It’s not always easy to quantify the cost of a do-over.
MLB analysts and fans are never going to stop expressing their thoughts on transactions a team’s front office should or should not have made. However, being able to put actual value on a regretted decision, that doesn’t happen all that often.
But Fred Owens of the Braves-focused FanSided blog House That Hank Built proposed a trade that would allow the Boston Red Sox to rectify a recent mistake.
Albeit at a rather high price.
While analyzing the likelihood of Atlanta taking a seller’s approach at the upcoming trade deadline, Owens cited pitcher Chris Sale as “the most valuable player the team might trade.” Using the Corbin Burnes trade from February 2024 for reference, Owens suggested that “(i)f, for example, Boston called,” the Braves could ask for a package of outfielder Jarren Duran with middle infield prospects Franklin Arias and Mickey Romero.
So, just to recap, in exchange for a starter that under different circumstances would have been on their roster anyway, the Red Sox would have to give up a young All-Star who received MVP votes last season and is currently a highly sought-after trade chip, as well as their Nos. 3 and 11 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.
Again, a rather high price, and one that wouldn’t even be necessary but for a Boston decision that “proved to be a mistake.” Not that it didn’t make some sense at the time.
Chris Sale Pitched Last Out in Boston’s 2018 World Series Title Clincher
Sale, who pitched for Boston from 2017 to 2023, had many memorable moments with the team. The first two seasons with the Red Sox in particular went about as well as anybody could have imagined.
In 2017, Sale went 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA and struck out 308 batters, only the second pitcher in franchise to pass the 300-K mark. He made the All-Star team that year, and would again in 2018, when Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA. Sale did make five fewer starts and pitched 56.1 fewer innings than he had in 2017 due to a couple late-season stints on the injured list, but he made his mark in the postseason, even getting the last out of the World Series on a strikeout of Manny Machado to win the title against the Dodgers.
But injuries would become a recurring issue for Sale, who missed all of 2020 and most of 2021 following Tommy John surgery. And he made just two starts in 2022, missing a large chunk of time due to a right rib stress fracture, then later suffering a broken finger that derailed his comeback attempt.
A shoulder issue would keep Sale on the sidelines for a portion of 2023, and after that season, with Sale still under contract and owed $27.5 million for 2024 with a $20 million club option for 2025, Boston decided to send him along with $17 million to Atlanta in a late December trade for infield prospect Vaughn Grissom.
“Any time you trade someone like Sale who has made such a meaningful contribution to this organization and was obviously an incredibly important part of a World Series-winning team, it’s a really tough, tough decision,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
Chris Sale Won Cy Young With Atlanta After Trade From Boston
It would turn out to be a steal for Atlanta, as Sale went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 2024, leading the National League in wins, ERA and strikeouts to earn the pitching equivalent of the Triple Crown while also being awarded the NL Cy Young Award.
And now, it appears that Boston has an opportunity to get Sale back and pair him up with Garret Crochet for a dominating 1-2 duo that could help the Red Sox make a playoff push.
If only they had kept him in the first place.
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