DALLAS -- As rumors of a Garrett Crochet trade to Boston came to a boil, the White Sox closed out the official winter meetings schedule with one more addition, selecting right-handed pitcher Shane Smith with the first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft.
Smith, who will turn 25 shortly after Opening Day, is coming off a productive 2024, posting a 3.05 ERA with 113 strikeouts against just 70 hits and 29 walks over 94⅓ innings. He made 27 of his 33 appearances in Double-A Biloxi before a late-season promotion to Triple-A Nashville, and he made 16 of his 32 appearances as a starter.
In selecting Smith, the White Sox will pay the Brewers $100,000, and have to keep him on the active roster for a minimum of 90 days. They can only remove him from the roster and reassign him to the minors if he clears outright waivers, or if Brewers aren't interested in reacquiring Smith for $50,000.
Starting was a new role for Smith, whose work in the Wake Forest bullpen was limited first by the COVID shutdown in 2020, and then an elbow injury the following year. He threw just 10⅓ innings total before Tommy John surgery, and signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He spent 2023 entirely in the bullpen, throwing nearly 60 innings over 38 carefully allocated appearances, and then the Brewers pushed him into new territory.
An extremely helpful post and video from Seth Stohs of Brewer Fanatic will catch you up on his history ...
... and at 19-minute mark, he gets into what he throws (fastball, slider, curve, and a sweeper he said he started throwing midseason), and how and when he tries to throw it.
Given Smith's professional success and strike-throwing ability, the question is why the Brewers wouldn't protect him on the 40-man roster. The doubts potentially spring from Smith possessing a fastball-forward attack, and Statcast only had him 93-95 out of the bullpen during his late-season work in Nashville. Does he get enough extension and ride to make that work in the majors? If not, does either his slider or curveball have the ability to take on more of a leading role?
Those questions are one the White Sox in a decent position to take on, in the sense that he offers multiple ways for the White Sox to keep him on the 26-man roster for a full season. Perhaps his stuff gets another boost -- or perhaps a tweak makes a breaking ball level up -- and he can occupy a spot in the bullpen that's lacking in even reliable medium-leverage types. Or perhaps the White Sox believe he can throw five decent innings on a semi-regular basis, and he helps fill out of the rotation.
"He’s got starting ability as well," said Chris Getz. "He’ll come into camp and compete for a spot. He’s got an ability to pitch in the bullpen as well. The Rule 5 gives you an opportunity to bring guys in and see if he can be a fit. It was a clear decision for us that he was the right guy. It was almost a consensus with our group, which isn’t always the case. But in this one, it was and just gave us more confidence to make the selection."
Most likely, Smith offers the ability to throw multiple innings in relief, and he seems to hold his own against lefties despite the lack of a changeup. That basically allows him to fill the role that Jared Shuster occupied last year. It's a little redundant since Shuster is still on the roster, but Smith throws with his other hand, and until the Sox make more proven acquisitions, there's room in the picture for both.
In the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, the White Sox selected 20-year-old right-handed pitcher Joseph Yabbour from the Mets' Low-A roster. No White Sox prospects were taken in either phase of the draft, meaning that eligible players -- notably Wilfred Veras and relievers Trey McGough, Adisyn Coffey and Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa -- will remain in the system.
