It was not that long ago that the state of the Boston Red Sox was Chris Sale’s problem. Not anymore.
Sale was dealt to the Atlanta Braves over the offseason in a trade that sent Vaughn Grissom to Boston. Sale’s tumultuous career with the Red Sox has been well-documented. He began his run in Boston with plenty of success, culminating with a World Series in 2018, but injuries derailed most of the rest of his Sox tenure.
Now, the Red Sox are in the rear-view for Sale. He’s joining a Braves team in a decidedly different place than the Red Sox team he just left. Whereas Boston widely is believed to finish at or near the bottom of the American League East, Atlanta is a perennial contender with yearly World Series aspirations.
Sale ultimately spent seven years with the Red Sox, and maintains relationships with members of the organization to this day. But his focus these days is on the Braves, not the team he just left.
“I spent way too much time over there to just cut it off," Sale said via Audacy's Baseball Isn't Boring. "I had a Super Bowl party at my house and there was a bunch of guys over there with that. I’ve texted with (Alex Cora) probably a handful of times already. It’s not just baseball players playing baseball together, these are people, people have relationships. Again, other than myself, I had great experiences over there with everyone there. I still have a lot of love and respect for those guys over there, they were there in my corner when I needed them the most, and I’ll always appreciate that and never take that for granted. ...
“With respect to Boston and them, that’s not really where my focus is at. I don’t want to get too into the weeds with where they’re at, because that’s not my house anymore. I don’t need to fix the plumbing. What I will say is I’m excited for this opportunity, I’m excited to be on a young team that has high expectations and a lot of energy, a lot of life. It makes me feel younger. I’m excited to be here.”
Sale is finishing up a strong spring training in which he pitched to a 3.07 ERA across five starts (14 2/3 innings). He's expected to be Atlanta's No. 4 starter this season behind Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Charlie Morton.