The Boston Red Sox reportedly are receiving calls regarding the most decorated member of the roster as the Major League Baseball trade market begins to heat up.
By most accounts, the Red Sox’s rotation is not an area of strength, but that has stopped opponents from checking in to see if Boston would consider dealing a prominent member of the group.
“Teams are checking on Chris Sale’s availability,” the New York Post’s Jon Heyman tweeted Sunday. “(The) Red Sox are not looking to trade any of their starters but view (their) rotation as an area of depth and are at least willing to listen, and consider. Sale does have (a) complete no-trade clause so he can veto potential deals.”
The little nugget regarding the Red Sox’s front office feeling as though the rotation is an area of depth after the group was abysmal a season ago and has since lost three members of the rotation — Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill — is stunning , to say the least, but they certainly have the numbers to deal a starter.
As far as a Sale trade goes, it would not make a lot of sense. The 33-year-old is owed $55 million over the next two seasons after making just 11 starts over the last three seasons.
It would be a sell-low, salary dump for Boston that would not be wise of Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom unless another team wildly accepts the bulk of his contract and there is a plan to allocate the funds elsewhere.
Even still, one of the only ways Boston can compete for anything meaningful in 2023 is if Sale turns back the clock and has a vintage, ace-like season.
Since the Red Sox appear to have little interest in spending money, dealing Sale would essentially just remove the team from their best lottery ticket and likely return next to nothing.
There are only two ways the trade gets done.
Boston could eat the majority of the contract and acquire some mid-level prospect or underperforming major-league-ready player in return. Or, some team could eat the majority of Sale’s insanely inflated contract and would receive a decent prospect along with the southpaw in return — similar to the Red Sox’s acquisition of Adam Ottavino and Franklin German from the New York Yankees prior to the 2021 season.
Neither option would be enticing for the Red Sox. Although it would be ideal to shed one of the worst contracts in recent memory, it doesn’t seem like the club would use the open payroll, and the fans should not be worried about John Henry’s wallet.
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