UCLA superstar Roch Cholowsky was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft last week. And with that comes a hefty payday.
How hefty? Well, according to a report from the New York Post, Cholowsky signed his rookie contract with a record-breaking $10.35 million signing bonus.
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That tops the previous mark set by Chase Burns and Charlie Condon in 2024 at $9.25 million. Good money, to say the least.
The White Sox will certainly be counting themselves lucky to have inked Roch Cholowsky to his rookie contract, hoping he’s the piece the organization needs to take the next step. He’s certainly got the ability.
“You look at what he has done throughout his baseball career, both at UCLA, but prior to that,” White Sox general manager Chris Getz said after the draft. “We had interest in him in high school and then to be able to watch his college career unfold and see what he accomplished and the impact that he had on his teammates and that program and now to envision that type of influence within this organization is something that attracted us to select him at No. 1.”
Roch Cholowsky scouting report
Cholowsky played three seasons for the UCLA Bruins and continually batted over .300 each season. In 60 games in 2026, Cholowsky had a .320 batting average, 21 home runs, 60 RBI and 74 hits.
Over the course of his college career, Cholowsky had a .329 batting average, 52 home runs, 167 RBI and 224 total hits. He also drew 105 career walks and had a .448 on-base percentage.
MLB.com provided an extensive scouting report on the UCLA star ahead of the draft. It wrote of Roch Cholowsky:
“Cholowsky, the son of former Minor Leaguer and long-time scout Dan Cholowsky, was a top 50 player as a two-sport athlete from the Hamilton High School program in Arizona that produced Cody Bellinger. His commitment to UCLA priced him out and he ended up the highest-ranked player not selected in the 2023 Draft. After a solid freshman year with the Bruins he vaulted himself to the top of 2026 Draft boards by posting a 1.190 OPS with 23 homers as a sophomore. He’s considered by some to be the best all-around college shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki and has done nothing to diminish that take with a solid junior season.
“That lack of pure speed won’t impact him as a defender; he uses what he has in short spaces very well. That, along with his plus instincts, allow him to get to most balls at shortstop, where he profiles as a plus defender with a plus arm. A leader who was a high school quarterback, he serves as the head of his infield in the same manner. His tools and makeup make him look like the kind of player who could be big league ready in a hurry.”