Beantown Rundown: Red Sox need another high-end starter after moving on from Chris Sale.
The Boston Red Sox have begun to wake up after a slow start to the offseason, making some big moves right before the end of 2023 to give their starting rotation a very new look. After signing Lucas Giolito to a two-year, $38.5 million deal in free agency, the Sox followed that up by trading Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Vaughn Grissom.
All offseason long, it’s been abundantly clear that Boston’s pitching staff needs help, and a big part of the problem was Sale. The supposed ace of their pitching staff, Sale was hardly able to stay on the mound for the Red Sox over the past few seasons, and even when he was healthy, he was not the same pitcher he was at the peak of his powers.
Signing Giolito to essentially replace Sale doesn’t come without risk, although it is certainly limited considering he’s only on a two-year deal that can quickly become a one-year deal. Given the state of the starting rotation, though, there is still help that is needed, and it’s imperative that the front office makes the necessary moves now that Sale is gone.
Red Sox made the right move with Chris Sale, now they need to replace him.
Sale’s tenure with Boston should always be remembered fondly after he struck out Manny Machado to secure the 2018 World Series for the Sox, but pretty much everything after that was a complete mess. Sale made a total of 56 starts over the ensuing five seasons, and again, his numbers were not great over those starts (17-18, 4.16 ERA, 400 K, 1.14 WHIP).
Sale is still striking out batters, but his rate of runs allowed is far greater than it used to be. He is primarily a two-pitch pitcher because of his inability to fully feel his changeup after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020. Although his slider is still one of the best pitches in the game, having only a two-pitch arsenal makes it difficult to keep hitters off balance.
Putting Sale behind you was the proper decision. In fact, the Red Sox ought to have done this a few years ago. They threw out the last year of Sale’s contract, but their extension following the World Series proved to be an enormous flop.
Although Sale still has strikeouts, it’s not like trading him to Atlanta right now is saving them a ton of money.
It’s hardly the worst return ever to acquire Grissom, a young, talented second baseman who can step right into an everyday role at the position, but it would have been good to receive another pitching prospect in exchange for Sale. But beggars cannot be choosers, and Boston most likely had no alternative offer that was comparable to this one.
With Sale no longer around, the front desk needs to change course and concentrate on expanding their rotation. They still required additional assistance even with Sale on board. The good news is that a small number of excellent There are still elite starters available as free agents, and they recently freed almost $8 million by moving Sale to Atlanta.
Leave a Reply