ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale’s injury-filled career with the Red Sox ended Saturday when the 34-year-old left-hander accepted a trade to the Atlanta Braves that sent infielder Vaughn Grissom to Boston.
Boston also is giving cash to the Braves, covering a portion of the $27.5 million salary the seven-time All-Star is owed in 2024, the final guaranteed season of a $160 million, six-year contract. That 2024 salary includes $10 million deferred until June 30, 2039.
Sale was acquired by Boston from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016. He has made nine trips to the disabled and injured lists with the Red Sox, mostly due to shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.
He was 6-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 20 starts and 102 2/3 innings last season.
“The last few years he’s obviously had some IL time,” Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. “You can’t run from that. You realize that. But we feel like this is the first normal offseason he’ll have had in a long time. But at the same time, look, he’s coming off 100 innings pitched last year.”
Sale helped the Red Sox to a World Series title in 2018 but has made just 56 starts in the last four years, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA. He had 400 strikeouts and 79 walks in 298 1/3 innings.
“Any time you trade someone like Sale, who has made such a meaningful contribution to this organization and was obviously an incredibly important part of a World Series-winning team, is a really, really tough, tough decision,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said.
Aside from arm issues, Sale fractured a rib while pitching in batting practice in February 2022 during the management lockout. In his second start back he broke his left pinkie finger on July 17 when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the New York Yankees’ Aaron Hicks. Sale broke his right wrist while riding a bicycle en route to lunch on Aug. 6, ending his season.
He went 46-30 with a 3.27 ERA in 115 starts with the Red Sox, making the All-Star team in his first two seasons. Sale has a 120-80 career record with a 3.10 ERA, 2,189 strikeouts and 416 walks in 1,780 2/3 innings.
“We really like his ability. We love the makeup and the person and what he brings to our clubhouse,” Anthopoulos said. “We think when he’s out on the mound, he’s a playoff-caliber starter.”
As a 10-year veteran who spent the past five seasons with his team, Sale had the right to refuse any trade.
He joins a Braves rotation projected to include Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Charlie Morton. Anthopoulos said Bryce Elder and Reynaldo López are among the candidates for the No. 5 slot.
Boston appears thin on starting pitching, with right-handers Bryan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck among the best current options. The Red Sox made the trade one day after agreeing to a $38.5 million, two-year contract with right-hander Lucas Giolito, a deal subject to a successful physical.
The 22-year-old Grissom has a .287 average with five homers and 27 RBIs over 64 games with Atlanta during the past two seasons and is subject to six seasons of club control. He made 41 starts at second base and 19 at shortstop.
Breslow views Grissom as Boston’s everyday second baseman.
“A pretty elite track record of performance in the upper minor leagues and even to some degree in the big leagues,” Breslow said. “At 22 years old, we still think that there’s power to come.”
Grissom made his big league debut at Fenway Park on Aug. 10, 2022, and hit a two-run homer over the Green Monster in his third plate appearance.
“I think he’s going to have a fantastic career,” Anthopoulos said. “It’s tough to part with a guy like that.”
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