Boston Red Sox trade pitcher Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom… as Atlanta continues to build one of the most fearsome rotations in baseball
- Sale won a World Series with the Red Sox, last striking out in 2018
- But since then he has suffered a host of serious setbacks and injuries
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The Boston Red Sox have traded Chris Sale — their best pitcher, but one who has had a terrible injury history of late — to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom.
In addition to the sellout, the Red Sox sent cash compensation.
Grissom was the Braves' seventh-best player in 2022, the year he made his MLB debut.
But crowds at the position saw him demoted to Triple-A Gwinnett at the start of the season.
He had 236 plate appearances in 64 games in the Majors, slashing .287/.339/.407 with five home runs, 27 RBIs and five stolen bases.
The Boston Red Sox have traded starting pitcher Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves
In return, the Red Sox acquired Braves shortstop Vaughn Grissom
The Red Sox acquired Sale in December 2016 in a trade that saw Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz go to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for the pitcher.
In his first full season with the Red Sox, Sale led the AL in strikeouts but finished second in Cy Young behind Corey Kluber.
The following year, Sale started Game 1 of the World Series and retired Manny Machado in Game 5 to capture a title over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But from then on, Sale's tenure with the Red Sox was marred by a series of injuries.
In 2019, he sat out the season in August due to a serious inflammation in the elbow of his throwing arm.
In March 2020, when Spring Training was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sale would be shut down for the season while he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He did not return to the majors until August 14, 2021 – over a year after his surgery.
In July 2022, he broke the little finger in his throwing arm after being hit by a line drive from New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks.
Weeks after undergoing surgery to repair his finger, Sale was biking to lunch when he fell and broke his non-jumping wrist, ending his season.
Sale won a World Series in Boston, but suffered several injuries for years afterward
Ultimately, Sale was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his shoulder blade in June 2023. He returned in August and finished the season with 102.2 innings pitched.
In Atlanta, Sale will be part of a strong starting rotation that includes Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Charlie Morton.
The Braves reached the postseason for the sixth consecutive season in 2023, but suffered the same fate as the year before: they lost in the NLDS to the Philadelphia Phillies, three games to one.