Pitchers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin are swapping the colour of their footwear.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan has reported that the Purple Sox are delivery the pair of righties to the Chicago White Sox.
In return, Boston might be getting one other younger pitching prospect: right-hander Gage Ziehl, a product of the College of Miami (the Florida one, not the Ohio one). The Purple Sox can even reportedly be sending $8 million alongside to the South Facet of Chicago so as to pay a few of Hicks’ wage—he’s set to make $12.5 million in each 2026 and 2027, per Spotrac.
First issues first: Jordan Hicks is not a member of the Boston Purple Sox—hit the music.
Of the entire pitchers who’ve ever worn a Purple Sox uniform, Hicks was undoubtedly one among them. Coming over from San Francisco over the summer time in a commerce that concerned some participant I can’t bear in mind, Hicks had beforehand been a man who had proven some sick stuff—if maybe not constant stuff—all through his main league profession.
Alas, issues simply by no means actually jived for him in Boston. Throughout 18.2 innings in 21 outings, Hicks logged a…(makes positive I’m not studying this fallacious)…Jesus Christ, 8.20 ERA, 1.98 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 51. He walked too many guys, he didn’t strike out sufficient guys to justify the free passes, and his outings have been constantly depressing to look at. I hope, for his personal sake, that he will get again heading in the right direction with the Pale Hose, however one other 12 months (or two) of Hicks was not going to be good for anybody’s blood stress in Purple Sox Nation.
This transfer is a wage dump for Boston, clearly. It sucks to maneuver off of Sandlin to execute that wage dump—the one-time Pod On Lansdowne guest has some promise, and maybe he’ll get a shot to comprehend that potential with Chicago—however eight figures off the books is nothing to sneeze at.
Plus, the Purple Sox’s organizational depth inside the pitching workers is stable. Whereas Sandlin’s departure could sting, Boston now has a bit extra flexibility because of the dumped wage and the additional 40-man roster area. Go get that infielder, Craig.
In fact, this isn’t the primary time we’ve talked about shifting off of wage through a commerce involving Jordan Hicks. Rafael Devers’ commerce was extensively seen as a wage dump, and we at the moment are dumping a part of the wage for a man concerned within the first wage dump. It’s Dumpception.
Exterior of that money-specific facet, the return for Devers now appears to be like…………………….attention-grabbing, to place it charitably. It’s Kyle Harrison, Jose Bello, this Ziehl fella (extra on him in a second), and the transient companies of Hicks and Dustin Could—neither of whome have been fruitful on the bump in 2025. Nonetheless, I feel this reveals that Breslow and Co. are conscious of the Sunk Value Fallacy. They’re keen to chop their losses with Hicks and transfer on. That’s most likely the sensible factor to do, nevertheless it’s unimaginable to not increase the purpose about Devers when having this dialogue.
As for Gage Ziehl, the 22-year-old pitcher becoming a member of the Purple Sox group: I’m not accustomed to his recreation, however my fast skim on Twitter reveals that he initiatives to be a man with stable command despite a scarcity of powerhouse stuff. I’m positive one among my OTM colleagues who’re smarter than I (so, all of them) will be capable to take a deeper dive on him.
Possibly that floor ball price speaks to the group’s need to construct a robust defensive spine? I dunno, simply one thing to contemplate.
Within the meantime, prepare for the Jordan Hicks tribute video. I’m positive there received’t be a dry eye at Fenway when the day comes.
