Merry Christmas from The Baseball Kid

 

White Sox get No. 1 pick in 2026 draft: Keep an open mind

Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio was a guest on the Sox Machine podcast Tuesday morning, and he and host Josh Nelson made a case for Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft.

But when the White Sox won the draft lottery Tuesday night, securing that top overall selection, fans took to X and basically anointed UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky as the next superstar on the South Side of Chicago.

On that podcast, Nelson and Ferrin concluded that Cholowsky and Emerson could be described as "1A and 1B" in this draft. 

I'll admit it; I haven't seen either of these two guys play enough to have an opinion. But here are some things I do know:

• The Sox do not have a superstar on their current roster, nor do they have one in their minor league system. So, getting this top overall selection represents a golden opportunity to change that. 
• Cholowsky is the top-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline's list right now, and some say he's the best college shortstop in the past 20 years.
• Experts have compared Cholowsky to Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson. There's nothing wrong with that. Swanson has been a good player. I'd take him, but he's not a superstar. If Cholowsky is Swanson, then he's not a "generational talent," as I've heard some claim.
• There is a lot of baseball left to be played between now and the draft. There are a lot of opportunities to collect more data on Cholowsky, Emerson and every other player projected to go early in the first round. 
• Rankings can (and often do) change.

The Sox should keep an open mind as they go through this process, and select wisely. It's simply too early to say any single player is a slam dunk to be taken No. 1 overall. 

Happy Thanksgiving from The Baseball Kid!

 

White Sox exercise Luis Robert's $20 million option

Luis Robert Jr. will be back in center field for the White Sox in 2026. 

Probably. If he doesn't get injured or traded first. 

Sox general manager Chris Getz had been insistent since the middle of summer that the team would exercise Robert Jr.'s $20 million contract option for next season, and on Tuesday, the club did exactly that.

It looks like a massive overpay. The 28-year-old batted just .228/.297/.364 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs in 2025. Robert Jr. stole a career-high 33 bases, but two stints on the injured list once again limited him to 110 games.

He did not play after Aug. 26 after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain. 

Despite all that, the argument for keeping Robert Jr. is simple: The Sox don't have anyone else to play center field. Michael A. Taylor retired at the end of the season, so that leaves Brooks Baldwin as the only other guy on the roster who can stand at that position. Does that sound like a good plan to you? Me neither.

What about free agency, you ask? Cedric Mullins and Harrison Bader are probably the two best available guys who can play center field. Trent Grisham is out there, too, but after his 34-homer season with the New York Yankees, let's assume he's going to have offers from teams better than the Sox.

If you're going to overpay a guy, I guess you overpay the guy you already have in house. Robert Jr.'s upside is still higher than those aforementioned three players, even if his 38-homer season in 2023 feels longer ago than two years.

Robert Jr. has been with the Sox for six years, and 2023 remains the only season in which he has hit more than 14 homers. It's also the only season in which he has played more than 110 games. Yes, the two things are related.

A word of caution: I think the ship has sailed on the idea that Robert Jr. can be a premium trade piece. Getz held onto him at the trade deadline this past summer because he didn't like the offers he received, and I think you're going to see something similar this July -- even if Robert Jr. is healthy and effective.

The list of injuries this player has suffered through the years is so long now that he simply can't be trusted, and a healthy first half of 2026 isn't going to be enough to erase that thought from the minds of rival GMs.

If you think the Sox are going to deal Robert Jr. for two or three high-level prospects at midseason, get that thought out of your head right now. It's not realistic.

The hope is he'll be healthy and perform well for a full season with the Sox, and perhaps, finally help pull the team out of the basement in the American League Central.

Perez declines mutual option

In other news, left-handed pitcher Martin Perez declined a $10 million mutual option for 2026 and instead will receive a $1.5 million buyout.

Perez went 1-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) in 2025. There was nothing particularly wrong with his performance, but Perez missed significant time with a left elbow strain and left shoulder inflammation. He was on the injured list at season's end.

At age 34, and with two injuries to his pitching arm in the same season, Perez can no longer be trusted to take the mound. It's best that the Sox move forward without him. 

White Sox finish season at 60-102

The long slog of MLB's regular season is over, and the White Sox have finished 2025 with a 60-102 record after Sunday's 8-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

The 60 wins represent a 19-win improvement from 2024. In baseball, such a year-over-year increase would normally be cause for thunderous applause. But when you're coming off a season in which you were the worst team in the 125-year history of modern baseball, perhaps that increase is only a modest step forward. The bar was set so low.

The Sox started September by winning eight of the first 10 games during the month. At that point, their record was 57-90, and fans were actively rooting for the team to avoid 100 losses. Alas, the Sox concluded the season with a dreadful final two weeks, dropping 12 of their last 15 games.

That sentenced them to their third consecutive 100-loss season. The franchise has lost 100 or more games in its 125-year existence only seven times. Four of those seven seasons have occurred since 2018. It's a huge indictment on everyone who has been in a decision-making role with the franchise over the past 10 to 15 years.

Although, let's be honest: If the Sox had finished 63-99, would that have been meaningfully better than going 60-102? I don't think so.

Either way, the Sox have the best odds of getting the No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. May the lottery luck be with them, because the franchise could use a break.

The narrative around the team is surprisingly positive, with the cheerleaders on the TV broadcast and some in the podcast arena touting performances from rookie players -- including Colson Montgomery, Shane Smith, Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth, Edgar Quero and Mike Vasil.

Indeed, each of these players showed well enough to stick in the majors after they were called up. Nobody fell flat on their faces. Nobody got sent back to the minor leagues from that group. If you've followed the Sox through the years, you know that's something.

The question is, can they do it again in 2026 when there are more expectations placed upon them?

Many people have wondered whether the improved won-loss record and the emergence of this rookie class means 2025 was a success for the Sox.

I have two thoughts on that: First, a 100-loss season is never a success. Never. It's a catastrophe. Second, that said, the losing serves a purpose if young players learn from it, grow and get better in the years ahead.

Ask me again in two years whether 2025 was a success. If all these young guys actually form the core of a contending team down the road, then yes, this could be a year that you look back on as a building block. But if all these guys regress, and this leads to nothing in particular, then we're just circling the drain over and over again. 

Fraser Ellard, Bryan Ramos join White Sox as September callups

Major League Baseball rosters expanded to 28 on Monday, with each team being allowed to add one pitcher and one position player for September.

No matter what the White Sox did, it probably wasn't going to be all that inspirational. They chose two players we've seen before: left-handed reliever Fraser Ellard and infielder Bryan Ramos.

The 27-year-old Ellard has been struggling all season. He made the Sox out of spring training, but he didn't do much with the opportunity. He appeared in eight games, going 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA. Then he got hurt. Twice. 

Ellard has since made 23 appearances at Triple-A Charlotte, where he is 2-1 with a 6.84 ERA. 

It's not great, but that didn't stop the Sox from throwing Ellard right into the fire Monday. He was used as the opener in a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Ellard got five outs and would have completed two innings if not for an error on third baseman Curtis Mead. He was charged with an unearned run, as he walked three batters despite not allowing a hit. That said, the Sox were leading 3-0 when he walked off the mound with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning. It could have been worse.

Ramos batted .202/.252/.333 in 32 games with the wretched 2024 Sox, but we hadn't seen him in Chicago this season until Monday.

His season started with an elbow injury, and when he came off the injured list in April, he slumped badly in Triple-A Charlotte. But, he has shown signs of life in the second half, and he's already on the 40-man roster, so perhaps that's why he's getting an opportunity.

Ramos is batting .218/.317/.391 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs in Charlotte this season. Not impressive, right? However, it's only fair to look at what's been happening recently:

• First half: .194/.305/.358
• Second half: .254/.336/.440 

That second half isn't anything great, but hey, it's palatable. Ramos appeared as a pinch runner in the eighth inning Monday, replacing Chase Meidroth, who had twisted an ankle earlier in the game.

Ramos ended up scoring the game-tying run on a double by Brooks Baldwin. Moments later, Mike Tauchman doubled home Baldwin as part of a two-run eighth that turned a 5-4 Sox deficit into a 6-5 win.

Some other highlights from Monday:

• Colson Montgomery hit his 16th homer of the season. He has homered in each of the four games he's played against Minnesota.
• Meidroth hit his fourth homer of the season, a two-run blast off a hanging slider from Minnesota starter Bailey Ober in the second inning.
• Jordan Leasure retired all four batters he faced for his team-leading fifth save. Yes, five saves is enough to lead the Sox bullpen.

The Sox are 50-88, and they have evened the season series with the Twins at 5-5. 

Happy Labor Day from The Baseball Kid