With days before spring training, the Boston Red Sox made yet another trade. It does not bring an infielder to Boston to complete the roster, but it sets the Red Sox up to make that final move.
The Red Sox traded reliever Jordan Hicks and top pitching prospect David Sandlin to the Chicago White Sox for pitching prospect Gage Ziehl. The trade was first reported by MLB insider Jeff Passan and Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported Boston's return.
The Red Sox will also send $8 million to the White Sox to pay down some of Hicks' $24 million remaining salary. He signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the San Francisco Giants before the 2024 season, then they sent him to Boston in the Rafael Devers trade.
Sandlin was the Red Sox's No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the same in our top 30 prospect rankings. Boston protected him from the Rule 5 Draft earlier this winter and he was part of the long list of top prospect rotation depth in Triple-A. He posted a 4.50 ERA with 107 strikeouts and 40 walks over 106 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season. The 23.2 innings he spent in Worcester (7.61 ERA over 15 outings) inflated his full-season ERA, as he transitioned from a starter role to a relief one to potentially be available to the Red Sox for their postseason push.
Red Sox unload Jordan Hicks' salary, send top pitching prospect David Sandlin to White Sox to prep for final offseason moves
Trading Hicks and Sandlin and unloading Hicks' salary (a worse contract than Rafael Devers', by the way) makes 40-man roster and CBT space for the Red Sox's final offseason moves. Boston still needs an infielder to complete its roster after Alex Bregman's departure to the Chicago Cubs and Craig Breslow seeks another lefty reliever for the bullpen, which was so successful last season. Justin Wilson and Steven Matz have both left in free agency and they need to be replaced.
Two days before the Hicks trade on January 30, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reported that the Red Sox were in discussions to potentially move a few pitchers: Hicks, Brayan Bello and Patrick Sandoval (subscription required). Most Boston fans are glad to see Hicks go as opposed to the other two pitchers on the trade block — his 8.20 ERA and 1.98 WHIP over the 18.2 innings he pitched with the Red Sox were uninspiring, especially because he was part of the return for Devers (who, as it turned out, the Red Sox needed badly down the stretch).
The Red Sox have in recent days been connected to free agent Eugenio Suárez and Cubs trade candidates Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw. Dropping Hicks' money could be a final step toward making one of those moves and completing the roster with just days remaining before spring training officially begins.