👋 Good morning!
Has anybody coined the term “bipolar vortex” yet?
If not, I’d like to be the first.
Five inches of snow over the weekend, a nice midweek drizzle to make everything incredibly slick before an incoming temperature drop turns every surface into an ice rink…
And then there’s Sunday at Soldier Field. Sunshine with a possible wind chill in the negative teens? That’s just Bear Weather.
Wear Your Heart on Your Head!
New headwear is in the ALLCITY Store now!
*psst* … hats make for great stocking-stuffers, too.
The White Sox Are On The Clock
The White Sox were the big winners of Tuesday night’s 2026 MLB Draft Lottery, obtaining the No. 1 pick — and the rights to select college shortstop Roch Cholowsky — in next July’s draft.
Generational: I can already imagine Chicago radio callers doing their best to pronounce Roch Cholowsky.
Cholowsky, 20, is the clear-cut favorite to go first overall. In his sophomore season at UCLA, he slashed .353/.480/.710 and crushed 23 home runs. Power, contact, excellent defense — Cholowsky is considered the total package.
He also — and this’ll be music to Sox fans’ ears — does not strike out. In his freshman season, Cholowsky struck out 34 times in 235 plate appearances (14.47 percent). He improved on that impressive mark his sophomore year, striking out only 30 times in 324 plate appearances (9.25 percent). He also drew 45 walks this past year.
GM Chris Getz on MLB Network after the lottery: “I can’t understate how big of a deal this is. … Last year, as our players were making their way to the big leagues and performing really well — and we know that’s not an easy thing to do — you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And to bring in now a top pick to this group, it’s just a big deal.”
History Repeats Itself: This is the third time in White Sox history and the first time since 1977 that the franchise will select first in the draft. It worked out pretty well for the Sox in ‘77 when they selected 18-year-old and future Hall-of-Fame outfielder Harold Baines out of St. Michael’s High School in Maryland.
Baines represented the club on stage at the lottery on Tuesday night — a gesture that prompted Getz to quip after, “We did the math.”
The Sox also selected Danny Goodwin first overall in 1971. Goodwin became the first first-overall selection to not sign with his team, opting to attend Southern University due to a lowball signing bonus offer from the Sox.
This will also be the third time since 2023 that a Chicago team has selected a player with the No. 1 pick in the draft (Connor Bedard & Caleb Williams).
I’d say it’s working out pretty well for them…
I thought I’d ask CHGO’s very own Sean Anderson for his thoughts following the draft lottery.
He delivered.
Sean Anderson: “The first song for the ride home was easy: ‘Finally’ by CeCe Peniston.
“After 324 losses in three seasons, Chicago White Sox fans are finally seeing the sunlight crack through the clouds. Colson Montgomery flashed potential at the Major League level. Caleb Bonemer is a Top 50 prospect. Billy Carlson is lauded as a professional defender.
“The White Sox can’t run the Cholowsky card up to the podium because the Draft isn't for seven more months. However, Mike Shirley brought up scouting Cholowsky as a prep player in the 2023 Draft.
“‘When it's a clear number one,’ Chris Getz said, ‘I would say it logistically becomes a lot easier.’
“They might start scouting card runners, because the 1.1 selection seems to be a shoo-in. Cholowsky was among a deep Prep SS class in 2023. Among 2023 draftees, Kevin McGonigle (DET), Colt Emerson (SEA), and George Lombard Jr. (NYY) are currently top 15 prospects in all of baseball according to Fangraphs. Cholowsky easily could rank as high as a Top 20 Prospect once drafted.”
Thanks, Sean!
No Reunion, No Fun: Free agent DH Kyle Schwarber is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies on a five-year deal worth $150 million. Schwarber hit a career-high 56 home runs last season.
In four years (627 games) with the Phillies, Schwarber has become one of baseball’s elite sluggers, with 187 home runs. In six years (551 games) with the Cubs, he hit 121.
The Cubs, however, were highlighted by ESPN baseball insider Jesse Rogers as a team that could soon get involved in the winter trade market.
Roster Move: The Bears released OL Royce Newman from the practice squad on Tuesday. Newman, a fourth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2021, signed on to the Bears’ practice squad at the end of October.
Newman last appeared in a regular-season game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024. He last started a game in 2023 with the Packers.
It Finally Happened
🐻 Hoge & Jahns
12:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO White Sox
4:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
4:30 on YouTube
🏒 Blackhawks vs. Rangers
6:30 on TNT & HBO Max
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
Postgame on YouTube
Something on your mind? Rate this issue and leave a comment, question or topic to discuss!
Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
