The Boston Red Sox certainly sweetened the pot for the Atlanta Braves to take Chris Sale off their hands.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic shared some interesting details this week about the big trade that just sent Sale from Boston to Atlanta. Rosenthal reveals that the Braves will pay Sale a mere $500,000 of the $27.5 million he is owed in salary next season. The Red Sox, meanwhile, will be footing the bill for $17 million (with the other $10 million deferred until 2039). Rosenthal describes the deal as a “financial coup” for the Braves.
For Boston, though they still have to pay Sale most of what he is owed, they are effectively slashing $10 million in payroll (helping them stay under the competitive balance tax). They also get a talented young infielder in Vaughn Grissom for their troubles. For Atlanta, a team essentially strapped out on cash next season, they receive a quality middle-of-the-rotation starter for mere pennies (albeit one with significant injury risk).
Sale, a seven-time All-Star, will turn 35 in March and has pitched just 151 total innings since 2019 due to various ailments (including Tommy John surgery in 2020 and a stress reaction in his shoulder in 2023). But at the price the Braves are getting him for, it should be a risk well worth taking (especially since Sale has a $20 million club option for 2025 which the Braves can decline if it does not work out).
