4 draft prospects the Chicago White Sox should consider taking with the No. 5 overall pick

The 2024 Chicago White Sox are the epitome of a bad baseball team.

One day the pitching staff gives up a game, the next it’s a stagnant offense that hands the opponent the victory. The Sox just can’t seem to get things right. There has been some improvement, however, recently and the White Sox are at least looking a little bit better. But they still have a long way to go.

The 2024 Major League Baseball Draft is a way for teams to start building for the future.

The White Sox, who had one of the worst farm systems in all of the league, can improve their ever-improving minor league system with a good draft this year. There are quite a few prospects that the White Sox might want to take a swing at and grab with the 5th overall pick in the draft.

One prospect that they may not want to consider is Joe Caglianone.

Caglianone is a guy who likely isn’t a top-five selection, or at least someone that the White Sox should be interested in, so perhaps they will shy away from him. Another team will likely take him in the first round, which might be too early to take him, but the White Sox should avoid him.

A guy that’s of interest is outfielder Braden Montgomery.

If the White Sox do trade Luis Robert, Jr. before the trade deadline, they are going to lack depth in the outfield. They have a few prospects in their farm system that could be of some use but they need to start developing more talent now.

This is where Montgomery comes in. The biggest drawback to Montgomery is his injury history but, overall, he can bat from either side and has solid arm strength.

Another potential prospect that the White Sox might be interested in is left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith.

Smith had Tommy John surgery in high school but has come back in a nice way to be one of the top pitchers in this year’s draft. He’s been in college at Arkansas and is ready to make a jump to the minor leagues and eventually to the majors. He just might be ready to come to the majors sooner than some think.

The White Sox need some help hitting the ball and their farm system has some decent hitters but could always use more. With the fifth pick in the draft, there should be a lot of quality-hitting talent available to them.

One player, in particular, stands out above most and that’s West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt.

Wetherholt may just be the best of the bunch when it comes to hitting the ball in this year’s draft. He’s got power and a strong desire to succeed. He would give the Sox another left-handed bat and could make the jump to the majors quickly.

The draft isn’t going to be a quick solution to the White Sox problems. Players in the draft are seldom ready to climb to the majors in their first year. But at number five, the White Sox are bound to find someone who can fill a need and give them a player who might just be able to get to the league quickly. They will want that especially since they are rebuilding.