The 2024 MLB draft begins Sunday at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Chicago White Sox will select 21 new prospects while the Cubs have 20 picks. One local high school graduate could be a first-round selection.
Both Chicago teams select in the top half of the first round, with the Sox choosing at No. 5 and the Cubs at No. 14. The last time the Sox had the No. 5 pick was in 1987, when they chose pitcher Jack McDowell.
Slot bonuses for top talent the Cubs and Sox could sign are now in the high seven figures.
Here’s what else to know about the three-day draft and how recent Sox and Cubs draft picks have panned out.
When is the draft and how can I watch?
The draft takes place Sunday through Tuesday at Cowtown Coliseum at the Fort Worth Stockyards, coinciding with MLB All-Star week festivities. This location is about 20 miles from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where Tuesday’s All-Star Game will be played. The draft is 20 rounds long, separated into three days.
Sunday
- Rounds 1 and 2, 4 p.m.
- TV: ESPN (Round 1); ESPN+ and MLB Network (Round 2)
Monday
- Rounds 3-10, 11 a.m.
- Stream: MLB.com
Tuesday
- Rounds 11-20, 11 a.m.
- Stream: MLB.com
What’s new in 2024?
For the second year, MLB used a draft lottery to determine selection order. The lottery was held during the winter meetings in December.
The lottery determined the first six picks: the Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, White Sox and Kansas City Royals. Teams with the worst 2023 records had higher odds in the lottery, with the Sox holding a 14.7% chance of getting the top pick. The remaining teams will pick in reverse order of 2023 record.
The New York Mets, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees had their first-round picks dropped 10 slots for exceeding the luxury tax threshold, but this is the first time in a few drafts that all 30 teams have a first-round pick.
Back for the second year are the Prospect Promotion Incentive picks, which were part of the latest collective bargaining agreement and designed to discourage service time manipulation. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles pick at No. 31 and No. 32, respectively, for Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson winning the 2023 Rookie of the Year awards.
MLB estimates the total bonus pool for all 30 teams at more than $334 million. Combined total bonuses likely will exceed that amount when the ink settles (and teams face penalties for going over), and the assigned pool values are up 8.8% from 2023.
Based on the value of their draft pick slots, the Sox are looking at a bonus pool of $14,593,300, which is a 60.8% increase from 2023, while the Cubs pool is $9,802,300, a 9.4% increase.
How many picks do the Cubs and White Sox have?
The Cubs have 20 selections, one in each round. The Sox received a compensation pick at No. 68 from the Seattle Mariners in the Gregory Santos trade, giving them 21 picks.
White Sox (21 picks)
- No. 5 (bonus slot value: $7,763,700)
- No. 43
- No. 68 (from Mariners)
- No. 78
- No. 107
- No. 140 in the fifth round and every 30th pick thereafter
Cubs (20 picks)
- No. 14 (bonus slot value: $5,070,700)
- No. 54
- No. 90
- No. 120
- No. 153 in the fifth round and every 30th pick thereafter
Who are the top prospects?
History could be made in the 2024 draft, as the top projected prospect by MLB Pipeline is Australian infielder Travis Bazzana, who played cricket for his Sydney high school before coming to the United States and playing two seasons of baseball at Oregon State. Bazzana, the Pac-12 player of the year, could be the first Australian selected at No. 1.
Once again the top of the draft is heavy on college talent, as 15 of the top 20 players on MLB Pipeline’s top 250 prospects list are college players. A majority of those are outfielders.
Right-handed pitcher Ryan Sloan of York is among the top high school prospects and could be a top-20 pick despite his commitment to Wake Forest.
Most of the predraft buzz has been on Bazzana and Georgia’s Charlie Condon, who was widely awarded this season as the nation’s top college player. Jac Caglianone, a left-handed true two-way player who helped Florida advance to the Men’s College World Series, appears to round out the top three.
The Sox have not shied away from high school players or pitchers with recent first-round picks, so anything could happen at No. 5.
Among the names floating around that spot are West Virginia middle infielder JJ Wetherholt, Arkansas left-hander Hagen Smith, Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns and Texas A&M outfielder Braden Montgomery.
The Cubs have taken only one high school player — Mount Carmel shortstop Ed Howard in 2020 — in the first round in the last 12 drafts. The college talent projected to be on the board at No. 14 includes Florida State third baseman Cam Smith and outfielder James Tibbs, Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore and Wake Forest utility player Seaver King.
MLB.com’s latest mock draft projected the Sox to take Wetherholt and the Cubs to pick East Carolina right-hander Trey Yesavage in the first round.
Are there any local prospects who could be drafted?
There is one potential first-round selection among the three players who attended Chicago-area high schools and are ranked in MLB Pipeline’s top 250 prospects list:
• No. 19 Ryan Sloan is a right-handed pitcher from York who was the Gatorade Illinois high school player of the year. At 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, he has a fastball that has touched 99 mph as well as a changeup and slider. In 12 appearances this season he had an 0.30 ERA, allowing just 19 hits while striking out 90 and walking five. He’s committed to Wake Forest, but as a likely first-round pick he almost certainly will choose to sign with the team that drafts him.
• No. 81 Tyler Bell is a defense-first shortstop from Lincoln-Way East. The switch hitter is committed to Kentucky and, due to his age, would be draft-eligible again in two years if he chooses not to sign with the team that drafts him.
• No. 136 Jackson Kent is a 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher who graduated from Lake Park. He had a career 4.61 ERA in 19 starts for Arizona, where he made the All-Pac-12 team this season. He also fared well in last summer’s Cape Cod League with a 2.52 ERA in six starts.
Beyond the MLB Pipeline list are some local players who could be drafted in later rounds:
• Nolan Clifford had a standout career at Neuqua Valley before playing at Creighton, drawing comparisons to Naperville Central/Creighton product and current White Sox infielder Nicky Lopez. The 5-10 Clifford played infield and also made a few relief pitching appearances in four seasons with the Bluejays. He finished his senior year with a .348/.469/.497 slash line, 37 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.
• Sir Jamison Jones is a 6-3, 225-pound right-handed catcher out of St. Rita who is likely to be drafted but also is committed to Oklahoma State. He has raised his profile with invitations to national events such as the MLB Dream Series, and he participated in the MLB draft combine in June.
Watch the ball fly off the bat of Sir Jamison Jones (@OSUBaseball commit) at the Draft Combine: pic.twitter.com/PEUK87dt8F
— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) June 20, 2024
• Colin Summerhill graduated from Loyola Academy and has been at Northern Illinois the last two seasons. He set the Huskies single-season record with 19 home runs and led the team with 65 RBIs as a senior while earning academic honors.
• Zane Zielinski graduated from Lake View and played his last two years of college ball at UIC. The middle infielder slashed .363/.449/.583 for the Flames with eight home runs in his senior season. He was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference first team.
• Camden Janik graduated from Wauconda and has played three seasons at catcher for Illinois. He was an All-Big Ten and third-team All-America selection this year. He slashed .356/.440/.533 and struck out just 11 times in 225 at-bats, making him the hardest catcher in the country to strike out.
There are other prospects of local interest on the MLB Pipeline list, including one previously drafted by the Cubs:
• No. 44 Ben Hess is a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher who was a top-ranked player coming out of downstate Charleston in 2021. In three seasons at Alabama, he had a 4.81 ERA with a 12-6 record as a starter and made several all-academic lists.
• No. 89 Gage Ziehl was drafted by the Cubs in the 11th round (No. 334) in 2021 out of a New York high school but declined to sign and instead honored his commitment to Miami. The right-handed pitcher had a 4.08 ERA and 15-9 record in three seasons with the Hurricanes.
• Also on the list at No. 75 is JD Dix, a Wake Forest-committed infielder from Whitefish Bay (Wis.) HS — the alma mater of Cubs manager Craig Counsell.
How have the recent White Sox and Cubs draft picks fared?
White Sox
The Sox last had a top-five pick in 2019, when they selected first baseman Andrew Vaughn at No. 3. Entering Friday, Vaughn was slashing .240/.297/.395 with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs this season.
The top Sox draft pick of the last few years has been 2024 first-time All-Star Garrett Crochet. The left-hander made his major-league debut in 2020, the same year he was drafted No. 11 out of Tennessee. He lost the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery but was solid out of the bullpen in 2023. He entered 2024 with a desire to become a starter and earned the opening-day role for the Sox. He leads the majors with 146 strikeouts through Thursday, fueling rumors leading up to the July 30 trade deadline.
Recent first-round picks Colson Montgomery (2021) and Noah Schultz (2022) are listed as the top two Sox prospects by MLB.com. Both will represent the organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game on Saturday. Montgomery had a .212/.328/.373 slash line through Thursday with 11 home runs and 36 RBIs for Triple-A Charlotte, while Schultz, a 6-9 left-hander out of Oswego East, was a combined 0-3 with a 3.13 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings for Double-A Birmingham and High-A Winston-Salem.
Jonathan Cannon, a third-round pick in 2022 out of Georgia, made his major-league debut in April and is 1-2 with a 4.20 ERA in nine games (eight starts). He was one out away from throwing a complete game on June 18 against the Houston Astros.
Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, last year’s first-round pick at No. 15 out of Mississippi, earned a mid-May promotion to Birmingham and has a .273/.364/.399 slash line with five home runs, 40 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in a combined 82 games for Birmingham and Winston-Salem.
The last time the Sox had the No. 5 pick was in 1987, when they selected right-handed pitcher Jack McDowell out of Stanford and paid him a $165,000 bonus. The three-time All-Star played seven seasons for the Sox, earning a Cy Young Award in 1993.
Cubs
The Cubs have seven players listed among MLB.com’s top 100 prospects list, more than any other major-league team — but only three were drafted by the Cubs.
Right-hander Cade Horton, the 2022 first-round pick, tops the group at No. 17. He was promoted to Triple-A Iowa a month into the season but has been on the injured list since May 31. In five starts for Iowa he posted a 7.50 ERA.
The 2023 first-round pick, infielder Matt Shaw, has been with Double-A Tennessee all season and is slashing .247/.352/.416 with 10 home runs, 38 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 71 games. He was player of the week in the Southern League for June 17-23.
Also at Tennessee, James Triantos was named Southern League player of the month for June, slashing .393/.438/.607 and leading the league in average, hits, runs and stolen bases. Triantos was a second-round pick in 2021.
James Triantos has been named the Southern League Player of the Month! This month, Triantos batted .393/.438/.607 and led the league in average, hits, runs and stolen bases. He finished 2nd in total bases, slugging percentage and OPS. Congrats, @JamesTriantos! pic.twitter.com/nkCQFCPFfH
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) July 3, 2024
The 2021 first-round pick, Jordan Wicks, made his major-league debut for the Cubs last August and finished the season with a 4-1 record. He made the rotation out of spring training this season but has landed on the injured list twice, resulting in just seven appearances (six starts) for the Cubs in 2024.
Hometown signee Ed Howard, the Cubs’ first-round pick out of Mount Carmel in the truncated 2020 draft, has struggled with injuries and is back for his third season with High-A South Bend. He spent part of the last offseason playing in the Australian Baseball League.
Shaw will join outfielder Owen Caissie (acquired via trade) and catcher Moisés Ballesteros (international signee) in representing the Cubs at the MLB All-Star Futures Game on Saturday.
This is the first time in draft history the Cubs have had the No. 14 pick.
White Sox and Cubs draft history
The Sox have had the No. 1 pick twice. In 1971 they selected Danny Goodwin from Peoria Central High School, but he declined to sign and opted to play at Southern University. Goodwin was again drafted with the No. 1 pick in 1975, this time by the California Angels, and went on to play seven seasons in the majors.
The most recent No. 1 pick by the Sox was in 1977, when they took future Hall of Famer Harold Baines out of St. Michaels High School in Maryland.
The Cubs have had only one No. 1 pick, which they used on New York high schooler Shawon Dunston in 1982. Dunston went on to play 18 seasons, including 12 with the Cubs, and was twice an All-Star shortstop.
The first MLB amateur draft was held in 1965. That year the Cubs selected right-handed pitcher Rick James from an Alabama high school with the No. 6 pick and paid him a $40,000 bonus. James made his debut two years later and saw action in only three major-league games.
The first Sox draft selection was Notre Dame catcher Ken Plesha, whom they chose at No. 17 and paid a $20,000 bonus. A St. Mel High School graduate, Plesha played three seasons in the minor leagues but never made it above Class A.
Sources: MLB.com, MiLB.com, Baseball Reference, Associated Press, NCAA.com, rolltide.com, gocreighton.com, niuhuskies.com, uicflames.com, fightingillini.com
