At the time, Atlanta Braves fans were skeptical when the Chris Sale trade went down. No one argued that Sale wasn't a generational talent at one time, but the sheer number of injuries he had dealt with and his struggles afterward were legitimate concerns. Those concerns obviously were unfounded last season as Sale won the Cy Young and now he is about to remind his old team of the mistake they made in dealing him.
Grading trades in hindsight, including the Sale trade, can be pretty unfair. Again, Sale had not been able to stay healthy and Boston seemed to value the money in Sale's deal more than his production. However, it is really hard to ignore that all they got for one of the best pitchers in the game right now was some salary relief and Vaughn Grissom when Sale is about to be pitching for the Braves in Fenway.
Chris Sale set to (hopefully) make the Red Sox regret trading him on Friday
First of all, this game on Friday looks like a fantastic matchup. Sale seems to have figured out his mechanical issues and has looked great and he is set to take on Garrett Crochet who came over to Red Sox in a blockbuster trade last offseason. Runs may be tough to come by on both sides Friday night.
However, the Braves have to be feeling great about the trade going into this chance to showcase Sale against his old team. Sale was better and (mostly) healthier than Atlanta could have ever dreamed and they clearly immediately thought highly of him as they gave him an extension almost immediately. Meanwhile, the Red Sox got some cash and Grissom who posted a .465 OPS in 31 games last year and is currently struggling to impact the ball in Triple-A.
Maybe Grissom turns into a player that can help Boston on regular basis or Sale will completely implode this year. For the moment, though, it really seems like the Braves fleeced the Red Sox and now they get to flaunt it in-person this weekend.