Montgomery ready to 'dominate' after being protected from Rule 5 Draft

CHICAGO -- Colson Montgomery currently is working out in Tennessee at the Bledsoe Agency, coming off strong showings in the Arizona Fall League and from the end of the 2024 season with Triple-A Charlotte.

But Montgomery, whom MLB Pipeline ranks as the No. 3 White Sox prospect and No. 37 overall and who had his contract selected by the White Sox Tuesday along with right-hander Juan Carela, has a purpose well beyond simply getting ready for the 2025 campaign.

“The biggest thing is, every single day, [Bledsoe Agency co-founder Hunter Bledsoe] walks in and says, 'Are you ready to dominate the day?' I’m not trying to win the day, I’m trying to dominate the day,” Montgomery said during a Wednesday Zoom session. “I’m trying to dominate my workout, dominate my hitting routines and dominate my infield routines.

“There’s people that train to win, but when you train to dominate it kind of changes the mindset. I feel like that’s clicking with me right now. I’m gonna train my butt off. I’m gonna push myself.”

Montgomery, 22, played his first full Minor League season in 2024 with Charlotte, struggling at times to a final slash line of .214/.329/.381 with 18 home runs, 21 doubles, 63 RBIs and 66 runs scored. Following a five-person Zoom session in early August involving White Sox hitting personnel, Montgomery’s hitting guys and Montgomery himself, the left-handed hitter turned things around.

Beginning with a 3-for-4 showing on Aug. 24, Montgomery slashed .263/.357/.465 over his final 99 at-bats and continued that success during an Arizona Fall League stint, slashing .313/.511/.656 with three home runs in 45 plate appearances. Ending on a high note was beneficial for Montgomery, but also left the 22nd overall pick from the 2021 Draft wanting more.

“I have a whole bunch of hunger and frustration and not disappointment and embarrassment in myself, but that fire in me that I always want to do good. And the fact that I didn’t perform the way I wanted to for most of the year, it kind of drives me crazy,” Montgomery said. “It’s fueling the fire in my offseason work of, ‘Hey, I don’t really have to prove myself again, but have to get back to where I was and get back to being the guy everybody knows that I am.’

“That comes into the happy and exciting that I did get back to at the end of the year and [in] the Fall League,” Montgomery added.

During his second straight AFL appearance with Glendale, Montgomery played eight of his nine games in the field at third base to mark the first time he played that position defensively in his life. The move was more a function of Montgomery’s late addition to the Desert Dogs, with Montgomery forcefully reiterating he’s a shortstop on Wednesday, just as he had in October during an interview with MLB.com.

White Sox manager Will Venable had just got off a call with Montgomery prior to the Zoom, a basic introduction from the new man in charge. Montgomery also has a call with the organization on Thursday to discuss the next steps in his career trajectory. There was speculation concerning Montgomery’s Major League debut coming in 2024 at the outset of the campaign, and that speculation will pick up in full force going into ‘25.

“Yes, I do envision myself doing that,” Montgomery said when asked if he sees himself playing shortstop every day for the 2025 White Sox. “There's a lot of individual goals that I want to accomplish.

“At the same time, I just want to win and I just want to help this organization be as best as we can. I feel like if I put that first, then everything will take care of itself.”

Carela, 22, combined to go 7-7 with a 3.71 ERA and 114 strikeouts over 106 2/3 innings and a .225 opponents' average over 23 starts last season with High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. The No. 26-ranked White Sox prospect, who was acquired when Chicago traded reliever Keynan Middleton the Yankees on Aug. 1, 2023, started Game 2 of the Southern League Championship series-clinching victory vs. Double-A Montgomery, throwing 4 2/3 scoreless innings in the Barons' 2-1, 10-inning win.

A one-year deal with free agent outfielder Austin Slater, announced Wednesday, brings the White Sox 40-man roster to 39. Chicago also will have the top pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, which takes place on Dec. 11 in Dallas at the Winter Meetings. Outfielders Wilfred Veras (No. 25 White Sox prospect), Terrell Tatum and DJ Gladney, along with right-handed pitcher Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, are Rule 5 eligible but are a few of the players who were not protected by the White Sox.