NCAA - Baseball Wiretap

The Chicago White Sox secured the top pick in the 2026 MLB Draft on Tuesday night, winning the first overall selection for only the third time in franchise history and first since 1977. The White Sox entered the lottery with a 27.73 percent chance after finishing 60-102 last season.

Hall of Famer Harold Baines, whom Chicago selected first overall in 1977, represented the organization on stage at the lottery event. The draft will be held July 11-12, 2026. The White Sox previously held the No. 1 pick in 1971 when they selected Danny Goodwin.

The Tampa Bay Rays emerged as major winners, jumping five spots from seventh-best odds to claim the No. 2 pick. The Minnesota Twins, who had the second-best lottery odds at 22.18 percent, received the third selection.

The San Francisco Giants made the biggest leap, moving up 11 spots from 15th to fourth overall. The Kansas City Royals also gained significant ground, advancing 10 spots to the sixth pick from 16th-best odds.

"Without question this is an exciting time for the White Sox organization and our great fans," White Sox general manager Chris Getz said in a press release. "We've created momentum and excitement over the past year, and this certainly is another positive development as we continue toward our ultimate goal."

Despite finishing 43-119, the Colorado Rockies were ineligible for a top-nine pick due to anti-tanking rules established before the 2023 draft. The Rockies will pick 10th next July after holding the No. 3 and No. 4 selections in the past two drafts.

The St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers all dropped five spots from their projected positions. The Cincinnati Reds moved into lottery range at No. 18 after the New York Mets received a 10-spot penalty for exceeding the second luxury tax threshold.

UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is currently the projected top overall pick by ESPN. Shortstop Grady Emerson out of Fort Worth Christian is slotted at No. 2 ahead of Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron. 

2026 MLB Draft Lottery Results:

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Minnesota Twins
4. San Francisco Giants
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Kansas City Royals
7. Baltimore Orioles
8. Athletics
9. Atlanta Braves
10. Colorado Rockies
11. Washington Nationals
12. Los Angeles Angels
13. St. Louis Cardinals
14. Miami Marlins
15. Arizona Diamondbacks
16. Texas Rangers
17. Houston Astros
18. Cincinnati Reds

New San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello acknowledged Thursday that his decision to leave the University of Tennessee was difficult and personal, calling the move to become the first college coach hired directly to a major league managerial position "selfish" but necessary.

Vitello addressed reporters in Knoxville to discuss his departure from Tennessee, where he compiled a 341-131 record and won the 2024 national championship. He will hold an introductory news conference with the Giants next Thursday.

The 47-year-old expressed frustration with how the hiring process unfolded publicly after being identified as the favorite for the position on Saturday. Vitello said no decision had been made at that point and the premature reporting created difficulties.

"I did not have anything to do with that, and it put everyone in a whirlwind," Vitello said in a lengthy statement. "Now that we look back on it, I think [it] was unfair. Hopefully, people don't think I'm a diva because that's kind of how it seemed to play out."

Vitello consulted extensively with advisors before making his final decision. He ultimately chose the Giants, who announced his hiring Wednesday after four consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance.

"It was selfish. It was personal reasons," Vitello told reporters, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. "I have always tried to be a good teammate, but I feel like I made a selfish decision that was one I needed to make. It was the right decision."

Tennessee fans demonstrated their support during a scrimmage Tuesday, chanting for Vitello and displaying signs asking him to stay. The outpouring left a lasting impression on the departing coach despite his decision to leave.

"If that is the last time I ever stepped foot on this campus or this field as an employee or as a Vol wearing our orange, I'm just so thankful for the people that showed up," Vitello said. "It will forever be ingrained in my memory, and it made what was the last day on the job, technically, very, very special."

Vitello takes over a Giants team coming off an 81-81 season. He led Tennessee to three Men's College World Series appearances during his tenure.

Tennessee coach Tony Vitello is finalizing a deal to become the next manager of the San Francisco Giants, sources tell ESPN, marking the first time a big league team has plucked a manager directly from a college program without any experience as a professional coach, sources told ESPN.

Following days of negotiations in which Vitello considered staying at Tennessee, where he won the Men's College World Series in 2024, a deal is on the verge of being finalized between the two sides. He will replace Bob Melvin, who was fired Sept. 29 following an 81-81 season, the Giants' fourth consecutive year without a playoff berth.

Coming out of last season, LSU coach Jay Johnson couldn't have foreseen the national championship this group of tenacious Tigers is taking back to Baton Rouge.

"It was probably a year ago today," he said, "we had 12 players in our program that actually played on the field for us in 2024. Twelve."

Then, quoting his mentor and LSU baseball patriarch Skip Bertman, Johnson said: "We ended up with some really good fortune."

LSU knocked previously unbeaten Coastal Carolina ace Jacob Morrison out of the game with a four-run fourth inning, and the Tigers won their second national title in three years Sunday with a 5-3 victory in the Men's College World Series finals.

Jace LaViolette and Jamie Arnold are considered the top two prospects in the 2025 MLB draft with the Washington Nationals holding the first overall pick.

LaViolette is a right fielder for Texas A&M, who draws comparisons to Lance Berkman. 

"I wouldn't expect 55.9 career WAR in the majors from Laviolette -- he's likely a pro corner outfielder and has some bat-to-ball questions -- but he's the best player in the class," writes Kiley McDaniel.

Arnold is a left-handed pitcher with a variety of pitches who has increased his velocity since arriving to Florida State.

Next Best Prospects:
3. Tyler Bremner (21.2), RHP, UC Santa Barbara
4. Aiva Arquette (21.7), SS, Oregon State
5. Cam Cannarella (21.8), CF, Clemson
6. Billy Carlson (19.0), SS, Corona HS (CA), Tennessee commit
7. Marek Houston (21.2), SS, Wake Forest
8. Ethan Holliday (18.3), 3B, Stillwater HS (OK), Oklahoma State commit
9. Gavin Fien (18.2), 3B, Great Oak HS (CA), Texas commit

The Tennessee Volunteers have won the College World Series for the first time in school history.

They clinched it Monday over the Texas A&M Aggies in Game 3 of the championship round, 6-5. 

Tennessee, who was the No. 1 overall seed heading into the tournament, hadn't been the final since 1951.

Alexia Jorge made history on Sunday afternoon when she became the first woman to start at catcher in a college game.

The New Jersey native plays for Division III Saint Elizabeth University. She's one of his 16 women ever to play NCAA baseball.

"I had been waiting for it since the first game of the fall this season," Jorge said. "Coming into this season, I had hopes and I had high expectations for myself, and I was really prepared. I finally got the opportunity to do something special."

Two years ago, Jorge became the youngest player on the gold medal-winning U.S. Baseball Women's National Team in the 2019 Pan-American Championships.

The college baseball season began this past weekend.

Vanderbilt, and a number of other schools, debuted a new wearable pitch-signaling device. Players wear the watch-like device on their glove hand to receive pitch selection information from the coaching staff.

The NCAA approved the devices last year. All nine players wear one. The goal of the technology is to enhance pace of play with the catcher not giving the signs.

"It is technically called an electronic display board in the NCAA's lingo," broadcaster Max Herz explained. "This was the first year it's been legal for a college pitcher to wear something like that … Scott Brown, the Vanderbilt pitching coach, is punching numbers into a controller he has, and all nine Vanderbilt players on the field have one. They all see the same thing. That tells the pitcher what type of pitch to throw, and where or how to throw it."

Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker tossed a no-hitter against Duke on Saturday, the first in a Super Regional in NCAA Tournament history.

It was just the eighth no-hitter in NCAA Tournament history.

Rocker finished the game with 19 strikeouts.

The 19-year-old skipped last summer's MLB Draft and instead chose to play for Vanderbilt.

The NCAA has suspended five University of Richmond baseball players because they took part in fantasy football.

The five players will remain suspended until the NCAA completes the reinstatement process. Two of the players -- junior right-hander Keenan Bartlett and senior INF/DH Kurtis Brown -- are among Richmond's most valuable players.

The suspension is a function of the fact that the NCAA treats standard fantasy leagues just like gambling.