Breakdown of every trade between the Red Sox and White Sox under Craig Breslow and Chris Getz

The Red Sox and White Sox have made five trades between them since Craig Breslow and Chris Getz have been running their respective front offices.

The latest came on Sunday, when the Red Sox foisted the salary of Jordan Hicks, along with pitching prospect David Sandlin and two players to be named later, to the White Sox in exchange for pitching prospect Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later. The Sox are also sending $8 million to the White Sox as part of this trade. 

Boston had been looking around the league for a team willing to take on the remaining two years and $24 million of Hicks’ contract, which they acquired from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade last Father’s Day. For all intents and purposes, it was a salary dump for the Giants, who took on all of the remaining money owed to a disgruntled Devers.

Hicks’ only season in Boston was a disaster. The high-octane reliever posted an 8.20 ERA over 18 2/3 innings with the Sox, after recording a 6.47 ERA across 48 2/3 innings with the Giants. Boston had long been enamored with Hicks, dating back to when he was a free agent two offseasons ago. The Red Sox were one of many teams pursuing the right-hander before he signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Giants and received the opportunity to start.

To unload Hicks, the Sox had to part with pitching prospect Sandlin, whom they acquired back in 2024 during spring training in a trade with the Royals for reliever John Schreiber. At the time, Boston’s pitching pipeline was still in its infancy stages, and Breslow was intent on adding young arms with high upside.

When the Sox acquired Sandlin, Breslow immediately identified him as someone who had the makeup to become a big-league starter.

“We had identified (him) early on as someone that we think is on the rise and has the makings of a legitimate starting pitcher,” Breslow said after the trade back in Feb. 2024. “Loved the stuff, loved the makeup and we’ve seen the stuff take a pretty significant step forward. Anytime you make these trades, you have to recognize that we’re trading a really talented pitcher over there and that was difficult. Certainly wasn’t an easy decision. But like I said, I feel like my job is to do what is best for the organization. And I think this is a chance to do that.”

Since then, Sandlin has been a mixed bag when it comes to results. Boston added him to the 40-man roster this winter, protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft. While in the Red Sox’ system, Sandlin was used as both a starter and a reliever. He was mainly used out of the bullpen to piggyback on starters in the minors before being moved to the bullpen for the WooSox, in hopes his power fastball would play similarly to the path Zach Penrod took to the big leagues with Boston.

Sandlin made 13 starts (17 games) for Double-A Portland and posted a 3.61 ERA with 86 strikeouts before earning a promotion to Worcester. His time with the WooSox wasn’t memorable, as he recorded a 7.61 ERA in 15 games, including one start.

There’s a lot to like about Sandlin’s makeup on the mound. He offers a four-pitch mix led by a fastball that sits between 96–99 mph, a slider that sits 90–93 mph, an 85–88 mph sweeper, and an 88–91 mph splitter. His heater is his bread and butter, and with it topping out at 100 mph, offering plus life and the ability to miss bats, the White Sox could have a real late-inning threat. He’s been one of the more fascinating arms to watch over the last few years, because the floor looks like a late-inning reliever while the ceiling could still point to a mid-rotation starter.

“We view that [with] Sandlin, we get an opportunity to get six years of a controllable starting pitcher, one of the Red Sox’s top prospects. [It] was an opportunity that we didn’t want to pass up," said Getz. 

Chicago is looking at Sandlin as a starter, and Getz believes he’ll contribute to the White Sox starting rotation in 2026.

“When it comes to David Sandlin, he’s a guy we believe has mid-rotation, if not better, type arsenal and stuff," Getz told reporters following the trade this weekend. "Time will tell. He’s just worked his way up to the upper minors, and he’s going to come into spring training and compete for a spot. Most importantly, he’s got a chance to really impact our starting rotation this year.”

With five trades between them, Breslow and Getz are quite comfortable negotiating with one another and have a strong understanding of each other’s farm systems. The two sides will continue to talk over the course of the season as they decide the final pieces of this trade, with the White Sox set to receive two additional players to be named later and the Red Sox set to receive one.

Ziehl is a mid-level pitching prospect who has now been traded twice early in his career. Drafted by the Yankees in the fourth round out of Miami in 2024, he was dealt to the White Sox at the 2025 trade deadline for outfielder Austin Slater. Ziehl made his professional debut in 2025, starting 16 games primarily at Low-A before finishing the season with six starts at High-A Winston-Salem, where he posted a 4.01 ERA with a 20-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 24.1 innings. On the year, he recorded a 4.12 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 90 strikeouts, and 19 walks across 22 outings (21 starts) between Low-A, High-A, and one Double-A appearance.

The Sox’ new pitching prospect doesn’t bring the same velocity profile as Sandlin, but he does offer a 6.5 extension on the mound. Once prospects enter Boston Red Sox’ pitching program, the organization immediately places them on an individualized development plan. Based on how the Red Sox have successfully increased velocity for pitchers like Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, and even Quinn Priester, each hurler saw measurable gains as a direct result of Boston’s developmental approach.

MLB Pipeline has ranked both Ziehl and Sandlin as the No. 14 overall prospect in each of their respective organizations following the trade. 

Let’s examine the other four trades that Breslow and Getz have made with one another over the last three offseasons.

Red Sox acquire Garrett Crochet

The most notable trade between the two sides was the Red Sox acquiring future ace Garrett Crochet for four prospects: catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez.

Both sides got what they wanted out of the deal. Boston landed a bona fide ace who will sit atop the rotation for the next six years. Chicago added a young catcher in Teel, a high-upside outfielder in Montgomery, Meidroth emerged as the White Sox everyday second baseman, and Gonzalez made his debut out of the bullpen toward the end of the season.

Crochet is the centerpiece of the Red Sox rotation and is coming off a monster 2025 campaign in which he went 18–5 with a 2.59 ERA across 32 starts, leading the American League in innings pitched (205 1/3) while pacing all of MLB with 255 strikeouts. His 11.18 K/9 led qualified AL starters, combining dominance with durability. Those numbers were good enough to put him in the Cy Young conversation, where he finished second behind Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who won the award for the second straight season.

The White Sox also saw promising signs from Teel and Meidroth. In his first season in the majors, Meidroth batted .253 with five home runs, 23 RBI, 54 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases in 122 games split between second base and shortstop, totaling 1.3 WAR. Teel batted .273 with eight home runs, 35 RBI, 38 runs scored, and 1.9 WAR in only 78 games. 

The question surrounding Teel is whether he sticks behind the dish. Before he was traded by the Red Sox, there were questions about his footwork behind the plate. With the White Sox, they also have another young catcher in Edgar Quero who will need regular playing time.

Teel finished with a 1.96 pop time and a -4 fielding run value last season. Quero wasn’t good: he posted a 1.95 pop time and a -15 fielding run value. With the future implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS), the framing aspect of each player’s profile will still matter, but it will carry less weight than it does now.

Teel is athletic and could transition to the outfield to get key innings and at-bats in Chicago, similar to Athletics outfielder Tyler Soderstrom. The transition was smooth for Soderstrom, who was nominated for an AL Gold Glove in left field and posted +5 outs above average at the position.

There were rumors this offseason that the Red Sox and White Sox discussed a possible trade that would send Teel back to Boston. The cost would be high for a young, controllable catcher. 

The question moving forward is who the White Sox value more behind the plate: Quero or Teel.

Montgomery is the highest-rated White Sox prospect at No. 36, according to MLB Pipeline. In 2025, across three minor-league levels, the hitter put together a productive and well-rounded season, appearing in 121 games hitting .270/.360/.444 with an .804 OPS and logging 448 at-bats. He collected 121 hits, scored 64 runs, and drove in 68, while showing solid extra-base impact with 34 doubles, four triples, and 12 home runs, totaling 199 total bases. 

Gonzalez pitched in 16 games out of Chicago’s bullpen and looked good, posting a 2.66 ERA with a 1–0 record and 25 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings.

Cam Booser for Yhoiker Fajardo

Boston signed Cam Booser to a minor league deal in 2023, and he pitched two seasons in the Sox organization before being traded to the White Sox for reliever Yhoiker Fajardo.

Booser made his major league debut on April 19 against the Pirates, and in total posted a 3.38 ERA in 43 outings (42 2/3 innings) for Boston. He went 2–3 with one save, holding left-handed hitters to a .687 OPS, while right-handed hitters batted just .232 against him.

He was traded the following offseason for Fajardo, a rookie-ball pitcher who was viewed as a lottery ticket. Booser pitched in 39 games for the White Sox and didn’t see the same success he had in Boston, finishing with a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings. This winter, he signed a minor league deal with the Rays.

Fajardo was the top prize in the swap, quickly putting himself on the map for the Red Sox and turning into a top-30 prospect. The righty, who turned 19 in October, was relatively unknown when Boston acquired him from Chicago. He elevated his profile quickly, dominating rookie ball and Single-A Salem with a 2.25 ERA across 19 games (17 starts). His four-pitch mix was intriguing enough for SoxProspects to rank him eighth in the system.

Boston cashed in on that rise and traded him to the Cardinals as part of a four-player deal that brought back Willson Contreras.

Chris Murphy for minor league catcher Ronny Hernandez

Back in November, the Red Sox traded left-hander Chris Murphy to the White Sox for catching prospect Ronny Hernandez. The move shortened Boston’s left-handed bullpen depth, but in the process, strengthened an area of need by adding organizational catching depth.

Murphy, 27, returned from Tommy John surgery to pitch well for the Red Sox in 2025, logging a 3.12 ERA and striking out 30 batters in 34 2/3 innings. The former sixth-round pick (2019) made 43 big-league appearances between 2023 and 2025, all in relief. He owns a career 5.48 ERA in 149 1/3 innings at Triple-A.

Hernandez isn’t necessarily a lock to remain behind the plate in the system. He has seen time at first base in the White Sox organization. According to his SoxProspects scouting report, Hernandez has an inconsistent arm, and his offensive profile stands out more than his defense.

Murphy gives the White Sox another left-handed option out of the bullpen heading into 2026, and a pitcher capable of handling a bulk-innings role.

Blake Sabol to the White Sox following Red Sox DFA

The Red Sox traded catcher Blake Sabol to the White Sox last July after he was designated for assignment by Boston. At the time of the trade, the 27-year-old—who spent most of his season at Triple-A Worcester—hit .167/.281/.299 with three home runs, eight doubles, 17 RBI, seven stolen bases, 21 walks, and 51 strikeouts.

Sabol had a brief stint in the majors in April, making 18 plate appearances across eight games with the Red Sox and slashing .125/.167/.188 with one walk and seven strikeouts. He didn’t reach the big leagues with the White Sox and is now a free agent.

Breslow has been active on the trade market since taking over as chief baseball officer in Boston. This winter alone, he has made deals with 10 separate teams: the Rockies, Mariners, Pirates, Cardinals (twice), Twins, White Sox (twice), Angels, A’s, Nationals, and Rays.

This latest trade between Breslow and Getz is a prime example of a salary dump, but based on Boston’s track record in deals with Chicago, the Red Sox may have uncovered another lottery ticket in Ziehl, along with the potential upside of the additional player to be named later who is expected to arrive later this season.