Chris Sale scratched from start due to ‘clubhouse incident’ as trade rumors fly

Chris Sale has been the subject of a lot of trade rumors over the past week, but on Saturday evening, the saga surrounding him took an unexpected turn.

Just hours before gametime, Sale was scratched from his scheduled start against the Detroit Tigers. Naturally, many immediately assumed that a trade was in the works, but initial reports indicated that Sale was dealing with an illness.

That changed when Sox president and general manager Rick Hahn released a statement saying that Sale was sent home from the ballpark after a non-physical “clubhouse incident.”

Official: Chris Sale has been scratched from tonight’s scheduled start.

STATEMENT: pic.twitter.com/wOB8JTsjzu

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 23, 2016

Details are very vague. It sounds, however, like Sale did something that the White Sox hierarchy is quite unhappy with. No ace pitcher is being sent home from the park mere hours before his scheduled start over a minor incident.

Sale, who has been attracting a lot of trade interest in the past few days, has had a few high-profile incidents within the last few years. He’s been in conflict with the Detroit Tigers, he tried to get at the Kansas City Royals, and as recently as spring training, he went off on club executives over this controversy. Perhaps he engaged in some more verbal warfare with someone in the clubhouse, but that is pure speculation at this point.