PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Chicago White Sox are done playing for first.
In the standings? Of course not.
Led by All-Star third baseman Miguel Vargas, the White Sox have emerged as one of the top surprises and are in AL Central contention after enduring three straight 100-loss seasons.
In the MLB draft? The White Sox have the No. 1 pick in the draft for Saturday's event in Philadelphia as part of All-Star Game weekend festivities.
The No. 1 pick belongs to Chicago — after it lost 102 games last season and won the draft lottery — and perhaps a future star that can help the White Sox win their first World Series title since 2005 will get selected in the top spot.
There are no clear-cut No. 1 picks in this year's draft much like current Philadelphia Phillies slugger and 2026 All-Star Bryce Harper was in 2010.
The White Sox will likely pick one from the following three players: UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson or Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey.
MLB said Friday no amateur players are scheduled to attend the draft, which is the same as last year.
Here's a look at the most enticing prospects for the White Sox and the rest of the teams drafting early in the first round.
— Cholowsky. A 6-foot-2 right-handed hitter, he was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season.
— Lackey. The 21-year-old catcher didn't receive any Division I offers until his senior year of high school and has since blossomed into one of the top catching prospects in the draft out of Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder showed some versatility by also playing third base.
— Emerson. Just 18 years old, the 6-3, 185-pound shortstop bats left, throws right and is widely considered the best all-around player in the draft.
The White Sox are in win-now mode after years of rebuilding and could lean toward a college player such as Cholowsky. Cholowsky is a proven prospect with plenty of seasoning at a major college program and could help the White Sox faster, even maybe this season — except for the pitchers they may draft.
“Most of the guys we take, even if they played in college versus a high school pick, they haven’t thrown competitively in a while," White Sox director of player development Paul Janish said. “You have the draft in July, the minor-league season is over in early September. There’s not a huge window. You take all those things in consideration, really the motive is health. We’re going to get you as ready as you can be for next spring training to have a good first full pro season.”
Jim Thome helped changed the perception of the Phillies from long-time losers to championship contenders when he left Cleveland and signed a six-year, $85 million ahead of the 2003 season. Thome hit 47 homers in his first season, his 400th career homer the next in Citizens Bank Park's first season and now can enjoy another milestone in the city — his 18-year-old son, Landon, is a likely first-round pick.
The Nazareth Academy (Illinois) infielder, who is committed to Florida State, is ranked among the top 50 prospects.
“All the hard work, which at the end of the day, they do it all. As a dad, you sit back, you watch the journey," the elder Thome told MLB Network.
There are more familiar names that could be called during the draft.
Rutgers outfielder Peyton Bonds is MLB's career home run leader Barry Bonds' nephew. Houston first baseman Carsten Sabathia III is the son of Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia. Gulliver Prep (Florida) shortstop Jacob Lombard is considered one of the top five available prospects and is the son of Detroit Tigers bench coach and former major leaguer George Lombard.
Here's the rest of the top 10 following Chicago for the start of the draft Saturday.
Tampa Bay picks second and Minnesota is third. San Francisco is fourth and Pittsburgh fifth. Kansas City, Baltimore, the Athletics, Atlanta and Colorado round out the top 10.
Baseball owners proposed banning high school players from signing with major league teams, raising the age for international amateurs and slashing the money spent on signing bonuses as part of the recent negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
The amateur draft for players residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico would be cut from 20 rounds to 12 beginning in 2027 under the proposal Major League Baseball made during a bargaining session with the players’ association. An identical 12-round draft would be started for international prospects, a proposal the union has rejected in the past.
Starting in 2028, a prospect for the amateur draft would have to be at least 20 years old by the Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from the graduating year of his high school class — a restriction that also would eliminate players who completed their first year of junior college.
Since the draft began in 1965, more than 50 Hall of Famers have been selected by the team that eventually signed them. The Hall of Fame class of 2026 features two former draft picks: Jeff Kent was taken in the 20th round in 1989 by the Toronto Blue Jays; and Carlos Beltrán was a second-round pick by the Royals in 1995. The 1989 draft has now produced five future Hall of Famers, the most of any single draft in history, with Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome and Kent having been selected.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
FILE - Grady Emerson, right, a shortstop from Fort Worth Christian High School, talks with former MLB player and current baseball commentator Harold Reynolds at the MLB baseball combine in Phoenix, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - Landon Thome, left, a second and third baseman from Nazareth Academy, listens to his father, Jim Thome, an MLB Hall of Fame inductee, as he speaks at the MLB baseball combine in Phoenix, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - UCLA's Roch Cholowsky reacts after hitting a home run during an NCAA baseball game against Texas Christian, Feb. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
LONDON (AP) — If there were any lingering questions over Jannik Sinner’s physical status after his meltdown at the French Open, they should be answered now.
Sinner blasted his way past seven-time champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to reach the Wimbledon final — showing off the kind of dominance he displayed before that second-round defeat in Paris.
It was a measure of revenge for Sinner after Djokovic won their last meeting in five sets in this year's Australian Open semifinals.
For the 39-year-old Djokovic, it marked another chance missed at adding to his record total of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Aiming to defend his title at the grass-court Grand Slam, the top-ranked Sinner will face second-seeded Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
Zverev ended the “Ferytale” run of British wild card Arthur Fery with an overpowering 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 victory earlier as the star-studded crowd on Centre Court witnessed two one-way contests.
Zverev will be playing for another major trophy a month after winning his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
“This Grand Slam has always been the one that I struggled with the most and all of a sudden I’m in the final of Wimbledon,” the 29-year-old German said. “We got one more match to go on Sunday and that’s what the focus is on.”
It was another warm day in southwest London, with the temperature rising to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 Celsius). It was also breezy and a bit cloudier than in recent days.
Still, it felt nothing like the suffocating heat and humidity in Paris when Sinner wasted a big lead against Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56, and had his 30-match winning streak ended in dramatically unexpected fashion.
Djokovic was coming off the longest quarterfinal in Wimbledon history, when he outlasted Felix Auger-Aliassime after 5 hours, 15 minutes on Tuesday.
Sinner, by contrast, hadn’t lost a set since he was pushed to five by Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
From the start, Sinner pushed Djokovic back with his powerful groundstrokes and came up with big serves in big moments.
When Sinner faced his only break point of the match early in the third set, he produced an ace.
Zverev, whose breakthrough at Roland Garros came in his fourth Grand Slam final, is attempting to become the first man in the professional era (since 1968) to win his second major title at the next event immediately after his first.
Sinner has won his last nine meetings with Zverev and 14 straight sets.
“I have to trust myself and I have to believe that I can win and that’s what I’m going to do,” Zverev said before he knew who his opponent would be.
The 114th-ranked Fery, who grew up five minutes from the All England Club and played at Stanford University, was attempting to become the first wild card to reach the final since Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001.
Zverev did well not to let the pro-Fery crowd get behind the local player too much and a double fault from Fery early in the first-set tiebreaker put Zverev in control.
The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev was also able to dominate with his serve, which he cranked up to 139 mph (224 kph).
The 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Fery, by comparison, was serving closer to 120 mph (193 kph).
The British spectators did their best to encourage Fery early on, chanting his name between points as they sipped their Pimm’s under their wide-brimmed hats.
At one point early on, chair umpire Marijana Veljovic had to tell the crowd to pipe down.
“Ladies and gentlemen: Do not react, if possible, until the end of the point,” Veljovic said, before adding later in the first set: “Once again, do not react during the rally. That’s very disturbing for both players,” which was met with a round of applause.
When it was over, Fery walked off to a standing ovation and applauded the crowd in return.
“I know that 99.99% of the stadium was wanting Arthur to win. But it was still such an incredible atmosphere. It was such a fair crowd as well,” Zverev said. “A lot of crowds in the world can take an example of this crowd.”
Zverev had previously never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Now he’s the first German man to reach the final of the grass-court Grand Slam since Boris Becker lost to Pete Sampras in 1995.
The last German man to win Wimbledon was Michael Stich, who beat Becker in the 1991 final.
Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champion, wished Zverev “congratulations” in German on X: tweeting “Glückwunsch Sascha !!!,” using the player’s nickname.
The women’s final on Saturday features two Czech players, Karolina Muchova against Linda Noskova.
AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Jannik Sinner of Italy serves to Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Jannik Sinner of Italy returns the ball to Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts to losing a point against Jannik Sinner of Italy in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates a point against Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after defeating Arthur Fery of Britain in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Alexander Zverev of Germany, right speaks to Arthur Fery of Britain at the net after Zverev won their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after winning a point against Arthur Fery of Britain during their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Alexander Zverev of Germany, right, speaks to Arthur Fery of Britain at the net after Zverev won their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after defeating Arthur Fery of Britainn in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Arthur Fery of Britain plays a volley against Alexander Zverev of Germany in their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Alexander Zverev of Germany hits a return to Arthur Fery of Britain during their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Arthur Fery of Britain plays a run to Alexander Zverev of Germany during their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after winning a point against Arthur Fery of Britain during their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning a point against Arthur Fery of Britain during their men's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
