Montgomery 1 of 2 White Sox prospects protected from Rule 5 Draft

CHICAGO -- The White Sox selected the contracts of infielder Colson Montgomery and right-handed pitcher Juan Carela, as announced on Tuesday afternoon, protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft and bringing their 40-man roster total to 38.

Montgomery, 22, ranks as the No. 3 White Sox prospect and No. 37 overall, per MLB Pipeline. The No. 22 selection overall in the 2021 Draft played his first full Minor League season in 2024 with Triple-A 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. But following a five-person Zoom session in early August involving White Sox hitting personnel, Montgomery’s hitting guys and Montgomery, the left-handed hitter turned things around.

Beginning with a 3-for-4 showing on Aug. 24, Montgomery finished at .263/.357/.465 over his final 99 at-bats. He continued that success during an Arizona Fall League stint, slashing .313/.511/.656 with three home runs in 45 plate appearances.

“When they kind of told me, and asked me, yeah, I was a little caught off guard because I was like, I played 100 whatever games. I played the whole year and was fine all year,” Montgomery told MLB.com during a recent interview concerning the surprise AFL addition after playing 130 games for the Knights.

“But once we started kind of talking over reasons and what they think in the future and things like that, it’s better for development, then you gotta put away your pride a little bit and just focus on what’s going to be best for you in the future,” Montgomery added. “Once I got past all that, I was fine.”

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 was there 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.

There was speculation about Montgomery’s Major League debut potentially coming in 2024 at the outset of the campaign. That speculation will pick up in full force going into ‘25.

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 White Sox prospect, who was acquired in a trade with the Yankees on Aug. 1, 2023, started Game 2 of the Southern League Championship series-clinching victory vs. Montgomery, throwing 4 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-1 Barons victory in 10 innings.

A deal with free agent outfielder Austin Slater figures to be announced this week. The White Sox also will have the top pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, taking place on Dec. 11 in Dallas at the Winter Meetings. Outfielders Wilfred Veras (No. 25 White Sox prospect), Terrell Tatum and DJ Gladney and right-handed pitcher Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa are Rule 5 eligible but were a few of the players not protected by the White Sox.