This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO – If we view the 2024 White Sox Draft as a puzzle, then director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley and his staff are the ones trying to piece it together.

That puzzle solving for the White Sox involves making the most impactful decisions within their allotted $14,593,300 bonus pool. The biggest piece of said puzzle comes at No. 5 in the first round, where the slot value sits at $7,763,700.

And to complete this entire puzzle theme, with the White Sox in the early stages of a rebuild under general manager Chris Getz and assembling as much high-end young talent as possible, this will be Shirley’s most pivotal Draft.

Basically, he can’t miss at No. 5, but the other picks will be important as well.

“I think the security has asked me, ‘Is this pivotal?’ all the way to [White Sox manager] Pedro [Grifol] has told me, ‘This is pivotal,’” said a smiling Shirley of pick No. 5 during Tuesday’s pre-Draft press conference. “[White Sox chairman] Jerry [Reinsdorf] has told me it’s pivotal.

“We all know how pivotal this is to get this right. We all feel good with what’s happening in the Minor Leagues. To add to this, what 5 could possibly be to the next wave, it’s substantial. I understand where we are. It’s a must.”

Here are questions relating to the White Sox Draft, beginning Sunday night at 6 p.m. CT and running through Tuesday.

If No. 5 is so pivotal, who are the White Sox taking?

The names of shortstop/second baseman JJ Wetherholt from West Virginia and high school shortstop/outfielder Konnor Griffin out of Mississippi have been attached to the White Sox early on in this particular process. But MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, in his mock Draft from Thursday, has first baseman/left-handed pitcher Jac Caglianone from Florida at No. 5.

“That’s still wide open,” Shirley said. “When I tell you we are looking at 10 players, we are still up there working hard at 10 players.”

Will it be a position player at No. 5?

Right-hander Chase Burns from Wake Forest and left-hander Hagen Smith from Arkansas are both in play for the White Sox, two hurlers deemed as not too far off from Major League ready. A team can never have too much pitching, whether it’s aimed eventually at helping the White Sox or as part of future moves.

Back to Caglianone, does that say 'first baseman/pitcher'?

It sure does. The left-handed-hitting Caglianone belted 33 and 35 home runs in each of his last two seasons with the Gators to go with an OPS of 1.126 in 2023 and 1.419 in ’24. He also made 34 combined starts with 170 strikeouts in 148 1/3 innings.

Pundits believe Caglianone will be offense-only at the professional level. The White Sox are not part of that group as of now.

“Jac thinks it's possible. He was clearly stating he thinks he can do it,” Shirley said. “We’ll investigate every avenue to make sure that's an opportunity where we can capitalize.

“We'd be foolish not to do that. He's done it his whole life.”

The White Sox met with Caglianone at Guaranteed Rate Field at the end of June, with brief snippets of his meeting with Shirley, Getz and Grifol making it on to the game broadcast.

Could the White Sox go underslot at No. 5?

They could, in going back to the whole puzzle-solving idea. But don’t confuse underslot with undervalue. By following that plan with shortstop Jacob Gonzalez in 2023, signing at $3,900,000 with a pick value of $4,488,600, the White Sox were able to go overslot with outfielder George Wolkow in Round 7.

Wolkow, at 18, was recently named Carolina League Player of the Week with Kannapolis. Gonzalez continues to play solid baseball for Double-A Birmingham.

“He’s one of the better performers in that Draft class,” Shirley said. “We are proud of that for Jacob.”

Anything else to know?

The White Sox have four picks in the first 78, and five picks in the first 107. It’s both exciting and challenging for Shirley and his crew, with the focus on No. 5.

“Pick 5 is the most important piece. You’ve got to get the first one right,” Shirley said. “It’s a pivotal moment for the organization. Our staff has worked extremely hard.

“There’s a good blend of high school players in this group, a good blend of college position players and most importantly, still two college pitchers involved in the process. We’re working hard, [thinking in] multiple directions. But we understand what five means to us.”