It’s time Sale pitched in and helped out
Red Sox can't afford any more injuries to lefty
Chris Sale is no bargain. He’s got two years left on a $145 million, five-year extension that took effect in 2020.
Sale has thrown 48.1 innings, made 14 starts, and posted a 5-2 record for the Red Sox under his current contract. He fanned 57 of the 207 batters he’s faced, throwing 838 total pitches.
In the two seasons Sale has pitched since his extension took effect — 2021 and 2022 — his base salary has been a mere $60 million.
That equals:
$12 million per win. $4,285,714.28 per start $1,276,606.53 per inning $1,052,631.58 per strikeout.
$289,855.07 per batter faced. $71,599.04 per pitch. Good pay if you can get it.
In terms of money thrown away for someone not throwing, Sale has entered Pablo Sandoval territory.
The late, great Tom Brady taught us the best ability is availability.
These dollar figures fall under the ledger of Dave Dombrowski, who signed Sale to this pricey extension before the 2019 season.
That Sale recorded the first and final out of the 2018 World Series for Boston will never be forgotten here. Sale was a necessary presence to get past the Yankees and Asterisks in the postseason. His final strike torqued Manny Machado so tightly, the Dodgers shortstop appeared ready to spin all the way to China.
Yes, a chunk of Sale’s money is deferred. But these are still real dollars that have been torched.
If we’re to believe John Henry, “it’s expensive to have baseball players.”
Especially when they’re pocketing $71,599.04 per pitch, pre-millionaire’s tax.
Anything short of complete catastrophe will see Sale’s per-values plummet this season. The Red Sox need 30 starts and 175 innings out of this seventime All-Star in 2023.
That’s not unreasonable because Sale says his goal this year is to pitch every fifth day.
Unlike many great financial busts of Boston’s past, Sale has enjoyed a pass from a fanbase that still bemoans the signing of Jack Clark, never mind Sandoval.
Sale’s fragility belies his attitude. He needs no assistance in the motivation department. Sale appears to be perpetually pissed. When Sale is pitching, he’s willing to go inside on batters, a place far too many other pitchers rarely venture.
He’s an equal-opportunity offender — sparing neither opponents nor teammates during pregame, post-game, or ingame outbursts.
Sale’s 2022 began with a stress fracture in his rib cage suffered during the lockout. That injury snowballed into an avalanche. In his second start of the season on July 17, Aaron Hicks of the Yankees broke Sale’s left pinkie finger with a liner up the middle. Sale fell to the ground in a bicycle accident following a workout at Boston College just 20 days later, breaking his wrist.
He was on to 2023.
Sale said all the right things during the Red Sox Winter Weekend/ John Henry Hate Fest in Springfield last month.
“Humpty Dumpty got put back together.”
In this version of “Humpty Dumpty,” all The King’s men include LeBron James and the rest of the Fenway Sports Group team. Sale has to put himself together. Two of his three injuries last season came away from the field. And the broken pinkie was a result of a pitch he threw, not the result of him throwing a pitch.
“I’m more motivated for my teammates, my coaching staff, for the organization, for the fans,” said Sale at Winter Weekend. “You know, I owe these people something. I owe everybody. I owe my teammates the starting pitcher they thought they were gonna get. I owe the front office the starting pitcher they paid for, and I owe the fans the performances that they’re paying to come and see.”
Sale’s first chance to display the fruits of his motivation, his rehabilitation work, and his sweat equity comes Wednesday in Fort Myers when he pitches in the bullpen. He’s scheduled to do the same Thursday.
This is Sale’s first spring as a healthy pitcher since 2019. In 2020, he was battling pneumonia on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic before opting for Tommy John surgery in March. In 2021, he missed spring training due to COVID-19 and the lingering effects of his surgery. Last year, he hurt his rib while throwing during the lockout while throwing at his alma mater, Florida Gulf
Coast University. That’s seven miles down Treeline Avenue South from Fenway South in Lee County. So close, yet so far. Patience is as much a sin as a virtue across Red Sox Nation.
“There’s no room for any more excuses with this guy, you Pink Hat.”
A crude yet valid argument when it comes to Sale.
The goodwill toward Sale is gone in 2023.
Since the Red Sox committed $145 million to Sale, two players considered the face of this franchise have departed for Southern California. You don’t need a doctorate in finance to make the connection between these two significant events.
One has to wonder if — in another Multiverse — the Red Sox were not burdened by Sale’s annual average salary of $29 million (he’s getting $27.5 million this season and next) would John Henry have paid either Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts market value to stay in Boston if Sale wasn’t on the books? Perhaps. It certainly would have given the Faithful one fewer reason to jeer their least-favorite owner.
The loss of Betts and/ or Bogaerts is the biggest cost of this Sale fire. Sale’s presence would have helped in the 2021 postseason. But it was Boston’s offense that was dumped in a trash can by the Astros in the ALCS, not the pitching.
The last-place 2022 Red Sox were just a few losses in the standings from falling into the AL Central. Their projected 2023 win total is 76.5. We like the over, Sale or no Sale.
Sale will own center stage in Fort Myers today.
He and the Red Sox need him to do the same through October.