DALLAS -- Just when it looked as if the White Sox were leaving the 2024 Winter Meetings at the Hilton Anatole with plenty of groundwork laid but no major moves …

General manager Chris Getz pulled off a five-player deal with the potential to be franchise- and rebuild-altering.

The White Sox sent ace hurler Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox in exchange for catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez. All four players were rated in Boston’s Top 14 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, with the addition of Teel (No. 25) and Montgomery (No. 54) giving the White Sox six players in MLB Pipeline’s Top 60 overall.

Outfielder Mike Tauchman also agreed to a one-year, $1.95 million free-agent deal with Chicago, and the team added right-handed pitcher Shane Smith with the top pick of the Rule 5 Draft. But all eyes were on the Crochet deal, announced just before the Winter Meetings’ closing bell.

“You look at the long-term health of the organization, and to inject the type of talent that we just did in this trade is really exciting for us,” Getz said. “You talk about accelerating a rebuild, this was a deal that we feel like can do that.”

BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS

1. The Luis Robert Jr. decision
Since Getz seems to be in the zone with the Crochet return, will a trade for Robert shortly follow? The five-tool talent in center field is owed $15 million in 2025 followed by two team options at $20 million, each with a $2 million buyout.

But Robert is coming off another injury-plagued season, coupled with subpar on-field results in this instance. Chicago only will move Robert if its demand is met in viewing him at his highest level.

“I just really go back to what he can bring to the table,” Getz said of Robert. “We have to get the front end of the year right, keep him on the field.

“You look at what he can do on both sides of the ball. [We'll] continue to have those conversations, but we’re very comfortable having Luis Robert in a White Sox uniform.”

2. Starting pitching
Crochet’s exit leaves right-handers Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin and Sean Burke as part of the rotation, as well as Drew Thorpe, who is going through his normal offseason throwing program following bone spur surgery in his right elbow last season. Jairo Iriarte and Mason Adams also are in the picture.

White Sox top prospect Noah Schultz and No. 2 Hagen Smith, the top two left-handed pitching prospects in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, won’t be with the team until near the end of the 2025 season at the earliest, and even then, they probably would work out of the bullpen. So, Chicago needs a veteran starter or two to take innings.

Don’t leave out the bullpen, where a young nucleus needs to be filled out with more veteran arms. But here’s a bonus question: Who will be the 2025 White Sox Opening Day starter?

3. Roster depth
Colson Montgomery, the No. 3-ranked White Sox prospect and No. 37 overall, per MLB Pipeline, will get a chance to earn the Opening Day nod at shortstop out of Spring Training. The same holds true for catcher Edgar Quero, the No. 4 White Sox prospect and No. 59 overall. Chicago also has Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin and Jacob Amaya as middle infield options available on the roster, along with the acquisition of Meidroth in the Crochet deal. The team still might look for a veteran reinforcement behind the plate, with the same holding true in the outfield despite the free-agent additions of Tauchman and Austin Slater.

RULE 5 DRAFT
Smith, 24, played three seasons as part of the Brewers' organization, splitting the 2024 campaign between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville. The right-hander has made 73 career Minor League appearances, with 16 of his 19 games as a starter coming with Biloxi last season. He posted a 3.08 ERA with 106 strikeouts and a 1.05 WHIP over 87 2/3 innings in Double-A.

With this move and the Tauchman move, the White Sox 40-man roster moves to 39.

“It was a clear decision for us that he was the right guy,” Getz said of Smith, who will come to Spring Training as a starter. “It was almost a consensus with our group, which isn’t always the case. In this one, it just gave us more confidence to make the selection.”

GM'S BOTTOM LINE
“We're fortunate in this deal to get high-end talent, and four of them. We feel like we've got value and volume in this deal, and that's why it became very obvious we need to make a move on this." -- Getz