The Atlanta Braves made a huge deal to shore up their pitching staff.
The team announced this afternoon that they are acquiring Chris Sale, a seven-time All-Star, from the Boston Red Sox, in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom. The Braves will also get $17 million with the Grissom/Sale trade, the Braves confirmed.
Sale finished in the top six in balloting for the American League Cy Young Award from 2012-2018.
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Sale has been hobbled by injuries while he was with the Red Sox. The 34-year-old left-handed pitcher was idled by Tommy John surgery in 2020 and had a rib fracture and right wrist fracture in 2022. He only started 11 times from 2020-22. This past season saw him with a left scapula stress reaction. He posted a 4.30 ERA over 20 starts. When he returned later in the summer from an injury, he posted a 3.92 ERA.
Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos addressed questions about Sale’s injuries.
“There’s health history, and I understand that’s going to be a topic,” he said, “But we think he’s a playoff-caliber starter and that’s what we were in the market for this offseason. We’ll make sure to do what we can to keep him on the mound.”
The Braves plan to monitor Sale’s performance and put him to work at the start of the season. Braves spring training starts February 22.
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Braves shortstop Grissom played with the team since 2022. He was selected in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. In the 2023 season, he had a batting average of .287, batted in 27 runs, and scored 5 homers. He will fill the same shortstop role for the Red Sox when their season starts.