2026 MLB Draft first-round winners, losers: White Sox, Rays get stronger; Rob Manfred flubs his easiest job

Emerson put up eye-popping numbers this past season en route to being named the 2026 Gatorade National Player of the Year, slashing .532/.648/1.013 with seven home runs and 31 stolen bases. In May, he was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the country's best amateur player, becoming the second high-school prospect in the past 20 years to be recognized.

Despite holding the AL's best record, shortstop has been a weakness for the Rays, with primary starter Taylor Walls a career .198 hitter and batting .217 in 74 games this season. Emerson could be a long-term answer.

San Francisco Giants | The disappointing 39-55 Giants received a boost on Saturday, taking the top pitching prospect in the 2026 class at No. 4. Last season, UC Santa Barbara Gauchos right-hander Jackson Flora went 12-0 in 16 starts, posting a 1.06 ERA with 133 strikeouts and 32 walks in 102 innings. For its second first-round pick at No. 29, San Francisco took a longer-term approach by selecting southpaw Carson Bolemon out of Southside Christian School. In a division led by the high-powered Los Angeles Dodgers, teams can never have too much pitching. By adding to the mound with their two first-rounders, the Giants may eventually be able to quiet that attack.

Pittsburgh Pirates | The LSU -to-Pittsburgh pipeline grew on Saturday with the Pirates taking Tigers outfielder Derek Curiel at No. 5. The last time they went to the bayou for a first-round draft pick, it ended with 2025 NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes being taken No. 1 overall.

Curiel "has excellent instincts in center field and should be able to stick there," Mullen wrote in his analysis. Can the Pirates capture lightning in a bottle twice? If so, the pipeline won't close anytime soon.

Losers

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred | We're not saying it's easy being MLB commissioner, but one of the easiest parts of the job, we'd imagine, is pronouncing prospects' names correctly, especially when they're the first one off the board. But we don't make $25M a year, so who knows.

Regardless, Manfred got off to a poor start at this year's festivities, flubbing Cholowsky's last name, pronouncing it as "chuh-LEW-skee" instead of "cha-LAU-skee," as noted in UCLA's media guide. (h/t The Sporting News)

Is it too much to ask the commissioner to get a player's name right in one of his proudest moments? Apparently so.

Cincinnati Reds | Spread the news. Lebron is headed back to Ohio.

No, not that LeBron, but Justin Lebron, the former Alabama Crimson Tide shortstop who was among the most polarizing prospects in this year's class. As both MLB.com and ESPN noted in their pick analysis, Lebron has the tools to be a fantastic value at No. 18, but production woes last season are concerning.

"He struggled at the plate," ESPN wrote, "and in the field," finishing 2026 with a .277/.386/.534 slash line and 19 errors. The Reds entered Saturday as the NL's second-worst hitting team, and Lebron's struggles against college arms could lead to a long development until he's ready to measure up to the pros.

New York Mets | Nabbing Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins at No. 92 was a phenomenal steal, but the Mets made a head-scratching choice in the first round by selecting Arkansas Razorbacks right-handed pitcher Carson Wiggins at No. 27. He was 90th in ESPN's rankings and only pitched 14 innings in college, none since 2025.

New York took a risk with the pick, and for a franchise that seemingly can't catch a break, it might not have been one worth taking.