Red Sox land top prize in lefty Sale

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD.— Last winter’s biggest off-season pitching blockbuster was the signing of free-agent left-hander David Price by the Boston Red Sox. On Tuesday, Sox GM Dave Dombrowski did it again, with regard to procuring the best pitcher available.

The Sox acquired lefty Chris Sale from the White Sox for four minor-league prospects, all of whom could become future stars.

Dombrowski accepts that, and has rolled the dice.

“This gave us a really significant chance to win,” Dombrowski said. “You can never tell in advance whether you can even make it to the post-season. And if you get there, do you progress from there? We saw last year we did not. But if I was the White Sox, I’d be very happy with the return I got. Those are good young players.”

The veteran executive also added freeagent first baseman Mitch Moreland for one year and $5.5 million (U.S.) later in the day. Moreland had been mentioned as a possibility for the Blue Jays earlier in the week.

But starters are where the riches abound.

Boston now controls Sale for three more years, including two options. The rest of the Red Sox rotation is comprised of Price, Eduardo Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz, all left-handers, plus Cy Young right-hander Rick Porcello. Also on the 40-man roster are starters Steven Wright and Clay Buchholz. They clearly have arms they could trade.

“In baseball, four years down the road is an eternity in many ways, so you need to take advantage of that opportunity.” Dombrowski said of his philosophy of young inventory. “Nothing’s guaranteed in life. If you make these moves it doesn’t mean you’re going to win, but I think you just take the chance and do everything you possibly can and then hopefully it works for you some day.”

Even though the Red Sox in 2017 will pay a total of about $65 million for their five-man rotation compared to $44.5 million for the Jays, Toronto manager John Gibbons believes his quintet of Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano can go head-to-head and have a chance to win any series.

But Gibbons understands the impact of the Sale trade to the AL East.

“What can you say, Boston’s always tried to do that,” Gibbons said.

“They’ve always tried to pull in top players. They have the resources to do it and the Yankees are kind of the same way.

“You look at Porcello ended up winning the Cy Young . . . they already have Price. They got some big arms and a great offence. Now they add arguably one of the top three pitchers in the game, I would guess. It just makes them that much better. Really, that doesn’t shock me. It shouldn’t shock anybody.”

While Dombrowski talked about seeing an opening and trying to run through it the Jays, since the end of last season, have added designated hitter Kendrys Morales, utility player Steve Pearce and some minor-league free agents.

But Jays GM Ross Atkins is not concerned about public perception; he feels his deals are percolating.

“Of course with those types of moves (like Sale) you obviously react in some way, just as any fan does, as any player does,” Atkins said.

“We couldn’t be trying any more to win. We’re not trying harder to win today because of Chris Sale. There’s probably not a free agent or potential trade that we haven’t had discussion with either (the) agents or other teams on.”

While the obvious perception seems to be that Dombrowski and others are looking for a way to win right here, right now by adding key players and that, in turn, the Jays are allowing key free agents like Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista to walk away without a real fight, Atkins does not see it that way.

“We feel that 23 players, or more, got us to the playoffs, not 2-3-4 guys,” the second-year GM commented about his two free-agent sluggers and reaching the playoffs for a third time. “It’s more about the collective, about building the best possible team year in and year out and what gives us the best chance to sustain that.

“There are times that you feel like you need to move and there’s times that you feel that you don’t, and we’re not in a position where we feel like we need to move right now. But the more the off-season goes the greater the understanding is of different price points, whether that be trades or free-agency.

“Sure, we have the resources to move, but there’s still a lot of time left.”

Meanwhile, Gibbons is not bothered by the difference in salary between his own starting rotation and the Red Sox five, staring at 19 regular-season matchups in 2017.

“A lot of that is timing,” Gibbons said of the reason for the salary discrepancy. “Guys get paid more because of the timing in their career.

“We really like our rotation. They all proved last year that it’s a good staff. They carried us to the end and were really the key to getting us into the playoffs. The key thing is you’ve got to stay healthy and one thing we’ve been able to do in the last couple of years is stay healthy. That’s been a key.

“You saw all those big guys (in Boston). A little bit of pressure goes with (expectations) and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to settle in. But clearly I would think that would make them, in everyone else’s eyes, the front-runner. But that guarantees you nothing.

“The manager feels pretty good, that’s for sure.”

“We really like our rotation. They all proved last year that it’s a good staff. They were the key to getting us into the playoffs” JAYS’ JOHN GIBBONS ON HIS PITCHING STAFF