It did not take long for the to sign . Just two days after the draft, Cholowsky and the ChiSox have agreed to a record $10.35 million signing bonus, reports . That is a little more than $1 million below the $11,350,600 slot value for the No. 1 pick. The White Sox have not yet announced the signing.
Chicago can and almost certainly will use the roughly $1 million in savings from Cholowsky’s below-slot bonus to sign other draft picks. , one that included Hall of Fame Jim Thome’s son, Landon.
Here are the largest signing bonuses in draft history:
Roch Cholowsky, White Sox
2026
No. 1
$10.35 million
,
2024
No. 2
$9.25 million
,
2024
No. 3
$9.25 million
,
2023
No. 1
$9.2 million
,
2023
No. 2
$9 million
The largest guarantee in draft history is four-year, $15.1 million major-league contract with the Nationals in 2009. That included a $7.5 million signing bonus. Drafted players are no longer eligible to sign major-league contracts that put them directly on the 40-man roster. Those deals were done away with when the bonus pool era arrived in 2012.
Cholowsky, 21, was the consensus No. 1 player in the draft class. The UCLA shortstop slashed .320/.453/.636 with 21 homers and as many walks as strikeouts (36 each) in 60 games for the Bruins this spring. He is a do-it-all player with contact skills, power, great defensive chops, and strong leadership skills. It won’t be long until Cholowsky joins Chicago’s up-and-coming team.
The White Sox entered the All-Star break in first place in the AL Central with a 50-45 record. They’re percentage points ahead of the 51-46 . Chicago’s +35 run differential is the second best in the American League behind the (+91).
