Fastball

Chicago White Sox Protect Top Prospect Colson Montgomery From Rule-5 Draft

The White Sox have added two players to the 40-man roster for the purpose of not exposing them to the Rule-5 draft.

Brady Farkas

Chicago White Sox infielder Colson Montgomery (85) performs a drill during a Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch on Feb 19.
Chicago White Sox infielder Colson Montgomery (85) performs a drill during a Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch on Feb 19. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
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With the Rule-5 Draft deadline looming on Tuesday night, the Chicago White Sox have added two players to the 40-man roster.

Per MLBTradeRumors:

The White Sox have selected the contracts of shortstop Colson Montgomery and right-hander Juan Carela, per the team transaction log at MLB.com. Both are now on the 40-man roster and ineligible to be taken in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Montgomery is the team's No. 3 overall prospect, per MLB.com. He was selected in the first round of 2021 MLB Draft out of the Indiana high school ranks. He struggled in Triple-A this year, hitting just .214 over 130 games, but the White Sox clearly feel strong enough about his talent and pedigree to keep him around.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect page:

As a large-framed, lefty-hitting shortstop with a huge offensive ceiling, Montgomery has drawn Corey Seager comparisons for years. Like Seager, he has plus power and is tapping into more often by launching balls in the air more consistently in 2023 and 2024. He has gotten more aggressive and his swing decisions have suffered as a result.

Carela is currently the No. 26 prospect in the organization. He is 22-years-old. Carela went 7-7 this past season between High-A and Double-A. He had a 3.71 ERA in 23 starts.

Carela is athletic and has a clean delivery that he repeats well, allowing him to throw consistent strikes. If he can refine his command and find a second better-than-average pitch, he could slot in the back of a rotation. Otherwise, he'll probably wind up as a slider-happy middle reliever.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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