Earlier on Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox traded four prospects to the Chicago White Sox for ace Chris Sale. Boston swapped corner man Travis Shaw and two minor leaguers to Milwaukee for reliever Tyler Thornburg, and then reportedly agreed to terms with first baseman Mitch Moreland. He was ranked in the top-100 by Baseball America following the 2015 season, as well as Boston’s 5th top prospect.
Advertisement
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon). St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny listens to a question from the media during Major League Baseball’s winter meetings, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016 in Oxon Hill, Md. Not bad for a pitcher who’s received Cy Young Award votes in each of the last five seasons.
There are plenty of positives and negatives to draw from the most recent chapter in Dealin’ Dave’s biography.
Where Sale slots into the rotation will be fascinating to watch.
Chicago finished 78-84 in fourth place in the five-team AL Central last season.
The 27-year-old Sale, who has three years and $38 million left on his current deal, is 74-50 with 3.00 ERA in his career. Well, okay, he hasn’t, but if the rumors are correct, he is asking to be paid an astronomical amount of cash over the next 10 years. Eduardo Rodriguez, whose 4.71 ERA fails to reflect the flashes he showed, figures to be a shoo-in.
Sale joined an already talented rotation with the AL East champions, now pitching alongside 2016 AL Young Award victor Rick Porcello, former victor David Price and knuckleballer Steven Wright. Sale came to the defense of teammate Adam LaRoche’s 14-year-old son Drake in March, expressing outrage when the White Sox asked that he make more infrequent visits to the clubhouse. The addition of Sale makes seven major-league starters on the team. They lead the league in runs scored last season and will field a lineup next year that features Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia.
With that in mind, dealing a package of top prospects for a player – even one of Sale’s caliber – didn’t fit with the Yankees’ long-term goals. “I would think the expectation on the Red Sox is sky high”. Awesome. Can’t see this going wrong.
“I’m not a big media guy”, said Sale.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are looking for controllable starting pitching. The real shocker? That the Boston Red Sox swooped in to snag him.
When the Boston Red Sox were swept by the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS this past season, they were given a stark reminder of the fact that sometimes having the best offense in baseball isn’t enough. Mike Trout comparisons aren’t handed out every day.
Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu are back together. Let’s just hope they’re for the better.
Advertisement
“I was putting a little bit of pressure on myself, maybe a little too much, but overall I strengthened my mentality the second half of this year and I think that’s matured me quite a bit and it’s put me in a good mindset to compete for a big league spot sooner than later”.
