White Sox sign No. 1 draft pick Roch Cholowsky to record $10.35 million bonus
The Chicago White Sox reached a contract with top draft selection Roch Cholowsky, awarding him a $10.35 million signing bonus that sets a new draft-era record.
Chicago signed its first-overall pick, UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, to a $10.35 million signing bonus, the highest ever for a draft-era contract, according to MLB.com. The deal, reached two days after the 2026 MLB Draft, is slightly below the $11.35 million slot value assigned to the No. 1 pick, leaving roughly $1 million in savings for the White Sox to allocate to other selections.
The bonus surpasses the previous record of $9.25 million set in 2024 by Chase Burns and Charlie Condon, who each received that amount as the No. 2 and No. 3 picks. Other recent top bonuses include Paul Skenes' $9.2 million in 2023 and Dylan Crews' $9 million the same year.
Cholowsky, 21, posted a .320/.453/.636 slash line with 21 home runs and 36 walks and strikeouts in 60 games for UCLA this spring, establishing him as the consensus top prospect in the class. The White Sox have not yet announced the official signing, but the agreement positions the team to use the saved funds for additional draft signings.