Speaking about his Red Sox tenure in the past tense Thursday afternoon, a reflective Chris Sale looked back at the entirety of his seven years with in Boston.
There were peaks, like close calls for the Cy Young award and a World Series championship in 2018. There were valleys, like the three-year period when a long list of (mostly freak) injuries limited Sale to just 48 1/3 regular-season innings. In totality, Sale said days after the surprising trade that sent him to the Braves, his time in Boston brought him to the highest highs and the lowest lows.
“Ups and downs, man. Life,” Sale said on a Zoom call Thursday, shortly after his extension with Atlanta was announced. “Best days of my life were there. Worst days of my life were there. But the people – it’s my teammates, it’s the front office, it’s the training staff. Everybody there. All those guys had my back. I’m forever grateful for that. And I’m forever indebted to them.”
The Braves and Sale agreed to a $38 million, two-year deal. The contract, which also includes an $18 million club option for 2026, supersedes his previous deal that called for a $27.5 million salary this year, with $10 million of that deferred until 2039.
Sale, who was traded to Atlanta along with $17 million in cash for infielder Vaughn Grissom on Saturday, originally joined the Red Sox in a blockbuster trade with the White Sox at the 2016 Winter Meetings. He pitched like an ace in his first two years, going 29-12 with a 2.56 ERA and 545 strikeouts in 372 1/3 innings over 59 starts. In 2019, after then-president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave him a five-year, $145 million extension, Sale started dealing with injuries and faced an uphill battle to stay on the field for the rest of his time with the Red Sox. He logged just 56 starts over the final five seasons with the team, including 20 in 2023, when he posted a 4.30 ERA.
Sale, as he frequently has in recent years, acknowledged his contract as a failure. The lefty was impressed with how that fact didn’t impact the way those with the Red Sox treated him.
“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 said. “They always treated me with respect. They always made me feel loved. They always made me feel wanted. Anything I ever wanted or needed, anything my family ever wanted or needed, they were there for me. Always. Through and through. So I appreciate that. To categorize it any one way, there’s not really a word I’d put on it. But I’ll never forget the people that I met there, the relationships I had and that 2018 season where we lifted up that trophy as World Champions.”
Sale, who missed two months in the middle of 2023 after suffering a stress fracture in his shoulder blade, entered the winter healthy and was expected to be Boston’s starter on Opening Day on March 28. He spent much of the last few weeks working out at JetBlue Park before new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow approached him late last week about potentially waiving his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade to Atlanta.
Before the trade, which Sale called a major surprise, he was intent on finishing off his contract with the Red Sox in a satisfactory way.
“Going into this offseason, that was the plan. I finished the year relatively strong, a few decent starts together. Walking off that mound the last (start) of the year, knowing that I was healthy and going into a good offseason, I was excited. It was nothing short of a disaster the last few years there. I’m not shying away from it. And I was excited. I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve got one last go at this, and I’m gonna put all my marbles and everything on the table. I’m going for it.’
“I didn’t stop throwing. I kept throwing. I showed up to the facility, playing long toss. I’ve been throwing bullpens since November. I haven’t been able to do that in years. I wanted to give my teammates, that organization and that city and fan base what they were supposed to get for years before that. It ended up not working out, but I’m excited to take that same energy and bring it to this team, this organization, this clubhouse, this fan base, and show them that I got a lot of life left in this.”
Sale said that he was willing to waive his no-trade clause based on a combination of factors including geography (the Braves have spring training in Florida, less than 90 minutes from his Naples home) and the fact Atlanta is a ready-made contender. He described the decision to leave the Red Sox as a difficult one, even if Boston isn’t expected to compete at the same level as his new club in 2024.
“With (Alex Cora) leading the charge … he’s one of the best ever. He’s a guy who is a very special person to me. He’s been there for me when I needed someone to be there for me and he’s a guy I’ll always have love for.
“I’ve heard nothing but great things about Breslow and who he is as a person, who he is as a baseball mind. And even (pitching coach Andrew) Bailey, it was a shor-lived relationship that we had, but he seemed like a great guy and very motivated. He knows what he wants to do and where he wants to go and there’s purpose behind all that. There’s a lot of good people there to get them where they need to go.”
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