Insider's Latest Awards Projections Make Red Sox's Chris Sale Trade Look Even Worse

The whole season has just been one long reminder of this painful misstep

Sep 3, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale (51) in action against the Colorado Rockies in the seventh inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Making a blockbuster trade is right up there with the most nerve-wracking jobs anyone involved in professional sports has to do.

The right trade can be the key to a successful season, but the wrong one can shine a light on a problem that didn't even exist to begin with. Plus, people are cynical, so they're much more likely to remember a bad trade on a general manager's ledger than a good one in the long haul.

The Boston Red Sox put their cards on the table in December, trading former ace Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Vaughn Grissom. In theory, they were getting a young, promising hitter for a pitcher who hadn't been healthy in five years. In reality, it's played out much differently.

Sale hasn't only been healthy, but he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball, while Grissom has failed to establish himself as a major leaguer. As an added twist of the knife, Jim Bowden of The Athletic projected Sale to win both the National League Cy Young and Comeback Player of the Year awards.

"This has been a race between Sale and Wheeler all season long, but Sale pulled away in the second half," Bowden said. The eight-time All-Star deserves to win his first Cy Young Award... It’s hard to imagine him not winning NL Comeback Player of the Year as well."

Sale has been ridiculously good in 2024, setting himself up to win the rare pitching Triple Crown. He leads MLB in wins (17) and ERA (2.35) entering play on Thursday, while his 219 strikeouts are just two off the lead. For a guy whose only real goal was to stay healthy for the whole season, it's been a pretty incredible performance.

The numbers alone are enough to cause pain to Red Sox fans, but Sale has also been the human embodiment of everything Boston has been missing on their pitching staff. The rotation has collapsed since the All-Star break, and Sale is 4-0 with a 1.72 ERA in 67 2/3 innings in the second half.

Combine that with Grissom's .148 batting average in the big leagues this season, and the trade has pretty much been the biggest disaster imaginable. There may be time for the Red Sox to salvage from value from Grissom, but it's hard not to think what could have been with Sale around in 2024.

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