Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos joined Dukes & Bell Tuesday to recap their blockbuster trade to acquire seven-time All-Star pitcher Chris Sale.
Sale comes to Atlanta looking to revitalize his career after the last three seasons were impacted significantly by injuries. He won a title with Boston in 2018, but that was the last season he was a true frontline starter. If he can regain his true form, sending Vaughn Grissom will only be a small price to pay.
"Yes, he's had a lot of injury stuff in the past, there's no doubt about it," Anthopoulos said. "The big one was the Tommy John he had a while ago. Since then, he's had a lot of freak injuries. Now, at some point I understand you can say, 'It keeps happening. Maybe he's an injury-prone guy.' But prior to the Tommy John, this guy was a pretty durable guy who was able to pitch [consistently]. But he had some freak things -- a bike accident, a comebacker hit his pinkie finger and he had to come out. He hasn't had a bunch of arm-related problems. He had an issue last year, and we think a part of that is he ramped up too fast. And look, we're relying on our trainers and doctors."
Anthopoulos addressed why the team hasn’t made a play for a true frontline starter. The GM stated the cost simply being too high. Sending Grissom to Boston was a move that was palatable. Sending three or four prospects or MLB players is a cost the team does not want to pay right now.
"We've had the players to do it," Anthopoulos said. "I think the hangup for us is, it would be more than one player -- it would be multiple players for us. And I think that's the issue that we've run into. We don't want to have to trade three, four players, ideally, especially three or four players who we think have a chance to be really good. That does not mean that we love trading a guy like Vaughn, but it's one instead of three -- or the equivalent of three or four Vaughn Grissoms instead of one.
The Braves will still need to add another starter to have a full rotation. Their starting staff has run out of gas due to fatigue and injuries the last two postseasons. Adding Sale to the mix of Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider makes a formidable staff. The one thing, unfortunately, the Sale won’t be able to control is the bats. The real culprit for the lack of playoff success has been the team’s inability to hit in clutch situations.
Elsewhere, Anthopoulos discusses the trade that brought Jarred Kelenic to Atlanta, and the Braves' discussions with right-hander Aaron Nola in free agency.
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.