Matt Johnson
The San Francisco Giants made headlines this weekend with the first big in-season trade, dealing Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians. While it immediately opened up more playing time for Daniel Susac and Jesus Rodriguez, there was reportedly another strategy behind it.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that part of the Giants’ objective with the trade is to position themselves to select shortstop Roch Cholowsky in the 2026 MLB Draft.
As part of the trade, San Francisco received the 29th overall pick from the Guardians. While first-round picks in the MLB Draft can’t be traded, selections in the Competitive Balance Round can be dealt. So, San Francisco now has two top-30 selections with four picks in the top 90 selections.
The acquisition of the 29th overall pick also means they gain an extra $3.27 million in bonus pool money. They now have the fourth-largest bonus pool at $17.35 million, per MLB.com. It allows them to go over the slot value for the fourth overall pick ($8.988 million), theoretically giving them the flexibility to sign Cholowsky if he is on the board.
Will the Giants Draft Roch Cholowsky?
Roch Cholowsky, a 6-foot-2 shortstop, is widely viewed as the best player in the 2026 MLB Draft class. UCLA’s star shortstop has been outstanding at the plate this season, posting a .338/.463/.707 triple-slash line with 59 RBI and 21 home runs across 198 at-bats.
The right-handed hitter is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft class, with ESPN.com‘s Kiley McDaniel and Baseball America also rating Cholowsky as the top player available.
However, there’s a flaw in this reported objective that the Giants may or may not have had as part of trading Bailey. Cholowsky isn’t going to be available at the fourth pick. Even on the off-chance that the Chicago White Sox pass on the UCLA shortstop, the Tampa Bay Rays would take him.
San Francisco might also like to get its hands on Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, but he is widely projected to either be taken second overall by Tampa Bay or with the third overall pick by the Minnesota Twins. In all likelihood, the Giants will be choosing between UC Santa Barbara starting pitcher Jackson Flora or prep shortstop Jacob Lombard. At the 29th overall pick is where it’s much likelier that the team will grab a prospect who falls because of his asking price and they go overslot to get him signed.
