Will the White Sox select Roch Cholowsky at No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft?

0:00Chalousky sends it deep to left centerfield, Harry at the wall, it's gone. Brock Chalousky with his fourth home run of the week, a three run blast, and UCLA isn't done just yet. Mully and a half Chicago's 104, three, the score. We are delighted to welcome in Bob Nightingale to the program. He joins us on the plumber's 9-1-1 hotline plumbing emergency called 1-8-3-3, plumb 9-1-1, local 130 plumbers. Get the job done right the first time. Bob, good morning. How are you? Yeah, doing great. How about you guys? I'm well. We're doing well. Obviously, we played the rock Chalousky highlight coming in among your many great nuggets and

1:01stories. You've revealed to us that the white socks apparently not entirely sold on rock Chalousky, which just doesn't make a ton of sense given the way he is perceived around baseball. If you've got the number one overall pick in a draft, don't you want to be getting yourself the number one overall player in that draft? Yeah, but there's some scouts that say, I like the Georgia Tech catcher even better. Ma'am Lacky could be a short stop if you wanted to, but tremendous athlete. There's an high school kid to Cody Emerson from Texas. He works two ways, too. He's got to want to be in the white socks and he's got to have to agree to the right signing bonus, too. If he has some teams saying, oh, what, we'll give you $4 million more than a slot.

2:02Well, if he can tell the white socks, I'm not coming, I'm waiting for another team. Let's talk about that. Are you getting indications that he's hesitant about the white socks? Is he feeling like the, and what could be the reason? Is it about money? Is it about the organization's recent history of losing? Is he reticent about a lot of things are reluctant to want to commit there? I think it's just about money. It's like, okay, I know what the slot value will be, but what if I have some other teams giving me a bunch more money as slot? He can certainly tell the white socks, hey, I'm not signing with you guys. You're going to waste your pick. He can certainly do that. We've seen that before. It works both ways. He can make demands so high that when it's actual, I have to turn around and get somebody else. You'll like the Georgia Tech catcher. As a college player, though, at his age, what leverage does he have?

3:05I'm a fear of high school player. You might have a few more years to play with in terms of your development, but if he doesn't enter the draft this year, how does he spend 2026 and 2027? What's he going to be doing, Bob? Well, depending what happens next year with the lockout, he could say, I'll go to Japan for a half a year and keep sharp there. He can always re-enter the draft. If you're seeing it before, remember the picture for the Texas Rangers. He did that too. Kumar Rocker did it, signed with the Metz and then went back to his raft and went to Texas a year later, so he could certainly do that. But if you take a guy, doesn't he become your property? He could do whatever he wants, but he doesn't have a choice as to what team he goes to. He would be White Sox property for a year, and if he wants to go to Japan, that's one

4:08year of earnings lost. Yeah, he can certainly say, why don't we just wait a year? So a year for now, if he's still drafted by the White Sox and doesn't sign, then the White Sox will get another top pick a year for now and he'll be in the draft and be in the same situation a year for now. Okay, so how can the Sox address this? Because what happens? We already have a nickname and we have a theme night form probably already planned for next year. Rock Chalowski is a guy who would fit in, one would think pretty seamlessly, he's having a terrific season, 17 home runs so far, UCLA's having a great year. I'm just curious, if you're the Sox, can you do anything, are there things going on behind the scenes that we're not privy to? Well, I mean, you really can't do anything except say, hey, we want you and what will it take, what will take to sign you? Like I said, I mean, there are some scouts that believe to catch you from a Georgia

5:11Tech. Well, Lackey is a better prospect. Sox, he's had a nice year, but there's some holes in his wing and they're not completely sold. I mean, some scouts will tell you he was the next toy to a whiskey. Others will say, you know, he's the next dance piece once and so, and other people say where the real superstar in the draft is Georgia Tech catcher. So we'll see. You know, I mean, a lot of times we're, you know, we think a guy is iron proof, you know, like that holiday, Ethan holiday. And he hasn't done much at all with Baltimore and he was supposed to be the next Cal Ripken form. I mean, let's be honest about it. The White Sox have a guy in Kyle Teal, it looks like a pretty good catcher. They got a guy in Edgar Cuero's been struggling to hit the ball a little bit this year, but it looks like he could last a while at catcher. I'm not sure that they're catching position needs to kind of help that you need from

6:12whether it's Dan's B. Swanson or Trey Tula Whiskey, that's better than anybody on the team right now, maybe other than Mooney. No, but if you wanted to, of course, you could, you know, you could trade Teal and get, you know, a top shortstop prospect in return for him, so like that, you know, and see what happens. If you want, you can switch positions with the, you know, with the Georgia Tech catcher, you have him play something else. I mean, he's athletic. So there's, you know, a number of different ways you go, but, you know, the White Sox start locking it locked into him for sure. Bob, unfortunately in Chicago, we have been through this in recent years. There were whispers about counter-bredard not being crazy about going to the Black Cocks. That seemed to work out fine. Caleb Williams, his father made noise about not wanting him necessarily to go to Chicago for various reasons, and that's working out fine. Who's driving this or who's stirring this? I'm not asking you to reveal your sources, but I wonder, does he have an

7:15advisor here? Is this his father who's a scout? And I think knows the baseball industry fairly well. I just wonder how this comes out now a couple months before the draft when I think he was the consensus or has been to this point, number one, overall prospect. Yeah, I just think it's a, you know, more money driven. I mean, he's got an advisor, like you said, his dad's a scout with the Reds. He's a West Coast kid, grew up in Chandler, Arizona. So we'll see. I just think with the consensus is like all of a sudden people are saying, well, I'm not sure if the consensus in the White Sacks will tell you themselves, is that, hey, we're not sold in anybody yet. We're still looking around here. Let me hear that, too, in the NFL draft all the time. So I just think that's, you know, hold on here, something like a done deal. He's doubly being drafted by the White Sacks or Delta is going to sound to White Sacks. Bob, I'm wondering, and I've been wondering this for a while.

8:17When you look at the price that San Diego sold for, the amount of money that was paid for the Padres, does that impact other teams that could be for sale? Does that impact the economic realities that people talk about with baseball, whether it be, well, we got to get a salary cap in here. There has to be a limit to how much you can spend. There has to be a floor to it. If a team that was believed to sell for 1.7, sells for 2.9, 3.9, makes me wonder what the White Sacks would be worth. What happens to Justin Ishpia's dream of owning the White Sacks by 2029 if Jerry can get that much money for the team? Yeah, I remember I mean, Jerry doesn't have to sell it to, I think, what, 2003 or 34,

9:19you know, at that time, who knows what that price tag would be? But no, that, that sale just lifted the price of all these franchises. I had one owner say, well, no one's happened in the Minnesota twins or Washington National Nationals or the Angels because they were up for sale and pulled their teams back. And now they're worth a whole lot more. And they're talking about 2029 at Central TV Fund will be worth about $250 million per team. You know, you're going to have two expansion franchises coming here in the next few years, you know, the expansion prices are probably going to be about $2.5 billion per team. So that's 30 teams dividing up, you know, $5 billion. So no, I think as shocking that price tag was, it just, you know, raises everybody's, you know, value up in franchises, you know, certainly, certainly the White Sacks and, you know, but all the 29 other teams too. Yeah, I think the question comes up because Justin Ishpia earlier this spring or in the late winter, they're nearing a deal to purchase 47 acres across the Chicago River from the

10:2478. So there's speculation about a stadium going there that would be obviously a move in that direction. And also it represents his inclusion and his involvement heavily with the White Sacks in terms of investment. And that's why I think you look at, yeah, the technically, it's until 2033 or whatever the case may be, but realistically, you expect him to get involved maybe with an influx of resources and cash much sooner. No, that's probably, you know, that's certainly possible. You just want to be the control person, you know, a general manager of his size, like, I'm going to hang on to it. I mean, he's got that option and he's said, repeatedly, yeah, as long as I feel good and everything else, you know, I'm not going to sell. So by time, 2333 4 runs around, you know, he'll be 97 years old, then, you know, then he'll sell, but he can certainly, he can certainly throw money into it and stuff like that. And I'm going to get this, you know, at one point, and you just may be later than you

11:26think. What Bob, when you look at where we are right now at this point, you wrote a great story about Moonay Murakami, I'm just curious, what do you think of him now leading MLB with 12 home runs, you know, the idea being that other teams would be kicking themselves about it. Is there any way that he could be a long-term player with the white socks, or do you believe that they're eventually going to have to make some kind of move because he'll be such a popular figure around MLB? Well, it's probably a, you know, we're going to see, too, whether he's going to start selling tickets. I mean, that's one big thing, too, obviously, when the Angels got Otani, you know, he's sold a lot of tickets, and obviously a mass of revenue producer for the donors. In Murakami's case, I think you kind of wait to end the season and say, okay, you know,

12:26how many more tickets do we sell because of him? You know, does it turn out to be like, you know, the Cubs back in the day when they were having a lousy seasons, but they had Sosa, and people showed up at the ballpark because you have Sosa at Good Hit Home runs. So I think the fascinating, in this case, whether, you know, Murakami is in for the directly home run title, you know, we say it in there, a judge down this stretch, just how excited do people get? I mean, the white socks haven't had a home run leader since Dick Allen, I think in 72. That is true, and he hit another one last night, so now he's back in front with 12, and I just curious, he's in the first year of a two-year deal, all around baseball, Bob, you're seeing young guys sign contracts for long-term, the Peacrow Armstrong on the north side, you look at Pittsburgh, and all this, these are prospects, I just wonder, would those kind of conversations begin this season because of the way that Murakami has burst onto the scene?

13:28You might wait a little bit longer, just to, you know, see him do it all year long. I mean, still have his rights for, you know, two years at a, you know, Good Bargain. So, I mean, you know, people thought when he was going to come out, he was going to get over her $52 million in, you know, talking to him, lots of good things, he was surprised too. He said, well, everybody had their chance and didn't step up, you know, the white socks did. So I'm sure there's a loyalty factor too, so you know what, I'm going to give the white socks every chance to keep me longer, you know, if they want to do that. So, but no, I mean, look at, you look at his numbers, I know, it's only on the month of April, but he's only on that same type of, to directory as a college worker. You know, huge, large rackouts, you know, a lot of walks, a lot of home runs in, you know, he just signed for her $50 million over five years. Bob, I'm just curious, we asked earlier, I didn't really get to it, just the idea that

14:28because of how much the Padre sold for baseball is going to have a hard time coming up with putting on the poor mouth and claiming that they've got to do something about getting a cap certainty, does this impact any of those teams? Well, yeah, certainly, I think a, you know, when you sit down for the labor talks, it's like, well, it's like you said, we're still making money before it was, well, the franchises aren't going up in value as much as they should, as much as NBA in NFL, but then, you know, this is a staggering price. So it takes that away, you know, now the big thing will be, well, the small market teams, you know, can't compete, you know, with the big boys, and that's a problem. Well, you still looking, you're looking at Milwaukee Brewers, you know, over the years here, you look at 10 Bay Rays, it's two smallest barrels, and they're there year after year, you know, particularly, you know, Milwaukee. So that would be a, that would be a big thing. I mean, obviously, if there's a, some type of salary cap or some limited salaries in

15:33this salary floor, you know, the franchised values will go up, go up even more, particularly teams like Milwaukee, that franchise value, I think would, would skyrocket, you know, knowing that all the sudden, you know, they, they got the same kind of money as it comes to. Bob, before that you go and really appreciate your time, what was your reaction to the Red Sucks firing Alex Korra and his staff? Did Theo Webstein have a say or sign off on this and his David Ross, a candidate to replace him? I think they're going to stick with Chad Tracy for now, I mean, through the end of the year, I would be surprised that Tracy keeps that job, I mean, he's manages guys at, at Treble A, if things go bad, yeah, then I think what David Ross would have a chance, just like Rocco Bell, Bell Dulley, who's also from, from the, from the England area, I was surprised by that shock, as you kept hearing that, okay, there's a disconnect between Reslow and Korra, Korra's old school, you know, Braslow's more analytics, and yeah, Theo, definitely

16:34signed, you know, I haven't talked to Theo, but definitely signed off on it, you know, he's part of the decision making process there, he hired, you know, Braslow and Chicago. He was the one who wanted, you know, Braslow to be in charge of Boston, so that, you know, that, that's his guy. So yeah, they all, they all signed off on that thing, and now Braslow's on the spotlight, so it would happen, you know, if things go, keep going wrong, then Braslow will be out. Bob, thanks a ton, great catching up, they appreciate it. Thanks so much, Bob. Sure, take care, guys, that is Bob Nightingale, USA Today, interesting stuff. I got to tell you the reaction, a lot of the process there, the reaction is pretty amazing, because you've got people accusing Bob of, of being a, a front for Jerry and the White Sox, you got people accusing Bob of being a front for Rock Chalousky, and his representatives, and you've got several different textures, saying the same thing, which is if this happens as a socks fan, if we draft a catcher and not Rock Chalousky, I swear that's it, I'm out.

17:43And that sounded like what your reaction would be. You were those old boy, because I would, you were, what is, what is, what is well taken? Kyle Teal, investment in the position, Edgar Carro, same deal. The White Sox brought up Jerome O to replace Reese McGuire. I'm sure there's one other catcher, I think, lower in the system. You don't. Core release still in the system. There's a consensus, number one overall prospect. Maybe we need to do some deeper digging, maybe we need to talk to Jim Callis to get his, at some point, but consensus, number one overall form. I feel like this, this feels a little bit like the Caleb Williams situation. Rock Chalousky came into this season with, as the best player in college baseball, and all he's done is put an exclamation point, yes, you were right, everybody. You were right, Mr. Consensus. He's rock, let's roll. I mean, he's going to be on the south side, right? Right, man. I got to tell you.

18:43You okay? No, I'm not. You okay? I don't like hearing that matter of fact. There's no way you can follow this up. You don't get this sort of a blessing and below it, okay? So please, God, don't let this be interfered with by anybody.