Sale: ‘I didn’t hold up my end’
Former ace says Red Sox always great to him
Hearing that the Red Sox wanted to trade him to the Atlanta Braves caught Chris Sale by surprise.
The 34-year-old lefthander was in the midst of his first fully healthy offseason in more than five years. He had been throwing bullpen sessions at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., since November.
But a phone call from Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow at the end of December shifted Sale’s focus from an organization that has struggled to find its identity over the last four-plus seasons to a club that has shaped itself into one of the model franchises in baseball.
Leaving unfinished work in what was a roller-coaster Boston tenure marred by injuries was rough for Sale. But he ultimately waived his no-trade clause and was sent to Atlanta for infielder Vaughn Grissom.
“I heard nothing but great things about the Braves organization, the guys on the team,” said Sale on a Zoom call Thursday. “I’m from [Florida], so Atlanta had a big part of my being a fan growing up. I still get to be close to home with spring training and Atlanta is not too far. So, this worked out well for me.”
Sale, who would have been a free agent at the end of this season, was set to earn $27.5 million. But he and the Braves restructured his deal, agreeing Thursday to a two-year, $38 million extension. Sale will earn $16 million this season and $22 million in 2025.
“I definitely appreciate it,” Sale said. “They put their faith and trust in me, and that obviously makes me feel confident going forward and gives me a boost. Not only going through spring training but going through the year.
“It also allows me to feel a lit
tle bit more comfortable. I’m going to be here for a couple years, so I can get settled in.”
Sale’s only fully healthy season with the Red Sox was 2017, when he finished second in the American League Cy Young voting. He struck out a major league-leading 308 and had a 2.90 ERA. His 214‚ innings also led the majors.
Sale began to break down in 2018, but the Red Sox overlooked the red flags after winning the World Series that season, with Sale recording the final out in the clinching Game 5 against the Dodgers. An extension under Dave Dombrowski followed, and so did the injuries.
Sale made 25 starts in 2019, with his final appearance coming on Aug. 13. He went through an entire offseason pondering what turned out to be Tommy John surgery in the spring.
From 2021-23, Sale made just 31 starts, one fewer than his total from 2017.
“It was nothing short of a disaster the last few years there,” said Sale. “And I’m not shying away from it. You guys know me. I am going to be honest. Ups and downs, man. The best days of my life were there. The worst days of my life were there.
“But it’s more so about the people.
The teammates. It’s the front office. It’s the training staff. Everybody there. Those guys had my back, and I will be forever grateful for that. I’m forever indebted to them. Again, they made a big commitment to me and I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain and they were always great to me.”
Sale will go from one of the leastformidable starting staffs in baseball to an elite rotation. Instead of being a focal point in the minds of Red Sox fans despite the injuries, Sale will have the luxury of fitting in toward the back of the rotation without feeling the pressure of rediscovering his former self.
The lefthander even joked that he will have to get together with 40year-old Braves righthander Charlie Morton to figure out the “fountain of youth he’s sipping.”
Sale’s Red Sox tenure was a mixed bag. The extension didn’t pan out. Yet his perspective on baseball and life grew, especially in his darkest hours.
“I’ll never forget the people that I met there,” Sale said. “The relationships, and that 2018 season where we lifted up that trophy as world champions.”