{"id":555976,"date":"2026-02-05T13:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/555976\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:09:15","slug":"running-out-of-gas-three-trade-options-for-red-sox-to-replace-jordan-hicks-velocity-red-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/555976\/","title":{"rendered":"Running Out Of Gas: Three Trade Options for Red Sox to Replace Jordan Hicks’ Velocity – Red Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn what some (e.g., me) are calling the move of the offseason, the Boston Red Sox have traded Jordan Hicks<\/a> to the Chicago White Sox in a move to get the majority of his salary off of their payroll. While moving Hicks to the other Sox team likely makes the bullpen better \u2014 his 8.20 ERA and -0.4 fWAR over 18 2\/3 innings with the BoSox left much to be desired \u2014 it creates another hole to fill for Craig Breslow<\/a> as spring training rapidly approaches.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHicks, for all his faults, was a power-throwing right-handed reliever. The biggest issue with the timing of the Hicks trade is that the free-agent market doesn\u2019t offer a ton of upside at this point in the offseason. Craig Breslow has an affinity for making trades though, so there could be a deal to be found in the near future. With that in mind, let\u2019s look at some arms that could enter the Red Sox’s radar before Opening Day.\n<\/p>\n

\tOrion Kerkering<\/a>, RHP, Phillies<\/p>\n

\n\tThis may be the most farfetched option on the list, but it\u2019s worth mentioning nonetheless. The Phillies believe they are closer to their title window closing than it opening and need to make some moves to get younger across the diamond. Kerkering is young, only 24, and would be costly to acquire with his four remaining years of team control. He features a three-pitch mix with a four-seam fastball that tops out at 97.5 mph and a sinker that clocks in at 96.4. His sweeper works as an out-pitch and has enough break to be useful against left-handed hitters as well. Getting him in Andrew Bailey<\/a>\u2019s pitching lab could help unlock the next gear for Kerkering, even if the cost to land him is greater than others on this list.\n<\/p>\n

\tLucas Erceg<\/a>, RHP, Royals<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Royals and Red Sox have been rumored to be perfect trade partners for practically the entire offseason, but maybe we all were focused on the wrong Royal in the deal. Sure, Cole Ragans<\/a> was enticing, but with Ranger Suarez<\/a> in the rotation, Breslow could pivot to another arm in Kansas City that would help solidify the bullpen. Erceg has the firepower with two pitches, his fastball and sinker, to replace Hicks in the pen while upping the production from the same spot. Erceg\u2019s fastball tops out at 97.6 mph while his sinker comes in at 97.5. He also employs a slider and changeup that induce groundball outs. He\u2019s under arbitration and won\u2019t be a free agent until 2030 so, like Kerkering above, he will be costly.\n<\/p>\n

\tBen Joyce<\/a>, RHP, Angels<\/p>\n

\n\tOkay, maybe this is the most farfetched option on this list, but the Angels should be listening to offers on Joyce if people are calling. He\u2019s young and an absolute flamethrower, but he has had issues missing bats and dealt with a shoulder injury that required surgery in 2025. His four-seam fastball tops out at 101.1 mph and he\u2019s been electric to watch since his days in college at Tennessee. He\u2019s the type of pitcher that you can bring in and put with a pitching coach like Bailey to tap into something deeper than just winding up and throwing gas, but he can do that with ease when necessary. He’s also young and saddled with years of team control, but the Angels have a funky way of doing business. The cost may not be as prohibitive as Joyce’s prodigious talents would suggest.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHonestly, to settle the spot Hicks left in the bullpen, the Red Sox will likely look inward unless an absolute perfect deal drops into Breslow\u2019s lap. The three names above all offer a ton of upside but come with their own risks, not to mention to cost of trading away even more of an already-depleted farm system. If they could be had for a package around a big leaguer and one or two prospects, then it could be something worth exploring, but Breslow doesn\u2019t need to make a deal just to make a deal right now. With the money Hicks was owed mostly off the books, his focus still needs to be on the infield; the bullpen may just be better off without a direct Hicks replacement right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In what some (e.g., me) are calling the move of the offseason, the Boston Red Sox have traded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,942,48,138,49,2561,204,1107,4,4681,396,2562],"class_list":["post-555976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-white-sox","tag-baseball","tag-ben-joyce","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagowhitesox","tag-jordan-hicks","tag-lucas-erceg","tag-mlb","tag-orion-kerkering","tag-white-sox","tag-whitesox"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116018188677123784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}