One Major Benefit of Red Sox's Jordan Hicks Trade is Going Unnoticed

Clearing Jordan Hicks off the payroll was an obvious goal for the Boston Red Sox, and they fulfilled it on Sunday.

In a trade with the Chicago White Sox, the Red Sox offloaded Hicks and sent along $8 million of the $24 million he's owed, plus top pitching prospect David Sandlin. Chicago also received two players to be named later, while Boston got pitching prospect Gage Ziehl and one player to be named later.

The money was undoubtedly a huge piece of the equation here for Boston. But let's talk about the other crucial development here: The Red Sox now have two open spots on the 40-man roster.

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Don't underrate 40-man roster flexibility

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

We all still anticipate that the Red Sox might acquire one more infielder, and if they don't, the fan base will be all sorts of upset. The extra 40-man spot gives them more flexibility in terms of what they can do in a trade to land that player, as well as the flexibility to finish their offseason with moves on the side.

Say the Red Sox are giving up a big-time prospect in a trade to land Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw from the Chicago Cubs? Maybe the Cubs can include an extra 40-man relief pitcher as a pot-sweetener.

Or the Red Sox could simply sign someone on the free-agent wire like Danny Coulombe to finish the bullpen, as we know they've been monitoring that market for weeks.

At any given time, there are more than 40 players in a major league organization deserving of spots on the 40-man roster. If nothing else happens, which seems unlikely, the Red Sox would quickly use those spots to call up Triple-A relievers when needs arose.

Even if the Red Sox acquire the infielder everyone is hoping for and just one spot remains open, that would open the door for a non-roster invite to win a job in the bullpen. Either that, or it increases the odds that righty Ryan Watson, a Rule 5 Draft pickup, could keep his spot coming out of spring training and not be returned to the San Francisco Giants.

In a way, the Red Sox might wish they'd done the trade a while back. That would have enabled them to keep someone like Tristan Gray, who was traded to the Washington Nationals for catching prospect Nate Baez when the Ranger Suárez signing was announced.

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