The Boston Red Sox traded left-hander Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for Vaughn Grissom on Saturday. The Braves also get $17 million from the Red Sox. Sale is a seven-time All-Star and a World Series Champion and spent five seasons with the Red Sox. He now joins a Braves team that is in contention for a World Series championship push.
For this deal to happen, Sale waived his no-trade clause. Sale was entering the last year of his extension. He is now coming off his best season since 2019, posting an ERA of 4.30 with 125 strikeouts in 102 ⅔ innings. However, things have taken a turn for the worse since the Spring of 2019 when Dave Dombrowski signed him to an extension. Since the extension, Sale has gone 17-18 with a 4.16 ERA.
Sale made more starts in his first two seasons in Boston than he did in the last five seasons. This is mostly due to the fact Sale has dealt with a lot of injuries, including a Tommy John surgery that kept him out in 2020 and most of the 2021 season. Then in the following year, he had a rib injury and a pinkie injury in which a comebacker broke his left pinkie, effectively ending his 2022 season.
If you're the Braves, you're adding another pitcher into one of the best pitching rotations in the MLB which features Spencer Strider, Max Fried, and Charlie Morton. This could be a good move for the Braves, however, Sale is an injury risk that could affect their season heading into 2024.
For the Red Sox, you're getting Vaughn Grissom. Grissom has plenty of upside and could fill the second base spot for the team. Last season, he spent most of his time in Triple-A where he mostly played shortstop.
As for me, a lifelong Red Sox fan, I will always have that moment when Sale struck out Manny Machado to win the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium. Even before that, his first season with the Red Sox in 2017 was amazing, as he finished second in the Cy Young award that year.
Watch the final out of the 2018 World Series here.
I’m happy the Sox moved on to be honest. Not sure about the prospect, but im interested to see Craig go get us 2 more starters. Good article! -GRD