Braves' $18 Million Chris Sale Bargain Rubs Salt In Red Sox's Wounds

Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the Boston Red Sox would like a do-over on the Chris Sale trade.

Boston traded Sale to the Atlanta Braves in December 2023 for Vaughn Grissom, whose time with the Red Sox might soon come to an end after 31 games. He gave the Red Sox negative-0.2 WAR -- 10.4 fewer than Sale has earned in his first two years as a Brave.

But the Braves didn't just have the foresight to trade for Sale, coming off a sneaky-good 2023 campaign. They made a contract decision immediately after the trade that paid massive dividends on Wednesday.

Sale club option is huge value Red Sox never foresaw

May 16, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale (51) throws against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

According to multiple reports, including one from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Braves exercised their $18 million club option for Sale this season, which was part of the two-year, $38 million extension the lefty signed on Jan. 4, 2024, just five days after the trade.

Sale went on to win his first career Cy Young Award in year one with the Braves, leading the majors with 18 wins and a 2.38 ERA. He's made 49 starts in two years in Atlanta after making just 31 in his final four years in Boston.

Clearly, the Red Sox had no idea Sale was going to be this good in his age-35 and 36 seasons. They paid down $17 million of his original $27 million salary in 2024 to get the Braves to take him off their hands, which they presumably viewed as paying a premium to grab a young position player they thought would be a long-term starter in Grissom.n

The trade was essentially Craig Breslow's first act as chief baseball officer, and though he's been on the receiving end of much more instant criticism for other moves, one can argue it's easily been his worst move so far.

And it's not like the Red Sox needed any further reminders that trading Sale was a misfire, but just in case, we'll remind them that the future Hall of Fame candidate is 2-0 in two starts against them with just one earned run allowed in 13 innings.

It's not as though Sale is devoid of injury concerns nowadays, as he fractured a rib needlessly diving for a ground ball in June. But he's elite when healthy, and the Braves are getting the absolute best value they could have by taking him off the Red Sox's hands when they did.

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