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 -- The White Sox aren’t truly designed to win in 2025.

They are coming ready to play.

“This team is going to compete this year for sure,” White Sox catcher Edgar Quero told MLB.com during a recent interview. “We are going to compete because the young talent, the young players, they are hungry. We are hungry.

“Everybody is hungry to play baseball at the big league level. This is the point when you are hungry, you are going to do it. It doesn’t matter who is coming to the box or who is going to throw. We are going to work together. We are hungry and everybody knows.”

Much of the heavy lifting toward ’25 already has been executed by the White Sox during the present offseason. General manager Chris Getz traded staff ace Garrett Crochet to Boston for a four-player return, including two Top 50 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, in catcher Kyle Teel (No. 25) and outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 54).

Right-hander Bryse Wilson, outfielders Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater and catcher Matt Thaiss have been added to the roster, with their veteran presence helping a team focused on letting the prospects play, seeing what they can do and then deciding how to fill in around them. With Spring Training six weeks away, the White Sox front office and coaching staff under first-year manager Will Venable must formulate a plan as to which young players will get an immediate chance and which ones need more Minor League time.

Of course, their respective performances during Spring Training could influence those decisions. But this basic question also leads to offshoot questions.

Will veteran outfielders Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi still be part of the White Sox roster by the time Opening Day arrives on March 27, or will they be traded for more prospects? Getz spoke at the Winter Meetings of outside interest in Robert, despite the five-tool talent dealing with a right hip flexor strain costing him two months during the 2024 season followed by unexpected underperformance from the center fielder. Getz certainly won’t take less value for a player of Robert’s skillset.

Will shortstop Colson Montgomery, the team’s No. 4 prospect and No. 37 overall per MLB Pipeline, and Quero (No. 6 and No. 59) have a viable shot to break camp with the team? Will this youth-driven group be better than the 2024 debacle, where the White Sox set a single-season record in the Modern Era (since 1901) with 121 losses?

Quero believes that young energy will push the White Sox toward better days, with on-field and off-the-field contributions from the more experienced players.

“I've been playing baseball since I was 5 years old, and I still love it,” Tauchman said. “And I love getting in the cage. I love taking fly balls. If they let me, I like taking ground balls. And I love getting in the batter's box and competing. And I love talking about the game.

“So I'm always down to talk about that. I love talking about different situations that come up and what you can do versus what you can't do, or what you're seeing, and the mental side of things. Looking forward to getting to know a new group of guys and talking ball with them.”

Not all the prime White Sox prospects will be viewed with a Major League eye departing from Spring Training. Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, the top two left-handed prospects in the game, are integral to this team’s move from rebuild to contention, but they certainly won’t be rushed.

The same holds true for Colson Montgomery, Quero and Teel, who are closer to Major League ready. The hope for any season is always to win as many games as possible, but the White Sox are looking at the long-term health of the team and won’t take any shortcuts, as Getz has mentioned numerous times.

“We have such a strong process working right now,” Getz said. “There are areas you’re looking and working to improve. It starts with the identification and acquisition process and then you start to work on the development part of all this, which is certainly vital.

“But I keep pointing back to the infrastructure we've been building, committed to really strengthen the foundation of this organization. It really gives you confidence that you’re going to get the most out of these players.”