2026 MLB mock draft 1.0: Who will go No. 1 to the White Sox? - ESPN

The MLB draft is two months away, so it's a perfect time for our first 2026 mock draft.

Starting with a suddenly very intriguing race to go No. 1 through the 40th pick of the draft, we project what all 30 teams will do.

There is still plenty of time for decisions to work themselves out with high school state tournaments and the college postseason unfolding. The MLB draft combine will be crucial for prospects projected to go in Rounds 3-5, while the real measure for first-round implications will come in private workouts and during team meetings to sort through the information clubs have collected throughout the draft cycle.

Here is how the top of the MLB draft could play out on July 11 in Philadelphia.

Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA

I can already feel White Sox fans tensing up, because projecting this pick has only become more complicated since my last projection about a month ago. The industry buzz is that Cholowsky vs. Grady Emerson is edging closer to a true 50/50 internally for Chicago. I still think Cholowsky wins a toss-up and because of that, he's probably 55% or 60% more likely to be the pick.

Emerson is perceived by other teams as having slightly higher upside and would come with some savings (to be spent on later picks) compared to Cholowsky, with the pro-Cholowsky camp arguing that he'll be a big league shortstop in 12 months and there's less variance/risk in his overall projection.

The other complication here is the competition from below. The Giants have been rumored all spring to be aggressively trying to land Cholowsky or Emerson at No. 4 via an overslot bonus. They just traded Patrick Bailey to Cleveland in a deal that included getting the 29th pick, which comes with just under $3.3 million more pool money.

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