The Atlanta Braves went into the offseason looking for help for their starting rotation, and they got a key component Saturday when they acquired veteran left-hander Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Vaughn Grissom. Sale was once considered one of the top pitchers in the major leagues, but he has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons. He missed the entire 2020 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and he only pitched 48 13 innings in 2021 and 2022. Still, it was worth the risk for Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, who believes Sale can provide Atlanta a boost in the postseason.
“Obviously, we reviewed the medicals, and our medical staff was satisfied.” But, look, his health history, which I assume will be a topic,” Anthopoulos said of the agreement.
“We like him when he’s on the mound, and we’ve liked his makeup, personality, and what he brings to the clubhouse, and we think he’s a playoff caliber starter.” That’s what we were looking for. As someone we felt could start postseason games for us, we’ll do everything we can to keep him on the mound. We’ll get to know him as we have with many of our other males. We’ve done a fantastic job of providing men rest between starts and so on, and that’s something we’ll just analyze as we get to know him.”
After missing three seasons due to injuries, Sale returned to the Red Sox in 2023, making 20 starts and totaling 102 23 innings. According to Anthopoulos, this is Sale’s first normal offseason in recent years, and the Braves believe he is in good shape moving into the 2024 season.
“Obviously, he’s had some IL time and so on.” You understand you can’t get away from it. But we believe this will be his first normal offseason in a long time,” Anthopoulos remarked. “At the same time, he pitched 100 innings last year.” So, like with all of our starts, we’ll keep that in mind. We don’t limit anyone, but we do take things day by day. If guys need to skip bullpens or take additional days between starts, that’s fine.”
Anthopoulos mentioned that Charlie Morton missed time in 2020 because to a shoulder injury before signing with the Braves. Morton had never been on the injured list throughout his stint with the Braves until the end of last season, when he was sidelined by a sprained finger.
2024. The fifth starting slot could be decided by a battle between Bryce Elder and newcomer Reynaldo López. This offseason, the team signed Lopez to a three-year contract. Lopez has mostly pitched out of the bullpen in recent seasons, but he’ll get a chance to start during the spring.
“We’ve got four locks for our rotation in Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, Max Fried and Spencer Strider,” Anthopoulos said in a statement. “We’ll see how that last spot goes.” Ronaldo Lopez will be elongated. Bryce Elder was obviously an All-Star last season. He did an outstanding job. We’ve got all the other young men, like AJ Smith-Sharver.”
“We know we’re going to need more than five starters throughout the year.” We’ll need all of them, and they’ll all make starts,” Anthopoulos remarked. “The fact that we have depth there should allow us to build in extra days and so on, but we’ll just adjust accordingly.”
Sale had the chance to refuse a trade to Atlanta as a 10 and 5, but he chose to accept. Anthopoulos said he spoke with him a few hours before the transaction was revealed and expressed excitement about the opportunity to throw for the Braves.
“He was fantastic. We had done so much research on the person, talked to teammates, and everyone just raved about him,” Anthopoulos said. “Obviously, ability and what he does on the mound take precedence, but makeup and clubhouse fit are not far behind.” So knowing he can just be himself and go about things the way he always has, I believe it’ll be a great fit. He’s ecstatic. He resides in Naples, which is close to our complex. He was immediately asking me when he could go throw. He’s already thrown bullpens and is eager to get ready for spring training. He was ecstatic, and we are ecstatic to have him.”
The trade cost Grissom, who had nothing left to prove in Triple A but didn’t have a clear path to playing time in Atlanta. Anthopoulos praised Grissom’s work ethic and appearance.
“It was difficult. It was one of the more difficult guys to relocate. “I think everyone in our organization thinks highly of him,” Anthopoulos said of Grissom.
“You will not find a better human being.” The makeup is second to none. “High energy player who improves those around him,” Anthopoulos added. “Can flat hit and has great bat-ball skills.” We certainly had him play a little bit in the outfield to get him more at-bats because he’s completely ready to be an everyday player in the big leagues right now, and this is a fantastic chance for him and his career.”
Despite having only 98 plate appearances at the Double A level, Grissom emerged onto the scene in 2022 and helped compensate for the injuries to Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia. He went on to have a 121 wRC+ in 41 major league games. During the spring of 2023, he competed to replace Dansby Swanson at shortstop, but was defeated by Orlando Arcia. He had only 80 plate appearances in the majors last season, but he had a 78 wRC+. Grissom did hit.330/.419/.501 with a 135 wRC+ in Triple A, demonstrating that he was ready for a major league position.
“I don’t want to speak for the Red Sox and their plans for him, but my understanding is he’ll get a great opportunity there,” Anthopoulos said in a statement. “We were in a position where we needed to find a starter. I wish I could have done a deal for less. I would have preferred to keep him and trade someone else for him. It was simply not going to happen in our discussions. He’ll be an excellent fit there. It’s a difficult decision given how highly we regard him, but it’s a much better fit for his career. Again, you must give in order to get. Ideally, you maintain all of your favorite players and trade the rest, but we couldn’t get a guy like Chris Sale unless Vaughn was the one going the other way.”
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