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David Sandlin

White Sox Notes: Hicks, Sandlin, Leasure

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The White Sox pulled off another significant transaction yesterday, acquiring right-handers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin, two players to be named later, and $8MM in cash (to help cover Hicks’ $24MM salary) for pitching prospect Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later.  It is the third notable move in four days for Chicago, after the Pale Hose signed Seranthony Dominguez and Austin Hays to free agent contracts.

Between the $12MM owed to Hicks in 2026, Hays’ $6MM guarantee in a one-year deal, and the $8MM allotted for Dominguez in the first season of his two-year, $20MM contract, it adds up to a $26MM outlay for the White Sox on this trio for the upcoming season. It’s a pretty close match for the $20MM Chicago had committed to Luis Robert Jr. before the outfielder and his contract were dealt to the Mets on January 20.

“With the payroll flexibility that we gained through that move, we wanted to utilize that money toward players that could help us for the long term as we continue to take the next step.  There are different avenues to do that,” White Sox GM Chris Getz told reporters (including SoxMachine’s James Fegan and MLB.com’s Scott Merkin), further noting that “adding a Sandlin is essentially part of a Luis Robert return.”

That’s a bit of a eyebrow-raising comment, given that Chicago’s payroll currently sits at a paltry $85.5MM, per RosterResource.  To suggest that Sandlin’s acquisition was only possible in conjunction with a Robert trade would imply that the Chicago-based club can’t support a payroll that includes Robert, Dominguez, Hays and Hicks — but that would’ve only pushed the payroll to around $105MM.  Perhaps owner Jerry Reinsdorf truly won’t green-light a payroll north of $100MM at present, but the South Siders trotted out a $181MM Opening Day payroll as recently as 2023 (and $193MM in 2022).  Getz’s assertion that Sandlin is indirectly part of the Robert return is either a case of some serious spin or an eye-opening acknowledgement of severe budget restrictions put in place by Reinsdorf.

Regardless,  it seems that Sandlin has been on Chicago’s radar for a good while now, and Getz views the hard-throwing right-hander as someone who’s “going to come into Spring Training and compete for a spot” in the team’s rotation.  Sandlin has only 23 2/3 Triple-A innings to his name, and he struggled to a 7.61 ERA during that brief stint with Triple-A Worcester in 2025.  Even if he doesn’t crack the club’s Opening Day rotation, it’s perfectly plausible that he’ll be an option to join the staff later in the season as he gets more experience at the top minor league level.

Beyond this young arm in Sandlin, Hicks brings some experience to the pitching staff, though he’s a pure rebound candidate.  The righty posted a 6.95 ERA across 67 1/3 innings with the Giants and Red Sox in 2025, with subpar strikeout (18.5%) and walk (10.2%) rates.  Hicks’ 4.41 SIERA also wasn’t great but is a better reflection of his performance, since it factored in some bad batted-ball luck, as the grounder specialist was hurt by a .352 average on balls in play.

Health was also a factor. Hicks spent a little under two months on the injured list dealing with toe inflammation and then tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.  On this front, Hicks told media that he has recovered well, and is up to throwing 99.5mph in a recent bullpen session. “My body’s in a great place, probably the best it’s been since 2023,” Hicks said.  “I’m fit for whatever role that the team needs me in.  I think that I can do very well in both [starting and relieving].  I’m just excited for the opportunity mostly, and ready to get back on the field.”

For now, the White Sox plan to use Hicks as a relief pitcher, Getz stated.  This isn’t surprising given how Hicks struggled as a starter with the Giants and was converted back to relief work partway through each of the last two seasons.  Hicks has spent the bulk of his career in the ’pen and had better results as a reliever than as a starter.

Speaking of relief pitchers, the White Sox discussed another reliever during their negotiations with the Red Sox.  MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that the two sides “had serious discussions” about including Jordan Leasure in the deal before the Red Sox instead went with Ziehl as the named player in the two-player return.

Whereas Ziehl has yet to reach Triple-A, the 27-year-old Leasure has two seasons of MLB experience, with 101 games for Chicago.  Leasure made his debut in 2024 and posted a 6.32 ERA over 31 1/3 innings, but improved on that mark significantly with a 3.92 ERA and 30.1% strikeout rate over 64 1/3 frames in 2025.  The right-hander’s 11.2% walk rate was still on the high side, but a step up from Leasure’s 12.7 BB% in 2024.

There’s no real reason to think Chicago is actively shopping Leasure, but it’s of some note that they at least considered it — particularly with how many clubs around the league are looking for affordable bullpen help.  Leasure will pitch the bulk of the upcoming season at 27 (28 in mid-August), has a pair of minor league options remaining, and won’t be arbitration-eligible until next offseason, when he’ll likely be a Super Two player.

White Sox Acquire Jordan Hicks

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The White Sox are using a stripped down payroll to add to the system, announcing Sunday that they’ve acquired right-hander Jordan Hicks, pitching prospect David Sandlin, two players to be named later and cash from the Red Sox in exchange for minor league righty Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later. Chicago will take on two-thirds of the money on Hicks’ underwater contract, so the trade effectively amounts to the White Sox purchasing Sandlin from the Red Sox.

Boston clears $16MM of the $24MM Hicks was owed over the next two seasons off their books. The move lowers their current luxury tax payroll to $258MM according to RosterResource, just below the $264MM threshold for the second tier of penalization.

There have been some indications dating back to the early parts of the offseason that Boston prefers to stay under that second threshold, though trades for pricey veterans such as Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras in addition to the signing of Ranger Suarez had previously pushed them over that line. Trading away the bulk of Hicks’ salary has allowed them to sneak back under, though with the team still known to be looking for infield help it’s entirely possible that additional moves could change that positioning.

In order to get Hicks off the books, the Red Sox are parting ways with Sandlin, ranked as Boston’s No. 11 prospect by Baseball America headed into the 2026 campaign. The soon-to-be 25-year-old righty struggled over 23 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, but he pitched to an impressive 3.61 ERA across 17 outings (13 starts) at the Double-A level with a 25.4% strikeout rate.

Sandlin is viewed as a player with a chance to stick in a big league rotation who could’ve helped Boston’s bullpen as soon as this year, but now he’ll head to Chicago where he’ll have an easier chance to find a big league role in the short-term. Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, and Sean Newcomb currently stand as the team’s projected starters entering Spring Training, but Sandlin could join players like Jonathan Cannon, and fellow former Red Sox hurler Chris Murphy in standing as a primary depth option behind those players, with a chance to earn a job on the big league club out of camp this spring.

Going the other way is Ziehl, who Baseball America ranked as Chicago’s No. 21 prospect headed into the 2026 campaign. Acquired from the Yankees over the summer in the Austin Slater trade, Ziehl made his pro debut last year with a 4.12 ERA in 22 appearances (21 starts) across the Single-A, High-A, and Double-A levels. The righty has a five-pitch repertoire led by a solid sweeper, but the rest of his arsenal draws unimpressive marks despite previous scouting reports that suggested his fastball could top out at 97mph. The righty figures to start the year at Double-A for the Red Sox, but questions remain about whether he can be more than a long reliever in the majors.

The deal is a sensible one for the White Sox to make as they look to accelerate their rebuild and gather more credible MLB talent. After trading Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets in a deal that garnered infielder Luisangel Acuña, the Sox have reinvested in the big league club by signing Austin Hays to replace Robert in the outfield and adding Seranthony Dominguez to a bullpen that needed some veteran late-inning help.

This latest move adds another young pitcher close to the majors (Sandlin) while also bringing an intriguing bounce-back candidate into the fold. While Hicks wasn’t likely to have a role with the Red Sox this year after struggling to an 8.20 ERA with the club, there’s little reason for Chicago to not roll the dice on a player with an upper-90s fastball and a history of success in the majors.

Hicks has primarily pitched as a starter in recent years after signing with the Giants as a rotation piece, but his biggest successes (including a dominant 2023 season with the Cardinals and Blue Jays) saw him pitch in relief. It’s unclear what role Hicks will take with the White Sox this season, but given their lack of established bullpen pieces (outside of Dominguez) and their deep group of potential starting options, perhaps a move back to the bullpen could make some sense for the hard-throwing righty. Should he return to the bullpen this year, he’ll have the chance to join the likes of Mike Vasil, Jordan Leasure, and Grant Taylor in handling setup duties behind Dominguez.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that Hicks and Sandlin were being traded to Chicago. James Fegan of Sox Machine reported that Ziehl and a PTBNL were going the other direction. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported financial details of the swap.

Red Sox Select David Sandlin, Shane Drohan, Tyler Uberstine

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The Red Sox announced that they have selected left-hander Shane Drohan as well right-handers David Sandlin and Tyler Uberstine to the roster. They opened 40-man spots by designating right-hander Josh Winckowski for assignment, trading left-hander Brennan Bernardino to the Rockies and trading left-hander Chris Murphy to the White Sox, moves which were previously reported. The three selections were reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive prior to the official club announcement.

Boston already lost Drohan once in the Rule 5 Draft. The White Sox picked him back in 2023, but Drohan underwent a nerve compression procedure in his shoulder during spring training 2024 and began the season on the 60-day IL. He was hit hard when he was cleared for a rehab assignment, returned to the Red Sox, and finished the year back on the IL with shoulder troubles.

Unsurprisingly, that injury-wrecked season kept him from being selected in the 2024 Rule 5. That worked to Boston’s benefit. A healthy Drohan bounced back with 54 innings of 3.00 ERA ball. He struck out 34.5% of opponents against a 9.4% walk rate while sitting 93-95 with his four-seamer. Drohan still missed ample time on the injured list — this time due to a forearm issue — but he’s typically been productive when healthy, thanks largely to a plus changeup. He’ll turn 27 in January.

Sandlin, 25 in February, came to the Red Sox from the Royals in a 2022 swap sending righty John Schreiber to Kansas City. He reached a career-high 82 1/3 innings while pitching in Double-A this season and working to a tidy 3.61 earned run average with strong rate stats. The Sox moved him to a relief role upon bumping him to Triple-A, likely to manage his workload after pitching just 57 innings in 2024 and 66 innings in 2023. It was a struggle, as the righty was tagged for a 7.36 ERA while pushing his innings count far into uncharted territory. He wound up with an overall 4.50 ERA in 106 1/3 frames.

The 26-year-old Uberstine was Boston’s 19th-round pick in 2021. He split 2025 between Double-A and Triple-A, tossing 120 1/3 innings with a combined 3.58 ERA. Uberstine fanned 26.9% of opponents against an 8% walk rate. He’s a bit undersized at 6’1″ and 200 pounds, but he’s had success at nearly every minor league stop. Were it not for a Tommy John procedure that wiped out all of his 2023 season and most of his 2024 campaign, Uberstine may already have gotten a big league look. Now, coming off a healthy 120 innings with strong results, he figures to be in line for a call to Fenway Park at sometime in 2026.

Red Sox Notes: Anthony, Garcia, Sandlin

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The Red Sox and Roman Anthony agreed to an eight-year extension worth at least $130MM in guaranteed money earlier this week, fully cementing the young star as a key part of the team’s future.  The two sides had somewhat lightly discussed an extension prior to the season, as The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes that a “true back-and-forth about a framework” never happened, even after three different offers from the Sox shortened what started as “a considerable gap” in asking prices.

It seemed like the negotiations were going to be put on hold until after the season until chief baseball officer Craig Breslow contacted both Anthony and agent Mark Rodgers with a new offer on August 3.  As Breslow explained to Speier and other reporters, the team felt free to revisit talks with the chaos of the trade deadline now in the past, with the caveat that they obviously wanted Anthony’s focus to remain on the field.

“The balance that we needed to strike was trying to aggressively extend Rome and recognizing how important he is to our 2025 team and also our future with not presenting or creating a distraction when this team is playing so well…[We were] very clear with Mark and Roman’s camp that we had no interest in allowing this to become a distraction, and that if we could work through this quickly, that would be great, and if not, that was also OK,” Breslow said.

The talks were restarted between the team, Rodgers, and two other Frontline Athlete Management agents.  A couple of smaller details almost held up the proceedings entirely, but a deal was eventually reached.  The end result was the eight-year commitment that might be worth another $70MM, depending on whether or not Anthony hits any of the many escalator clauses attached within his contract.

Anthony is the fifth different Red Sox player to sign an extension since Breslow took over the front office in October 2023, as the executive has made a point of locking up cornerstone players.  Garrett Crochet was signed to a six-year, $170MM deal after being acquired from the White Sox this past offseason, and Boston has also signed homegrown youngsters Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Kristian Campbell, and Brayan Bello to long-term deals.

These contracts are a testament to both upper management’s belief in this young talent and the depth of the Red Sox farm system.  The pipeline isn’t even dry yet, as another intriguing prospect could still be called up to address the team’s need at first base.  Jhostynxon Garcia has been a career outfielder in the minors but he is working out at the position at Triple-A.  Worcester manager Chad Tracy said Garcia could potentially see some game action at first base within the next week.

“If that’s the only way we can speed him up, then we might have to do it,” Tracy told Speier.  “We take into consideration, ultimately, if he makes a mistake and it’s costly, oh well, at least it’s not at Fenway….At the same time, you also don’t want to throw a player out there to the wolves who you feel like is not ready and have him standing out there with his shoulders down feeling like he’s costing the team.”

Hitting-wise, Garcia seems very ready for the Show, as he has batted .303/.370/.581 with 16 home runs over his first 262 Triple-A plate appearances.  Given the crowded Red Sox outfield, a move to first base would allow “the Password” a much smoother path to the bigs before 2025 is over.  The presence of Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro (Boston’s current first base platoon) would provide cover to help alleviate any pressure on Garcia, and his bat could be an intriguing x-factor for the Red Sox in the playoff race.

Along these same lines, starter prospect David Sandlin has been pitching out of the Worcester bullpen with an eye towards a possible relief role on the MLB roster.  Sandlin has made only four appearances total at the Triple-A level, but if he looks good in his new assignment, the hard-throwing righty could be in line for another quick promotion up to the Show.  Speier reports that Sandlin was a popular trade ask for rival teams heading into the deadline, speaking to how much interest the right-hander has generated due to both his pitching arsenal and his results in Double-A in 2025.

Royals Acquire John Schreiber From Red Sox

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The Royals have acquired reliever John Schreiber from the Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). Kansas City placed Kyle Wright on the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot.

Schreiber has a 27.4% strikeout rate over his 143 1/3 career innings in the majors, so missing bats has never been an issue for the 29-year-old.  Between some home run issues and a lot of bad BABIP luck, however, Schreiber had only a 6.28 ERA over 28 2/3 innings with the Tigers in 2019-20, and he pitched in only a single MLB game with the Red Sox in 2021.  The breakout came in 2022, as Schreiber had a 2.22 ERA over 65 relief innings for Boston while also delivering a 28.8% strikeout rate and an above-average 7.4% walk rate.

2023 was more of a challenge, in no small part because Schreiber spent time on the 60-day injured list due to a teres major strain in his right shoulder.  Schreiber still posted a respectable 3.86 ERA over 46 2/3 innings and had strong strikeout and barrel rates, though his walk rate spiked up to an ungainly 12.3%.  The sinker that was such a weapon for Schreiber the previous season was also less effective — batters had a .395 wOBA against his sinker in 2023, as opposed to a .245 wOBA in 2022.

An argument can certainly be made that the Red Sox might be selling high on Schreiber here, though it’s a risk Kansas City is willing to take for a reliever who is a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday and is arbitration-controlled through the 2026 season.  Schreiber had a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings before his IL stint and a 4.85 ERA in 29 2/3 innings after returning, so the Royals might view the righty’s struggles as just a byproduct his injury layoff.  Should Schreiber get back to his 2022 form, K.C. suddenly has a big strikeout arm to deploy in high-leverage situations.

Today’s trade continues a very busy offseason for Royals GM J.J. Picollo, who has brought quite a bit of veteran talent to Kansas City in an effort to quickly turn around a team that lost 106 games last season.  Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo were the headline-grabbing rotation upgrades, but Will Smith, Chris Stratton, Nick Anderson, and now Schreiber have all joined a reworked bullpen.  Schreiber is a bit more of a longer-term add given his years of arbitration control, yet the Royals have put themselves in a position to either directly benefit on the field if these pitchers perform well, or to perhaps benefit in terms of having some trade chips at the deadline if K.C. again falls short of contention.

From Boston’s perspective, moving a solid reliever from Schreiber might not be well received at first by Red Sox Nation, given how the fans have been vocally unimpressed with the team’s moves (or lack thereof) this offseason.  Craig Breslow has made a lot of lateral moves in his first winter as the chief baseball officer, continuing the franchise’s recent bent towards adding younger talent rather than splurging on win-now stars.

Sandlin brings some intriguing potential to the table, as the righty (who turns 23 next week) has a 3.41 ERA and an outstanding 32.38% strikeout rate in 68 2/3 career minor league innings.  An 11th-round pick for the Royals in the 2022 draft, Sandlin had his 2023 season cut short by a lat injury, and he made only two appearances at the high-A level before being sidelined.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently ranked Sandlin as the fifth-best prospect in the Royals’ farm system, while The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the righty seventh.  Baseball America was slightly more pessimistic in ranking Sandlin only 20th, but still felt Sandlin might develop into at least a good reliever based on his two primary pitches —- a high 90s fastball and a plus slider.  If his changeup and curveball can also develop, Sandlin can perhaps stick in the rotation, though he’s still something of a wild card considering that he hasn’t yet pitched much in pro ball.

MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith reported earlier this week that the Sox were open to offers for not just Schreiber, but also Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin.  With Schreiber now out the door, it remains to be seen if Boston is still willing to move either of Jansen or Martin, or if the Sox will stop short of a full-on bullpen overhaul.  Jansen or Martin are both free agents after the season and will be prime trade candidates at the deadline if the Red Sox aren’t in contention, so there has been speculation that the Sox might look to increase their return (and cut some salary) by dealing at least one of the veteran relievers now.

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