DALLAS -- Chris Getz hit only three home runs over the course of his seven-year career, with two of them coming while playing for the White Sox.

So comparing the excitement of clearing the fences to the excitement of finishing off a five-player deal sending Garrett Crochet to Boston hours before the close of the 2024 Winter Meetings on Wednesday would be tough for the White Sox general manager to gauge. But Getz certainly felt good about the return in catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez.

¡°I feel a lot better,¡± said a smiling Getz when asked about his present demeanor juxtaposed to how he felt when talking to the media on Tuesday at the Hilton Anatole. ¡°I do. We were focused on bringing in as much high-end talent that we could and we were able to accomplish that.

¡°You are not necessarily focused too much on proximity, but in this case, they happen to be upper level players and Braden is just getting started and coming out of college. We want to do what¡¯s right for each player in regards to their development journey. But we feel like it¡¯s a diversified group that¡¯s really going to help improve our roster.¡±

TRADE DETAILS
Red Sox get: LHP Garrett Crochet
White Sox get: C Kyle Teel (No. 25 overall prospect), OF Braden Montgomery (No. 54 overall), INF Chase Meidroth (Boston's No. 11 prospect), RHP Wikelman Gonzalez (Boston's No. 14 prospect)

All four of these acquisitions ranked in the Top 14 of Boston¡¯s prospects at the time of the deal, per MLB Pipeline. Teel, at No. 25 and Montgomery, at 54, also rank in MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100. Add in left-hander Noah Schultz (No. 16), left-hander Hagen Smith (No. 30), shortstop Colson Montgomery (No. 37) and catcher Edgar Quero (No. 59), and the White Sox have six in the Top 100.

That group makes for a solid nucleus. But as the White Sox know from their last rebuild, which was executed with precision at the outset, this top-ranked talent doesn¡¯t necessarily translate into playoff victories. Nonetheless, the move had to be made.

Crochet has top-of-the-rotation stuff, as well as top-of-the-clubhouse leadership, to go with a high competitive level. He excelled in his first year as a starter, winning American League Comeback Player of the Year. Crochet also has two years of contractual control, and the White Sox don¡¯t figure to be contending during those two years.

So Getz and his front-office crew turned that impressive combination featuring a 25-year-old player who can make a strong on-field difference every five days into the potential for three everyday players. Getz was the one who greenlighted Crochet¡¯s move from the bullpen to the rotation and had a great conversation with the left-hander when the deal was complete.

¡°Those are bittersweet conversations,¡± said Getz, adding he thanked Crochet in their talk. ¡°He understands certainly where we're at currently as an organization, because he lived through this past season. To be able to get a haul like we did and diversify a deal with some real talent in there, it became very obvious that this was a good deal for the Chicago White Sox.¡±

Five teams were seriously involved in the final level of Crochet trade negotiations, per Getz, and talks picked up with greater intensity on Tuesday night. The news broke right around the time when the White Sox selected right-hander Shane Smith from Milwaukee with the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft.

Boston had talks with the White Sox at the 2024 Trade Deadline, with the Dodgers and Phillies strongly involved at the time. Getz believes this return was better than anything they could have obtained late last July.

¡°Quite honestly, not making that deal, but being able to track those players for the remaining part of the year is important,¡± Getz said. ¡°We were able to be a little bit more precise and confident to make a decision.¡±

¡°Fortunately, our system is deep and there's a ton of quality and a ton of really, really good players, and so we felt like we were in a position to withstand the cost,¡± Boston chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said. ¡°But there's no doubt the four guys we gave up are really good players.¡±

Teel, 22, joins Quero and Korey Lee behind the plate in a position deemed very valuable around baseball. The switch-hitting Montgomery, 21, did not make his professional debut in 2024 due to a broken ankle suffered with Texas A&M during the Super Regional against Oregon. They represent the Red Sox's last two first-round Draft picks.

Meidroth, 23, could join the White Sox lineup right away, again according to Getz. This deal could turn out to be a rebuild accelerator.

¡°Not only are they talented, but they're high character,¡± Getz said. ¡°When you're building a foundation like we're set out to do, to go out there and find talented players with high character, that's the direction of this organization to be able to accomplish something that I feel like it's going to put us in a really good position moving forward.¡±