Just now, hi8is said:

IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER. IF. ROCH. “LIKES”. THE. SOX. OR. NOT.

AT ALL.

Tell that to Benetti and Caleb Williams...joking.

Well it certainly mattered to Konnor Griffin. He discouraged at least two teams from picking him, saying he would honor his college commitment in order to slide to Pitt at 9.

Edited Tuesday at 02:35 AM4 days by caulfield12

1 hour ago, fathom said:

I do think GT losing makes the chances of Lackey going 1-1 even slimmer.

The performances of these two players and teams over the course of 3 games really has MUCH less weight than posters are playing up.

8 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Tell that to Benetti and Caleb Williams...joking.

Well it certainly mattered to Konnor Griffin. He discouraged at least two teams from picking him, saying he would honor his college commitment in order to slide to Pitt at 9.

Again you’re showing a lack of knowledge here - apples to oranges comparison.

What is Rich going to do? Honor his senior year at UCLA?? 😆

23 minutes ago, hi8is said:

The performances of these two players and teams over the course of 3 games really has MUCH less weight than posters are playing up.

I don’t disagree at all, but if GT went to Omaha and Lackey continued to hit the ball to the moon, it would have only helped his stock.

2 hours ago, fathom said:

I don’t disagree at all, but if GT went to Omaha and Lackey continued to hit the ball to the moon, it would have only helped his stock.

And if I would have bought $5,000 of TSLA the first time someone said I should, I’d have about 17 million right now. 🤷🏻‍♂️😆

2 hours ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

I really hope he makes it to 41. I dont think he lasts to 77. Joe Doyle made it sound like he would sign with the Sox for less than what he would be telling other teams his price is. I would kill for a competitive balance pick at this juncture as well.

@Y2Jimmy0 You hearing anything on round 2 and 3 targets? Or saving that for your next mock?

Edited Thursday at 02:18 AM2 days by DirtySox

59 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

I really hope he makes it to 41. I dont think he lasts to 77. Joe Doyle made it sound like he would sign with the Sox for less than what he would be telling other teams his price is. I would kill for a competitive balance pick at this juncture as well.

@Y2Jimmy0 You hearing anything on round 2 and 3 targets? Or saving that for your next mock?

Sox nepotism is finally going to payoff! But seriously, Thome helping to force his way to the Sox would be incredible.

29 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Sox nepotism is finally going to payoff! But seriously, Thome helping to force his way to the Sox would be incredible.

Yeah agreed..and the better he plays the easier it will be on the Sox end. It he didn’t look great and he’s available at 41, I could see that being a tough choice.

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Sox nepotism is finally going to payoff! But seriously, Thome helping to force his way to the Sox would be incredible.

He can basically force his way to the White Sox, correct? He's a highschooler, so he can tell other teams not to draft him because he's going to college and won't sign. Have a deal done with the Sox ahead of time.

Not sure if that strategy works with players who are thought to go late 1st-early 2nd like Thome. Would anybody really go to college instead of signing as a late 1st?

Edited Thursday at 04:25 AM2 days by ron883

1 hour ago, ron883 said:

Would anybody really go to college instead of signing as a late 1st?

I’m sure it happens but would suspect it’s usually in a different context that is still rare - where a player bets on themselves and moves up from a late first rounder and becomes a 1.1 or 1.2 / top 5 type of guy.

Not sure how often this type of situation has presented itself.

Am sure any of the LLMs would be a good resource though.

I've heard a bunch of guys in different demographics. Hoping to have a 5 round mock this week. Lots of Thome chatter obviously. Heard they really like Coleman Borthwick but I think he'll be gone. Blake Bryant is a prep righty from Georgia. Curious to see where Jack Slightom or other local guys go. There are a couple college bats that I might put in my mock.

16 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

I've heard a bunch of guys in different demographics. Hoping to have a 5 round mock this week. Lots of Thome chatter obviously. Heard they really like Coleman Borthwick but I think he'll be gone. Blake Bryant is a prep righty from Georgia. Curious to see where Jack Slightom or other local guys go. There are a couple college bats that I might put in my mock.

Thanks for the good work. We def got the preferred insider still here after the dustup with Jeep bro. Don't always agree with your or FutureSox' perspectives but it's great free data.

Edited Thursday at 09:05 PM1 day by chitownsportsfan

4 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

dustup with Jeep

that was absurd. Glad that Jeep rolled.

Awesome piece/mock by Taylor Blake Ward.

https://www.thesportingtribune.com/2026/06/04/2026-mlb-mock-draft-10

1. Chicago White Sox - Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA

Throughout the spring, this felt like something you wrote down in pencil with a pen within arm's reach. However, as we approach the final weeks, the pen is starting to become a little more distant from the hand and the pencil may still be airborne.

While UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is still the favorite to land 1-1 with Chicago for a multitude of reasons, the perceived gap between him and others has narrowed. This isn't a gimme for the White Sox who are continuing to do their homework on what should be a franchise-altering decision, or, you know, doing their job. There are at least three options outside of Cholowsky for Chicago, not limited to Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, Texas prep shortstop Grady Emerson and Florida prep shortstop Jacob Lombard.

Lackey seems to have most traction of the back trio and some believe he may be the top choice internally, though there is much more common industry belief that Cholowsky is their man.

Two of the primary decision-makers, GM Chris Getz and scouting director Mike Shirley, were part of the same decision-making group that expressed real interest in taking Cholowsky out of high school in 2023. There is a lengthy scouting track record here and a lot of strong belief in reaching his upside within a competitive window. The pair have shown some transparency in how much they both like the player.

Others who have the ear of ownership, which can be a determining factor with this club, have expressed lesser opinions which has added a wrinkle.

Bonus demands will play a part here, but likely not enough to think there will be a significant swing in any direction. I wrote 1,100+ words about the potential finances (and perception) that can alter the choice at 1-1 which can be read here; but in short, teams picking first overall have granted an average bonus of 83.8% slot value in the bonus-pool era; which in this case would be $9.5M+ and over $1.83M in savings. This pick is going to be a record-setter north of $9.25 million with zero debate.

The dialogue about teams picking lower using newly acquired bonus pool funds to force Cholowsky and Emerson into an eight-digit bonus bracket (more on this later) haven't dissipated but have simmered. Even if the bonus is $10M, that is near 12% slot value savings, north of $1.3 million.

Or, flipping that script, a 75% slot guarantee by turning in medicals at the MLB Draft Combine would guarantee any given player $8,512,950 for this pick, which would be roughly $2.85M in savings, but would it be enough to sway them from the gap on projection of their perceived top four? The money won't be a massive factor as it has been in past years.

All-in-all, this isn't a Caleb Williams or Connor Bedard situation where Chicago is deadlocked on a player months before the draft. Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye and Adam Fantilli and Leo Carlsson are all loudly in the mix.

Generalizing percentage chances as I usually do with the first pick: Cholowsky 44%, Lackey 32%, Emerson 20%, Lombard 3.5%, Field <1.0%.

1 minute ago, DirtySox said:

I mean that just screams KW. KW is the tools king.

2 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

The more things change...

Honestly those percentages are much closer than I would have thought. While I like Lackey, I still assumed Roch was far and away the favorite. I wonder what about Roch would be giving that much pause.

4 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I mean that just screams KW. KW is the tools king.

Why would KW be involved in any capacity? Am I missing something?

7 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

Why would KW be involved in any capacity? Am I missing something?

One of the responses to James guessed Nevin/Thome as perhaps ones not enamored with Roch.

I said it in the other thread, but don’t think Jerry has any real influence on draft picks. This will 100% be Getz & Shirley’s decision, although they will certainly listen to their top advisors.

All that being said, I remain convinced they will take Roch. IMO, a great draft class would be college positional player at 1.01, two or three high ceiling preps (including Thome), and a bunch of college arms. Not sure what the depth and quality of the latter, but this org badly needs to add another wave of pitching in the low minors and I feel it’s easier to find interesting college arms in the mid ti late rounds than it is prep pitching and positional guys in general.

Man, I was so thrilled when the Sox won the lottery because Roch was such a slam dunk that I felt they couldn't mess it up. Now I am almost terrified because I am afraid whoever the pick is, it will be wrong. LOL life of a Sox fan.

4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I said it in the other thread, but don’t think Jerry has any real influence on draft picks. This will 100% be Getz & Shirley’s decision, although they will certainly listen to their top advisors.

All that being said, I remain convinced they will take Roch. IMO, a great draft class would be college positional player at 1.01, two or three high ceiling preps (including Thome), and a bunch of college arms. Not sure what the depth and quality of the latter, but this org badly needs to add another wave of pitching in the low minors and I feel it’s easier to find interesting college arms in the mid ti late rounds than it is prep pitching and positional guys in general.

It's not Jerry I worry about here, it's the corpse of Tony.