White Sox acquire flamethrowing pitcher who could make life hard on Guardians 

It may seem hard to believe, but the White Sox could end up winning the offseason. 

After adding some talent in Munetaka Murakami and dealing away some deadweight in Luis Robert Jr., Chris Getz made one more solid move on Sunday by trading for flamethrowing pitcher Jordan Hicks from the Boston Red Sox, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. 

While the White Sox are going to pay a majority of the $24 million Hicks is going to be owed over the next two seasons, he’s an intriguing pitcher who should get plenty of chances to turn his problems around away from the spotlight in Chicago — which could end up being bad news for the Guardians. 

New White Sox pitcher Jordan Hicks could end up becoming a Guardians killer 

While Hicks posted a 6.95 ERA in 72 1/3 innings last season, there’s still a lot to like about his profile. 

After starting his career as a shutdown reliever for the Cardinals, Hicks converted to a starting pitcher in 2024 with the Giants, where he had a 4.10 ERA in a career-high 109 2/3 innings. Even though he struggled at the start of 2025, he was still thought highly enough that the Red Sox asked for him as part of their return from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade. 

He ended up posting a ghastly 8.20 ERA as a reliever with Boston, however, which is likely the biggest reason he ended up being expendable. Hicks was also dealing with right shoulder tendinitis and a toe injury last season, which likely played a part in his struggles. 

The parth for his success is pretty clear, as he has a fastball that’s in the 97th percentile for velocity (97.5 miles per hour) and has thrown 1,733 pitches in his career over 100 mph. 

He told reporters on Sunday that he’s stretched out to work as a starter, but it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get some work as a relief demon behind new addition Seranthony Domínguez. 

While the White Sox are still a couple moves away from truly being a contender in the American League Central, bringing Hicks into the fold is another solid move for Chris Getz and a great way to repurpose the savings he got from trading Robert. 

The first move they made with those savings was signing outfielder Austin Hays, who would have been a great fit with the Guardians and is an absolutely bargain at $6 million.

He’s only on a one-year deal so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get traded at the deadline, but he has some good pop and should provide manager Will Venable with some much-needed leadership in the clubhouse. 

The Guardians are still a tier above the White Sox thanks to their ability to cultivate and develop young talent, but the White Sox are starting to make the kind of moves that winning teams make.