The payroll flexibility the Chicago White Sox created by trading outfielder Luis Robert Jr. continued to pay dividends on Sunday, with the White Sox taking on a chunk of right-hander Jordan Hicks’ remaining salary to acquire a pitching prospect they liked from the Boston Red Sox.
The deal, according to sources briefed on the details, sent Hicks and right-hander David Sandlin to Chicago for right-hander Gage Ziehl, whom the White Sox acquired from the New York Yankees at last year’s deadline for outfielder Austin Slater.
Hicks, 29, is owed $12.5 million in each of the next two seasons. The Red Sox are including an unspecified amount of money in the trade, which required the approval of Major League Baseball because it involved a transfer of more than $1 million.
Since sending Robert to the Mets on Jan. 20 and clearing his remaining $22 million, the White Sox have signed free-agent reliever Seranthony Domínguez to a two-year, $20 million contract, reached an agreement with outfielder Austin Hays on a one-year, $6 million deal, and effectively bought a prospect by taking on Hicks.
Previously, the White Sox signed free-agent left-hander Anthony Kay to a two-year, $12 million contract and infielder Munetaka Murakami to a two-year, $34 million deal in their efforts to build a more competitive club. Chicago has lost 101 or more games in each of the past three seasons, including a major-league record 121 in 2024.
The Red Sox, by signing free-agent left-hander Ranger Suárez and trading for righties Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, built the depth to where they could entertain offers for other pitchers in recent weeks. They acquired Hicks last June in the Rafael Devers trade while he was on the injured list with right great toe inflammation. He later went on the IL with right shoulder tendinitis. In 21 relief appearances with Boston, he had an 8.20 ERA.
The prize for the White Sox in this deal is Sandlin, who was the Red Sox’s No. 9 prospect going into last season, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. Sandlin, 24, pitched as a starter and reliever at both Double A and Triple A last season, finishing with a combined 4.50 ERA in 106 innings. An 11th-round pick by the Kansas City Royals in 2022, the Red Sox acquired him for reliever John Schreiber in February 2024.
Ziehl, 22, was a fourth-round pick of the New York Yankees in the 2022 draft. He pitched mostly as a starter at three levels for the Yankees and White Sox in the last season — Low A, High A and Double A — finishing with a 4.12 ERA in 107 innings.