When the Boston Red Sox traded away their three-time All-Star slugger Rafael Devers on June 15, 2025, the headline of the multilayer package they received from the San Francisco Giants was 100-mph throwing right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks. But Hicks was such a disappointment that the Red Sox traded him to the Chicago White Sox in February, in what one analyst called "a clear salary dump from the Red Sox."
But even though the Red Sox were eager to free themselves from the money owed to Hicks, they are still paying him. In fact, Boston still owes Hicks $4 million in 2027, even though he will be in his second full season with the White Sox, where he reached the playoffs and helped Chicago advance to the American League Division Series this year.
Boston committed $8 million in cash to Chicago in the Feb. 1 trade, a sum divided into $4 million for 2026 and $4 million for 2027, according to The Athletic.
Pitching prospect David Sandlin went to Chicago in the same deal, and the Red Sox got another pitching prospect, Gage Ziehl, back, according to MassLive.
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Hicks arrived from the San Francisco Giants on June 15, 2025, in the Devers trade, carrying the four-year, $44 million contract he signed in January 2024. That deal pays him $12 million per season from 2025 through 2027, according to MLB.com .
Chicago absorbed roughly $16 million of the $24 million left on the contract, leaving Boston with $4 million per season, including the 2027 payment still to be paid. The contract expires after 2027, and no other Boston-tied salary or bonus is reported, according to Spotrac .
The trade cleared 2026 and 2027 commitments, pushed Boston under the second luxury-tax threshold and opened 40-man roster spots, according to The Athletic . Chicago had payroll room after trading Luis Robert Jr., and Sandlin served as the sweetener.
Hicks arrived on the injured list with right toe inflammation, then went down again with right shoulder tendinitis, according to The Associated Press .
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Hicks went 1-2 with an 8.20 ERA and two saves in 21 relief appearances for Boston, allowing 17 earned runs over 18 2/3 innings. He issued 12 walks against 97 batters faced, a 12.4% walk rate , well above the MLB average of 8.4%.
Hicks finished 2025 with a 6.95 ERA across 34 games for San Francisco and Boston combined, his worst season in the majors. Shoulder tendinitis ended his year when he went on the injured list Sept. 4.
The walks persisted in 2026. Hicks posted a 15.3% walk rate for Chicago, though he finished 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 53 games and struck out 64 batters in 48 innings.
Hicks, born Sept. 6, 1996, in Houston, went to the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 2015 draft out of Cypress Creek High School and debuted March 29, 2018. His fastball has reached 105 mph, among the fastest pitches ever tracked, and he has 36 saves in a career that includes a 20-37 record and 4.36 ERA across 328 games.
Hicks underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2019 and opted out of the 2020 season as a high-risk individual with Type 1 diabetes, which was diagnosed when he was 17.
"You can be diabetic, and you can be a phenom," Hicks said, according to MLB.com 's Zachary Silver . The message anchors Diabetic Phenom, the apparel brand he started to support diabetes causes.
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