The White Sox made a sneaky-impact move over the weekend, and while it may have looked like a salary dump on the surface, there’s more to this deal than meets the eye. General Manager Chris Getz pulled the trigger on a trade with Boston that brought in right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin-a name worth circling as the team continues its rebuild.
Sandlin, 25 next season, was the centerpiece of the deal that saw the White Sox absorb $16 million of the $24 million owed to reliever Jordan Hicks over the next two seasons. Boston offloaded Hicks in what was largely a financial move, but Chicago saw it as a chance to buy low on a big arm with upside. Alongside Sandlin, the White Sox also picked up two players to be named later and some cash considerations.
And make no mistake-Getz isn’t just viewing Sandlin as a throw-in. In fact, he sees the right-hander as part of the return for Luis Robert Jr., who was dealt to the Mets earlier this offseason. The $20 million freed up from Robert’s contract gave the White Sox some financial flexibility, and they used it to bring in a potential long-term rotation piece.
“When it comes to David Sandlin, he’s a guy we believe has mid-rotation, if not better, type arsenal and stuff,” Getz said. “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.”
That’s not just GM-speak. Sandlin has flashed the kind of stuff that makes evaluators take notice.
He’s a 6-foot-4, 215-pound righty with a power fastball that’s touched 101 mph in bullpen settings and sits comfortably in the mid-90s late into starts. That kind of velocity, paired with a deep pitch mix-including a four-seamer, cutter, slider, sinker, sweeper, curveball, and changeup-gives him the tools to miss bats at a high rate.
In fact, he’s struck out over 30% of hitters in both 2023 and 2024.
But the numbers tell a more nuanced story. Sandlin pitched 106 innings last season between Double-A and Triple-A in the Red Sox system.
He was solid in Double-A, making 13 starts and posting a 3.61 ERA while striking out a quarter of the batters he faced. Things got bumpier after a midseason move to the Triple-A bullpen, where he struggled to a 7.61 ERA over 15 appearances and 23.2 innings.
The White Sox believe those struggles were more circumstantial than structural. After throwing just 66.2 innings in 2023, Sandlin’s workload jumped significantly last year.
Combine that with a late-season role change and it’s fair to wonder if fatigue played a role in his Triple-A numbers. Boston had capped his innings as a starter and shifted him to relief, likely in preparation for a potential late-season call-up.
That opportunity never materialized.
“It became more attractive knowing that with Boston, he had reached an innings limit, but he was rising quickly,” Getz said. “They were preparing him to help at the Major League level towards the end of the year.
They capped his starting innings and put him in a reliever role. And it didn’t line up for a Major League opportunity.”
Now, the White Sox are hoping to give Sandlin a more defined path. He’ll come into spring training with a shot to earn a rotation spot, and the organization clearly sees him as a controllable arm who could be part of the long-term core.
“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,” Getz added. “It was an opportunity that we didn’t want to pass up.”
MLB Pipeline had Sandlin ranked as high as No. 8 in Boston’s system. He now slots in at No. 14 in the White Sox’s rankings.
The next step for Chicago’s development staff is helping him harness that wide-ranging pitch mix and tighten up his command. He’s got the raw stuff-what he needs now is consistency in the strike zone and a clear role to grow into.
If he can lock that down, Sandlin could be a key piece of the White Sox’s rotation puzzle-not just in 2026, but for years to come. Keep an eye on him this spring. He’s got the stuff to make some noise.