Red Sox complete trade with White Sox
The Red Sox dumped one of the worst relievers in baseball on the White Sox in a money-clearing move on Sunday.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 03: Jordan Hicks #46 of the Boston Red Sox exits the game in the second inning of the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Fenway Park on September 03, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
The Jordan Hicks Era has mercifully come to an end for the Red Sox.
One of the returns in the trade that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco last summer, Hicks was officially sent packing by the Red Sox on Sunday, with the hard-throwing righty traded to the White Sox.
In exchange for Hicks, the Red Sox will receive minor-league pitching prospect Gage ZIehl from the White Sox, while the Red Sox also included pitching prospect David Sandlin in the deal to help facilitate the trade and get Chicago to eat the majority of the money owed to Hicks. The club will also swap players to be named later in the deal.
Summoned out of the Boston bullpen 21 times last season, Hicks posted a 1-2 record with two saves and one hold, but also surrendered 25 hits (including three home runs) and 17 earned runs with an 8.20 ERA and batters hitting .321 off him in 18.2 innings of work in total.
It even hit the point where the Red Sox eventually made a mercy injured list kind of moves with Hicks, who had another two years at $12.5 million per season due to him, and shut him down for the year in September.
Beyond Hicks, Sandlin will depart the Red Sox organization after a 2025 that saw him post a 9-6 record, 4.50 ERA, and 107 strikeouts over 106 innings of work in 32 games (14 starts) between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. The Red Sox tinkered with making the hard-throwing Sandlin a reliever down the stretch, with the hopes of him providing the big league club with another right-handed option out of the bullpen.
The Red Sox originally acquired Sandlin from the Royals in a Feb. 2024 trade that sent John Schreiber to the Royals.
The 22-year-old Ziehl, meanwhile, will join Boston's minor-league pool with a minor-league career record of 7-6, along with a 4.12 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 107 innings over 22 games (21 starts). Ziehl was originally a fourth-round pick of the Yankees back in 2024.
