The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the first pick of the MLB amateur draft. Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year. Tampa Bay selected Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson with the second pick and Minnesota took Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey third.