Sale would ‘love to’ stay
FORT MYERS — Chris Sale is going to need two healthy shoulders to carry all that weight into the upcoming season.
The Red Sox still haven’t called him about a potential contract extension, he said, leaving the 29-year-old without a contract beyond 2019 as he attempts to come back from an injury-plagued season to help the Sox defend their World Series title.
“But like I said, I don’t have time to worry about that,” Sale said yesterday, speaking after the team’s first official workout of the spring. “We’ve got another championship to go for and that’s where my head is at. That’s where my head has always been at.
“Those are the things that I feel have personally helped me be successful. It’s not worrying about any of that. I get the ball. I throw it until it’s taken away from me and four days later, I do the same thing. That’s my plan.”
Sale makes it seem easy to ignore his contractual status altogether. But that’s the way it’s been for him his entire career.
Drafted by the White Sox 13th overall in 2010, he threw just 10⅓ innings in the minors before he was called up to the majors that same year. Two years later, he signed a teamfriendly contract extension. He’s now in the final year of that deal, which will pay him $15 million.
“I never really had that moment in time where it was the anxiety of free agency,” he said. “I’ve always just kind of been under contract and just gone out there and played. So for me that’s just kind of the same thing I’m going to do.
“I can’t worry about dollars and cents or years or contracts or all that other stuff, because I never have. I think that’s helped me be successful. I’ve never had to worry about the nuts and bolts. I’ve just turned on the car and go.”
Last year, as the Red Sox did their best to keep the reins on their Cy Young contender early on, Sale broke free just a month into the season. He averaged 93 mph on his fastball in April, then 96 mph in May. In June, he touched 101 mph for the first time in his career as a starting pitcher, according to Brooks Baseball.
By July, he was on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.
He returned for one start in August, averaged 98 mph over five brilliant innings in Baltimore, then hit the DL again for another month.
“Probably he thought he had to put the pedal to the metal that day,” said Sox manager Alex Cora.
“Probably that was a setback. But we have no regrets and I’m not frustrated.”
This spring, there will be a similar build-up for Sale as he goes into the season. The radar gun isn’t on his mind.
“I go basically more on feel and just see where I’m at,” he said. “I think with the slower progression, that’s part of it. but at the end of the day, you do what it takes to get outs.”
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Sale is totally healthy and was cleared by doctors for a normal spring training.
Without any injury concerns, it wouldn’t be out of line to suggest that Sale could fetch at least the same contract earned by David Price, who signed a sevenyear, $217-million deal before the 2016 season.
“I would love to (stay in Boston),” Sale said. “I think I’ve said that since after my first year here. This is a special place. This is a special group of people. A very special city and an unbelievable fan base. Not to mention the fact that we’ve got a hell of a team and we’re going to have that team for a few years to come.
“We’ll see how it works out. That’s what all this stuff is for. You have agents, contract stuff, I’m going to let them play that out. If it works, it works. If not, it’s been a blast. I have no hard feelings, no ill will. Just keep doing what I do.”
If the Sox don’t sign him to an extension before the season, he’ll be under the microscope in a contract year. Just look at Drew Pomeranz and Nathan Eovaldi.
“It’s all going to work out in the end,” Sale said. “I’ve got a job to do and contract is not that. If I’m an agent or a GM, yeah, but I’m a baseball player. I play baseball. That’s where my focus lies.”