One day after signing Lucas Giolito, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and the Red Sox have made another move within their rotation, this time on the trade front with Chris Sale traded to the Atlanta Braves.
The Red Sox will receive infield prospect Vaughn Grissom from the Braves in exchange for the 34-year-old Sale.
The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, and has since been confirmed by both the Braves and Red Sox.
Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 13, 2023 at Fenway Park. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
The 6-foot-6 Sale is coming off a 2023 campaign that featured a 6-5 record, 4.30 ERA, and 125 strikeouts in 102.2 innings of work over 20 starts. Sale’s run of rotten injury luck limited his 2023 season, too, with a shoulder injury that ultimately kept Sale on the shelf from June 1 to Aug. 11.
The shoulder injury was just the latest issue in a $145 million contract extension that was full of problems for the hard-throwing Sale, with Tommy John surgery that kept him out of all of 2020 and a large chunk of 2021, as well as costly rib and finger injuries in 2022.
Overall, Sale’s Boston, which ran from 2017 to 2023, featured a 46-30 record, 3.27 ERA, and 945 strikeouts in 670.2 innings of work.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale in Game Five of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)
Sale was an absolute force in his first year with the Red Sox, with 17 wins and a league-leading 308 strikeouts and 214.1 innings over 32 starts. The year was enough to Sale an All-Star nomination, while he finished second in the American League Cy Young voting and ninth in American League Most Valuable Player voting.
Sale was an All-Star in 2018, too, and finished fourth in the A.L. Cy Young voting and 22nd in A.L MVP voting behind a 12-4 record and 2.11 ERA for Boston.
Sale ended that year on the highest note possible, too, as he was on the mound and struck out Manny Machado for the series-clinching out over the Dodgers to help deliver the Red Sox the 2018 World Series title.
Sale’s departure also makes Rafael Devers the last man standing from that 2018 club.
Mar 14, 2023; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Braves second baseman Vaughn Grissom (18) is congratulated after scoring a run against the Phillies in the first inning during spring training. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports)
The 22-year-old Grissom, meanwhile, will move to Boston after a 2023 season that included a .280 average with nine RBIs and four extra-base hits in 75 at bats with Atlanta.
Grissom, who made MLB appearances with the Braves in 2022, too, also hit his first career home run at Boston’s Fenway Park, with an absolute blast over the Green Monster.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW, @GrissomVaughn!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/p2IH7IEQ78
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 11, 2022While Grissom can play all over the infielder, the belief among most scouts seems to be that he will be at his best at second base, which fills a long-term need for the Red Sox and allows Trevor Story to move back to shortstop on a full-time basis.
The Red Sox will have six years of team control over Grissom.
