White Sox Transactions: Fantasy Baseball Impacts of Austin Hays and Jordan Hicks

Another team made a couple transactions of late that are worth discussing. The team is a bit of a surprise, as it's the lowly White Sox.

Let's discuss the addition of Austin Hays and Jordan Hicks in a signing and a trade.

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Transactions and Stats

Hays signed a one-year deal with Chicago worth $6 million. He signed on the final day of January.

Hicks was traded from Boston to Chicago along with David Sandlin, with Gage Ziehl going back to Boston. That deal was on the first day of February. 

Hays has played eight MLB seasons, spending time with Baltimore, Cincinnati and Philadelphia. He has a career .262 average and .313 on-base percentage.

He played in 103 games with the Reds last season, tallying a .266 average and .315 OBP. Hays had 101 hits, including 16 doubles, 15 homers and five triples. He also had 64 RBIs, 60 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 29 walks and 107 strikeouts.

Hicks has now pitched for the Cardinals, Giants, Blue Jays and Red Sox over his seven-year career. He has a career 4.41 earned run average over 420 1/3 innings in 275 games (37 starts) - Hicks has 35 saves and a 17-35 record.

Hicks split time between San Fran and Boston last season, making nine starts over 34 total appearances. He covered 67 1/3 innings, having a terrible 6.95 ERA and 2-7 record, while earning two wins and striking out 96 along the way. 

Sandlin hasn't pitched in the big leagues yet. He's spent four years in the minor leagues and is 24 years old.

Sandlin has a 4.34 ERA over 232 minor league innings in 65 appearances (47 starts). He has 279 strikeouts along the way. 

Ziehl is another minor leaguer, but only for one season. He had a 4.12 ERA over 107 innings in 21 starts and 22 appearances.

Outlook for the Players and White Sox

Chicago has had a pretty quiet but effective offseason.

Hays is a nice addition to the lineup. He's expected to hit near the bottom of the order right now.

Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi, Munetaka Murakami and Edgar Quero are the other projected daily starters for the White Sox. Kyle Teel and Brooks Baldwin are in projected platoons with Luisangel Acuna and Lenyn Sosa.

Korey Lee is the backup catcher, while Everson Pereira is another bench option along with the guys not starting in the platoons. 

It's not an elite lineup by any means, but I think it could be a nuisance and make the team a bit more competitive than it's been in a few years.

A lot of the lineup is younger players, with Hays being the second-oldest projected hitter on the team. There's enough talent up and down the order to help Hays have standalone fantasy value.

Hays is probably going to be in most deeper fantasy leagues to kick off the 2026 season, but it will take some production in Chicago to get him into standard leagues. Him being in the lineup helps those hitting in front and after him, and he could eventually be traded if he's enjoying a big enough season. 

Hicks is projected to be a bullpen arm, where he could be a multi-inning option. If he's not starting or closing games though, his fantasy value won't be all that high.

Right now, Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay and Sean Newcomb are the projected members of the starting rotation. Jedixson Paez is the projected long reliever, with Ky Bush and Drew Thorpe other options once they return from injuries.

Throw in some arms in the minor leagues and some prospects hoping to help out eventually and Hicks might have a hard time ever cracking the rotation.

There's a chance he pitches well enough to earn high-leverage innings, but the signing of Seranthony Dominguez earlier in the offseason probably means that Hicks won't ever close games. Don't write him off completely for that role, but it seems far-fetched right now. 

Hicks doesn't have much fantasy value right now, and I don't see that changing between now and the start of the season, unless Chicago is decimated by injuries to members of the rotation, or with Dominguez in the closer spot.

Sandlin could be another starting pitcher option later in the season, so he'll be a name to track in case he's excelling in the minor leagues. I don't see a super bright future for him, but the organization he's with could work in his favor in the long run.

Again, I don't see Chicago all of a sudden competing for a playoff spot, but they should be at least a bit more competitive, and maybe having more fantasy options than they have in several years.