The 2025 MLB Draft is not until the middle of July, but that does not stop baseball writers and prospect experts from assembling early mock drafts. Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline released his first official 2025 mock draft today and has the White Sox drafting high school infielder Kayson Cunningham with the 10th overall pick.
Cunningham's Player Profile
Cunningham, 18, is a left-handed hitting infielder from Johnson HS in Texas. He stands just 5’9 and 170 pounds, but has drawn rave reviews from scouts. MLB.com gives him a 60 grade for his hitting and running ability and a 55 grade for arm strength. Scouts praise his bat speed and ability to put the bat on the ball. His defensive ability is more of a question mark, as some think he could eventually move off shortstop to a different position. Cunningham is an intriguing name to keep an eye on early in the draft cycle, with Callis comparing him to Guardians infielder José Ramírez.
White Sox Unfortunate Lottery Luck
Despite losing 121 games last season, the White Sox will pick just 10th in the upcoming draft because of the new draft lottery rules. Their unfortunate lottery luck results from being a “payor club.” As a result, the White Sox cannot have lottery picks in consecutive years. Getting the short end of the stick as part of this new rule change felt like yet another blow to the organization after a historically bad 2024 campaign.
Position Player Heavy 2025 Draft Class
As time has passed, however, the White Sox lottery misfortunes have become somewhat easier to deal with. Not only is there no true consensus generational prospect in the class, but the draft should also be very position player heavy around where the White Sox will pick. Except for the Athletics at pick #11, Callis has a position player mocked for every team from the 6th pick to the 16th pick. The White Sox should have several interesting position player prospects to pick from at #10 overall.
Loaded 2026 Draft Class
Further softening the blow of the poor 2025 lottery luck is that the 2026 draft class projects to be one of the best in recent memory, according to Baseball America. Several high school position players with star potential headline the class. The White Sox will once again be eligible to get the #1 overall pick and should have a solid chance to land their choice of a talented crop of players given their abysmal record this season.
Final Word
It is very early in the draft cycle and a lot will change in the prospect rankings between now and July. Still, it is worth keeping an eye on these mock drafts. If the White Sox are going to turn things around in the next few years, it will be because of their foundation of young talent coming up through the farm system. Picking 10th overall this year and possibly 1st overall in 2026 will give them a golden opportunity to add more blue-chip prospects into the organization.
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