2 hours ago, Lukakke Appling said:

The elder Emerson just got called up. I think we need to keep an eye on how he does. If he does good, you definitely don’t draft Grady. If he stinks it up, you consider it. One brother always gets the big time talent. Never both.

I’m mostly kidding. Mostly.

They are not related.

14 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

They are not related.

Now why’d you have to go and do that to me? In front of everyone, too.

Over-Slot Mock 3.0. Will share the top 10.

https://overslotbaseball.com/mock-drafts/mlb-draft-mock-draft-3/

Less than two months until the 2026 Draft is underway and the Chicago White Sox are officially on the clock. It's still far too early to have confidence in mocks drafts. Here, or at any other publication. Teams and their directors like players, yes, but we're just now getting to the point of the season where guys are doubling-back on players. Pre-draft meetings for organizations are still a month away, as is the MLB Draft Combine. One director picking in the teens told me this week they legitimately have 40 players in play for their first pick. Again, teams like players, but nobody really has a clue what's going to happen yet.

Roch Cholowsky remains the No. 1 pick in this mock draft, however there are several players near the top of the board being scouted heavily by the White Sox. Probably just due diligence, but Cholowsky going at the very top doesn't seem set in stone. There are folks in the industry who view Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey as not only the best player in the class, but one of the top three college catching prospects ever available in any draft -- his reviews in some circles are that glowing.

Grady Emerson remains the top high schooler off the board in this scenario and he's got at least a fractional chance to go No. 1. Jacob Lombard continues to get effusive reports from those that have been in to see him. Lombard (and most Florida high school prospects) will see his season end in about a week.

This class feels particularly devoid of infield talent both on the high school and college side. It's made for a difficult evaluation cycle for some teams that are facing the reality they'll likely have to zig from their conventional approach in the draft toward something more nuanced in 2026.

It's an interesting class that lacks the perceived tiers of years past. There's certainly a top three in this class, but behind those names, it's presently more of a crapshoot.

1. SS Roch Cholowsky to Chicago White Sox

UCLA

Bats Throws Height Weight

R R 6-2 203

Roch Cholowsky

Scouting Report

Bats: R, Throws: R

Cholowsky remains the overwhelming favorite to go No. 1 overall among folks in the industry. For as much chatter on the internet and elsewhere there has been about Grady Emerson perhaps going in this spot, it still seems relatively unlikely. You can find front office executives that believe Emerson has a higher ceiling than Cholowsky's, but surrendering what feels like a high floor for the chance at an extended development path and considerably high volatility feels like a fools errand with the No. 1 pick.

2.) Grady Emerson - Rays

3.) Vahn Lackey - Twins

4.) Jacob Lombard - Giants

5.) Jackson Flora - Pirates

6.) Eric Booth Jr - Royals

7.) Drew Burress - Orioles

8.) Bo Lowrance - Athletics

9.) Cade Townsend - Braves

10.) Chris Hacopian - Rockies

If I’m the Rockies I’m doing what I can to float Booth down to 10.

Vahn Lackey vs. RPI Top 25: .186/.333/.326 in 12 games

46 minutes ago, Jake said:

Vahn Lackey vs. RPI Top 25: .186/.333/.326 in 12 games

What is it for Cholowsky?

4-6 series isn't much to draw a conclusion, unless we have a way to compare quality of pitching the two have faced....

18 hours ago, Lukakke Appling said:

Now why’d you have to go and do that to me? In front of everyone, too.

Sorry. My bad.

On 5/18/2026 at 10:30 AM, Jake said:

Vahn Lackey vs. RPI Top 25: .186/.333/.326 in 12 games

These stats are much more useful for pitchers than hitters in my opinion. The best pitchers I saw in college in my day went to Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast. That wasn't an abnormal experience either. Saw a bunch of Friday studs who went on to get drafted that weren't playing at big schools. I'll say that the bullpens were always better against top competition, but starters can be pretty spread out.

On 5/10/2026 at 11:29 AM, DirtySox said:

I'm with you.

While I have much more fun picking Grady or Lombard in the draft simulator at Over-Slot, Roch just makes too much sense. The floor is so high with him. Even if he just becomes Dansby Swanson, he fits the timeline perfectly. You can probably plug him in sometime in 2027. While there's definitely room to upgrade the lineup, I'm not mad at trotting out some combination of Antonacci, Murakami, Vargas, Colson, Braden, Meidroth, Teel, and Roch. Perhaps Bonemer is close and getting reps in a corner OF spot too.

I'm actually a bit more worried about the pitching side of things in coming years. I think I'm out on Hagen as a starter. Oppor is a mess, and there isn't much more waiting in the wings. I do like Gabe Davis a lot though. Hope McDougal bounces back quick as well. They really need to add some arms in this class.

Fully agree with this. That being said, keep collecting cheap, controllable positional talent and you can always trade some for pitching needs. I also expect us at some point soon to go out and sign a veteran impact starter with our immense financial flexibility, which should negate some of the near term concerns. I do agree the pitching pipeline has begun to run a bit dry though and will need reinforcements.

On 5/14/2026 at 10:30 AM, fathom said:

I would hope the Sox would get more than just a comp pick to be honest

Fully agree. I can see the core logic, but a comp pick for a previous top 100 catching prospect who is still insanely young seems very light to me.

On 5/17/2026 at 5:28 PM, ron883 said:

What are the chances that a comp pick even becomes as good as Gonzalez is now?

Right. He's a former 1st round pick himself finally having a great season after being bad since he was drafted. Rather hold onto him than trade for a draft pick.

On 5/13/2026 at 10:15 PM, Quin said:

It would be insanity if they DFA'd him instead of using his options.

No one here suggested they would

45 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

On the flipside, Wes Kath.

4 hours ago, DirtySox said:

Would Roch have been a high pick out of high school?

On 5/17/2026 at 5:28 PM, ron883 said:

What are the chances that a comp pick even becomes as good as Gonzalez is now?

Not great, but the Sox really seem intent on not exposing him in Chicago. Otherwise, he could certainly be in the majors or at least getting some OF work in the minors. It's just really weird. He might be exposed but worth the risk to find out.

On another matter, all this talk of punting picks to select high school pitching gives me those 4-rounds Jared Kelly shakes.

15 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

Would Roch have been a high pick out of high school?

Potentially first round. Pipeline had him 44th in that draft, but I remember others having him higher.

20 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

Not great, but the Sox really seem intent on not exposing him in Chicago. Otherwise, he could certainly be in the majors or at least getting some OF work in the minors. It's just really weird. He might be exposed but worth the risk to find out.

On another matter, all this talk of punting picks to select high school pitching gives me those 4-rounds Jared Kelly shakes.

I think you are most likely to see punting to grab a position player with pick 41. I wouldn't be against them doing it for high school pitching in addition to a hitter though.

18 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

I think you are most likely to see punting to grab a position player with pick 41. I wouldn't be against them doing it for high school pitching in addition to a hitter though.

Really the question is do you want to set yourselves up to go overslot in the 2nd, 3rd, maybe 4th, and then again with 2 to 3 picks after the 10th. Don't think of it as where you go under, but as a total package. If you don't go under somewhere, you can't go over somewhere else. Are a few senior signs worth an extra HS pick or two?

1 hour ago, DirtySox said:

I think you are most likely to see punting to grab a position player with pick 41. I wouldn't be against them doing it for high school pitching in addition to a hitter though.

They certainly need an influx of pitching. Baseball scouting is hard and scouting hghscool pitching is the toughest of all.
The punt rounds 6-10 seem to be good places to take a look at some college pitching; maybe not full-punts though.

52 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

They certainly need an influx of pitching. Baseball scouting is hard and scouting hghscool pitching is the toughest of all.
The punt rounds 6-10 seem to be good places to take a look at some college pitching; maybe not full-punts though.

So you want less high ceiling, overslot high school picks. Got it.

3 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

So you want less high ceiling, overslot high school picks. Got it.

Less reaching. Less using rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the next Kelly.