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Red Sox trade Jordan Hicks, pitching prospect to White Sox in salary dump; righty prospect coming back
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- Red Sox trade Jordan Hicks, pitching prospect to White Sox in salary dump; righty prospect coming back
The Red Sox swung a creative trade Sunday to achieve salary relief, moving two pitchers off their 40-man roster to do so.
Boston traded right-handers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin — along with $8 million in cash — to the White Sox for right-hander Gage Ziehl, sources confirmed to MassLive. The deal, which was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan , was officially announced by the clubs. According to the teams, the Red Sox will also send two players to be named later to the White Sox and the White Sox will send a player to be named later back.
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In all, it’s a six-player trade.
The move is a financially motivated one by the Red Sox, who were working to clear most of Hicks’ bloated salary off the books after adding Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Ranger Suárez to their payroll earlier in the winter . Hicks’ contract, which he originally signed with the Giants in January 2024, called for a $12 million competitive balance tax (CBT) hit in each of the next two years; he will now cost the Red Sox just $4 million in each season, with Chicago taking on $8 million in each campaign. In terms of real money, Hicks is owed $12.5 million in each of the next two seasons; Chicago will be responsible for $8.5 million in each campaign.
To clear Hicks’ salary, the Red Sox had to attach Sandlin, an exciting arm who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, while taking back Ziehl, who was ranked by Baseball America as the no. 21 prospect in Chicago’s system recently. Boston will clear two 40-man spots in this trade, allowing other moves to be made more easily in the coming weeks.
Hicks, who was one of four players acquired in the June blockbuster that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants, faced massive struggles once joining the Red Sox, logging an 8.20 ERA in 18 ⅔ innings over 21 appearances before being shut down due to a shoulder injury in early September. He allowed 12 walks and three homers in that span. If he wasn’t traded, the 29-year-old would have gotten a chance to compete for a bullpen spot in spring training.
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The Red Sox have now traded two of the four players they obtained for Devers in Hicks and outfielder James Tibbs III, who was sent to the Dodgers at the trade deadline for Dustin May . Kyle Harrison and Jose Bello remain in the organization.
According to a source with knowledge of the discussions, the Red Sox and White Sox discussed multiple pathways to a deal involving Boston taking on different levels of Hicks’ remaining commitment. One package involved Boston taking on White Sox reliever Jordan Leasure , who would have had a chance to contribute in the big league bullpen this season. Instead, the Red Sox decided to include Sandlin and $8 million while taking on a lesser addition in Ziehl, who finished the season at High-A.
Sandlin, who turns 25 later this month, has risen up prospect charts since being acquired two years ago from the Royals for reliever John Schreiber . He was recently ranked as the No. 11 prospect in Boston’s system by BA . The White Sox have long had interest in the Oklahoma product, sources said, and saw taking on part of Hicks’ deal as a way to obtain his arm. Sandlin reached Triple-A for the first time last season and struggled mightily once the Red Sox transitioned him to the bullpen late in the season. In total, he had a 4.50 ERA in 106 innings over 32 outings (14 starts) split between Portland and Worcester.
Sandlin was added to Boston’s 40-man roster in an effort to protect him from the Rule 5 draft early in the offseason and was likely to begin the year in Worcester’s rotation along with Harrison, Tyler Uberstine, Jake Bennett, Shane Drohan and others who didn’t crack the big league group. He is seen as a candidate to debut in 2026.
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Ziehl, 22, has now been traded twice in the last eight months as he was shipped from the Yankees to the White Sox for outfielder Austin Slater at the deadline. A University of Miami product, Ziehl was the Yankees’ fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft, signing for an over-slot bonus of $637,000. He made his pro debut last season and reached Double-A for one outing. In total, he logged a 4.12 ERA in 107 innings in 22 games (21 starts) across three levels. He finished his season with six starts at the White Sox’ High-A affiliate in Winston-Salem.
Removing Hicks’ salary — while never a preferred move for a big-market team — does help the Red Sox as they look to head to spring training with a more functional roster. According to publicly available estimates, the CBT payroll, after the signing of Suárez to a five-year, $130 million contract, was around $269 million, which cleared both the first and second penalty thresholds. Now, that number is around $261 million, which is below the second CBT threshold of $264 million. With openings at second base and third base — and Marcelo Mayer in the mix to play one of those positions – Boston is still in the market for an infield addition, either via free agency or trade, and could look for further salary relief by moving another highly-paid player like Masataka Yoshida ($18 million CBT hit) and/or Patrick Sandoval ($9.125 million CBT hit) in the coming weeks. Neither player has a set role on the team with the roster as presently constructed.
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