kept Cholowsky from being an easy choice for Chicago by slashing .532/.648/1.013 in his senior year at Fort Worth Christian High School.
Shirley: “Be mindful of the fact that he made this a race. We thought this was a runaway. I got a lot of admiration for what this kid actually did to make this so close, to make this a difficult decision.
“The combine, the interview, the professionalism, the approach, the maturity he showed was something that I think closed this even further.”
Southwest supervisor Ryan Dorsey described Emerson as having a “borderline slump avoiding approach” after watching the prep star throughout his storied high school career.
Dorsey: “Just comparing him to Roch, they had the same amount of home runs in high school. I think if it’s in a situation where we just put him in the system and match him up against everyone there, he’s going to rise fairly quickly. It’s a true, true hit-plus-power combination at a very, very high level.”
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He mentioned Emerson’s defensive prowess, describing him as seemingly without a weakness. Then he made note of what he saw and heard about Emerson’s character.
Dorsey: “As far as the makeup, I think he’s right there with anybody, as well. He’s had all the spotlight on him since he’s been in middle school. So, I have no concerns about this kid. I think they’re both great, great players. One’s in high school; one’s in college. One’s left-handed; one’s right handed.”
Getz tossed it back Chicago’s director of hitting for an assessment of Emerson at the plate.
Fuller: “The swing is not a ton to pick out here. Small things: don’t open up early, the pull-side ground balls, but he shows the ability to do that already. This would be so exciting to build this guy up … get him stronger in the weight room, see what he could be.
“It would be one where he’s starting from a really nice point for us to build upon.”
Getz asked for any concerns.
Fuller: “The contact was a little bit lower than when you look at the swing and what he predicts for contact.”
Grabowski: “It was a little bit of struggle with breaking balls.”
The sports performance group noted how “professional” Emerson already is at taking care of his body. He weighed in at just under 200 pounds before the draft, and the White Sox project him to add about 20 pounds as he enters his 20s, rounding out to around 220 by 25 years old.
Head: “His metrics from what we were provided only put him around the 50th percentile from a power-output standpoint right now, but that’s graded for current major league players. If you factor that in for his current age and project that out, he’s over the 90th percentile so long as he does a really good job in taking advantage of our resources and our staff to help develop him out.”
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Emerson graded out as a “really good runner,” according to Head. Getz asked if he was “above average,” and a new voice weighed in.
Garrett Guest, assistant director of amateur scouting: “I think he plays between the lines above average with a raw run tool. It’s going to be much better than that. And I do think the first step is really quick to allow him to have that speed play in the range.”
The baserunning discussion went on for a few more minutes before Getz brought up his conversation with A’s manager Mark Kotsay a day earlier. Kotsay noted the “college atmosphere” the current White Sox team has created.
Getz: “It’s an interesting point. I think we’ve all felt it where there’s something about that college competition that you enter into professional baseball, get to the big leagues, and it’s a little bit more ingrained into the player where oftentimes the high school player, the international player, they just never really had to play in those environments.”
It was perhaps the first hint of where Getz was leaning with the pick. All things being equal, Cholowsky had played big-time college baseball for three years. But Emerson wasn’t a stranger to important games, either, even as a high-school-aged player.
Guest: “I always feel a little more secure about a kid that’s played for Team USA, and [Emerson] has done it multiple times. When you go there, you can’t really be worried about your own stat line. You’re really worried about trying to win the game, especially when you go back the second time.”
Getz then turned to director of player personnel Gene Watson — a Texas native with deep ties to the state — for his take.
Watson: “Incredible acumen to hit. Tremendous worker. Obviously, playing for Rusty Greer and Curtis Wilkerson, he’s had a big league coaching staff all along. Grady is one of the best young hitters that I’ve seen come out of the state in a really long time.”
He noted that Emerson changed high schools in order to play for Greer, a nine-year major leaguer with the Texas Rangers, and Wilkerson, who spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors, in a less hitter-friendly environment.
“With the wind blowing in from right,” Watson mentioned. “I think it actually helped his approach in using the whole field.”
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The discussion over the two players was winding down, but Getz wanted his team to look under every rock before settling on their pick.
Getz: “We’re down to these two guys. Is there anything we’re missing? Anything we haven’t talked about? Does anyone want to add anything?
A pause in the room opened the door for special assistant Dave Keller, who was instrumental in the team’s offseason acquisition of Japanese star Munetaka Murakami.
Keller: “In this position, it almost becomes like risk evaluation. So, what’s going to get Roch if something gets him? What’s going to trip up Grady? If something gets him.
“That’s the only thing that I would add, is which one feels like more risk than the other?”
The GM responded by referencing the question marks surrounding Murakami before he arrived in Chicago. He noted how the team helped “unlock” some things in Murakami and reaffirmed Getz’s belief that it’s up to the team to bring out the best in whoever it takes.
Getz: “That’s what makes this tricky. You’re looking at a high school kid, you’re like, ‘Wow, OK.’ It’s about as advanced as you see at that age and you feel like it’s only going to get better.
“But then you got this one guy that’s been battle-tested a little bit more but really hasn’t trained optimally for himself.”
The decision
By the end of the meeting, Getz was leaning more toward Cholowsky while fully acknowledging Emerson was likely to be a good player, as well. The June visit from Cholowsky might have convinced both sides that this was the right course of action. Before that, those close to Cholowsky understood his connection to the San Francisco Giants, who were picking No. 4 in the draft. Cholowsky, who grew up a Giants fan, loved former shortstop Brandon Crawford and had met with president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
“There was a time period that Roch was unsure,” Getz mentioned. “You just assume that players know about these cities and organizations, and truthfully, they generally don’t. They’re focused on where they are and then like what they watch on TV.
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“So, yeah, there was a little bit of uneasiness I think from his camp, from him. ‘Chicago, I’ve never been there before. White Sox, I know they haven’t been very good.’ But the more he got to know us and when he came to Chicago, spent time with Ryan [Fuller] and experienced a pretty special day with Braden’s debut and walk-off.”
“Man, now he is f—-ing all-in on this place,” Getz continued. “So, how much does that matter? I don’t know, but it is kind of a cool thing to develop.”
The room was quiet again for a moment as everyone contemplated their final thoughts. Shirley jumped in to thank the entire team, acknowledging the tough decision, which also would come down to negotiating a signing bonus. Getz also delivered his parting thoughts, emphasizing there was no bad decision, and turned his attention to the final box to check before making the pick.
The pick is in
Roch Cholowsky signs autographs for fans at Rate Field a day after going No. 1 in the 2026 MLB draft. Griffin Quinn/Getty ImagesLater on Friday evening, Getz got on the phone with Cholowksy’s agent, Joel Wolfe (who also represents Emerson). The goal, according to Getz, was to find the “sweet spot,” allowing the player to feel he is getting his worth while giving the team some flexibility for later in the draft. At that point, the White Sox had just over $17.5 million to spend with the No.1 pick slotted for just over $11.3 million. But the White Sox weren’t quite ready to close the deal; they were busy obtaining another draft pick.”I told Joel on Friday night that we had made a trade that would affect the draft,” Getz told ESPN on Sunday. “He goes, ‘Did you get that Pittsburgh pick?'”The White Sox had indeed traded for the No. 34 pick in the draft, sending shortstop Jacob Gonzalez and reliever Brandon Eisert back to the Pirates. It gave Chicago even more bonus pool money. Getz mentioned he would call Wolfe back. Instead, they exchanged texts later that night, agreeing to pick up the conversation Saturday morning.
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Wolfe was already in Philadelphia for the draft, which is an hour ahead of Chicago.
“I was waiting for the call,” Wolfe mentioned. “Actually, when he started the call, he mentioned he was ready to finish the deal with Grady. I was like ‘What?’ He misspoke. We got it done.”
They settled on $10.35 million, a record for the No.1 pick. Chicago wanted to capitalize on the moment, so Getz had asked if it was OK to have a White Sox TV crew at Cholowsky’s draft party in Arizona for the moment. They had one planned for Emerson, as well, in case they went that direction.
White Sox team photographer Darren Georgia flew to Arizona on Friday on a “hunch.” Then drove in Cholowsky’s “general direction” before finally getting word about 40 minutes before the pick where he should go. But Georgia was told by Wolfe that Cholowsky didn’t want his family to know who was taking him until it was declared on television so the crew arrived claiming they were from MLB — not the White Sox.
“That got us in the door without suspicion and in place for the announcement,” Georgia mentioned.
In Chicago, the White Sox were gathered to make the No. 1 pick and prepare for the long weekend that baseball’s 20-round format brings. The war room was fully stocked for the rigors of the day: Decker’s bagels, Goddess and Grocer, Beatrix and Breakfast House in the morning; lunch was Chipotle, Smoke Daddy, Sweet Green, Osteria Via Stato and Big Bowl; and dinner came from Wildfire, Small Cheval and Cava.
At 1:40 p.m. ET in Philadelphia, Rob Manfred walked to the MLB draft stage and declared Chicago’s choice to the baseball world. In Chicago, the room erupted in applause as Getz hugged Shirley and Guest, his two scouting gurus. In Arizona, Georgia introduced his real identity to Cholowsky and his family.
“After the pick was declared we revealed that we were actually with the Sox, and Roch’s mom, Tika, jokingly was upset that we lied,” Georgia mentioned. “However, she was grateful we were there to capture the moment.”
By Sunday afternoon, Cholowsky had already flown to Chicago to meet the media, sign autographs for fans of his new team and throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Hall of Famer Harold Baines before the White Sox’s first-half finale.
Less than 48 hours after the White Sox gathered to make their final decision, the Cholowsky era was officially underway at Rate Field.
“You make a decision and you go with it,” Getz mentioned. “You don’t look back. You just f—ing make it happen. And that’s what we do. That’s what we’ve done. And that’s the White Sox. That’s what we do.”
