Chicago White Sox Poach Milwaukee Brewers' Shane Smith With Top Pick of Rule 5 Draft

The Milwaukee Brewers elected not to protect Shane Smith from the Rule 5 Draft last month, so the Chicago White Sox swooped in to pick up the promising young pitcher on Wednesday.

Biloxi Shuckers’ Shane Smith (35) hands the ball to Joe Ayrault (33) to pitch against the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss., on the Braves' opening day, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. / Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2024 Rule 5 Draft hasn't even gotten underway, and yet one player has already come off the board.

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo reported Wednesday morning that the Chicago White Sox would be selecting Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitcher Shane Smith with the No. 1 overall pick. Mayo shared the information at 8:56 a.m. CT, while the Rule 5 Draft wasn't set to begin at the Winter Meetings in Dallas until 1 p.m. CT.

Smith, 24, was not protected by the Brewers when 40-man rosters had to be submitted to MLB in November. That left him vulnerable to be poached by another team, and the White Sox are making sure no one else has the chance to claim the young righty.

The Brewers signed Smith as an undrafted free agent coming out of Wake Forest in 2022. He missed his freshman year due to injury, had his sophomore season cut short due to COVID-19 and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, so he wasn't exactly a household name when he joined Milwaukee's farm system.

Smith pitched 3.0 innings in the Arizona Complex League in 2022, but didn't go through a full professional season until 2023. That year, Smith climbed all the way from Single-A to High-A, then Double-A, before earning an invitation to the Arizona Fall League.

Across 40 total relief appearances in 2023, Smith went 7-4 with a 1.89 ERA, 0.952 WHIP and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Smith split 2024 between Double-A and Triple-A, going 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA, 1.049 WHIP and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings on the whole. The Brewers tried Smith out as a part-time starter in Double-A, but moved him back to the bullpen in Triple-A and saw his ERA dip to 2.70.

The average velocity of Smith's four-seam fastball sits right around 94 miles per hour, but it can top out closer to 98. He also throws a cutter and a curveball.

The Brewers will be getting $100K back from the White Sox in exchange for Smith, who will be placed on Chicago's 26-man roster as soon as the pick is made official.

Barring injury or a change of heart by the White Sox's front office, Smith is now poised to make his MLB debut in 2025.

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