No Sale pending for ace
Sorry, Red Sox fans, there’s no Sale. At least, if one of the best pitchers in baseball has it his way.
Chris Sale, the left-handed ace of the Chicago White Sox, is no stranger to trade rumors. He’s already being bandied about as a target for teams at the trade deadline, including the Red Sox, because he’s one of the absolute best pitchers and the White Sox might not have enough juice to make the playoffs.
The Red Sox just saw firsthand what he can do. The nine strikeouts and one run Sale allowed in seven innings Tuesday at Fenway Park in a 3-1 Chicago victory only made him more appealing.
But Sale doesn’t want to go anywhere.
“I’m right where I want to be,” Sale said yesterday. “I plan on being here forever. So I mean, I don’t think they would trade me. I would hope not. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a business. I understand you got to do what you got to do, what’s best for the team and what not.
“I have a hard time believing that I would be traded and I really don’t want to (be).”
A 27-year-old in his seventh season, Sale leads the American League in wins (12) and innings (105). Besides his effectiveness, he’s appealing because he’s under team control through 2019 and would make $38 million from 2017-19, a team-friendly contract to be sure.
Technically, the White Sox have team options for 2018 and ’19, but those will be picked up assuming continued health. And the fact that Chicago can retain him for so long at such a good price makes dealing him less logical even if the White Sox do decide to sell other parts, unless they were blown away.