Braves left-hander Chris Sale has been named the National League Cy Young Award winner for 2024, per an announcement from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies finished in second place with Paul Skenes of the Pirates in third place.
The award is the final cherry on top of a remarkable comeback season for Sale. He had a run from 2010 to 2018 of being one of the best pitchers in the majors, but struggled in 2019 and then was in the injury wilderness for quite a while. Due to various ailments, including Tommy John surgery, he only pitched about 150 innings total from 2020 to 2023.
The Red Sox flipped him to Atlanta almost a year ago, in December of 2023. The move was seen as risky at the time, as Sale was going into his age-35 season and was several years removed from his prime.
On top of that, Atlanta sent Vaughn Grissom to Boston in the deal, a notable prospect who still had years and years of cheap control. In return, they were getting just one year of Sale, though they did sign him to an extension that covered 2024 and 2025 with a club option for 2026. That extended their window of control over him, but at a fairly hefty price point: $38MM for the two guaranteed years plus $18MM for the option.
But so far, the deal has been incredibly lopsided in favor of Atlanta. Grissom was injured for much of 2024 and didn’t perform well while healthy. For Atlanta, most of their key contributors got hurt this year while Sale ironically stayed healthy, in spite of his recent track record.
Sale finished the season having made 29 starts and thrown 177 2/3 innings, allowing 2.38 earned runs per nine. He struck out 32.1% of batters faced, only gave out walks 5.6% of the time and got grounders on 44.8% of balls in play. He won the pitching triple crown by leading the National League in ERA, wins and strikeouts. His tally of 6.4 wins above replacement from FanGraphs was easily the most in the majors this year, with Tarik Skubal of the Tigers second at 5.9 fWAR.
Despite his previous dominance, this is actually Sale’s first time taking home the hardware. Per MLB’s Sarah Langs on X, Sale is the first pitcher to finish top five in Cy Young voting in five straight years, fall outside the top five for five straight years immediately after, followed by a return to the top five. He is also (X links from Langs) the first pitcher to have six previous top five finishes and later win the award, in addition to being one of the five oldest pitchers to win for the first time.
Sale got 26 of the first place votes (full vote tallies from the BBWAA), with the other four going to Wheeler, who logged exactly 200 innings over 32 starts with a 2.57 ERA. Skenes already won Rookie of the Year award earlier this week but this further cements what an amazing season he had. Other pitchers getting votes were Dylan Cease, Shota Imanaga, Logan Webb, Michael King, Hunter Greene, Ryan Helsley, Cristopher Sánchez, Reynaldo López, Sean Manaea and Aaron Nola.
Deserved
The – Agreed! I am very happy for Chris.
It’s a trade that can never be defended and a stain that will never be erased, the Red Sox trading of Chris Sale.
The Red Sox probably make the post season with Sale in 2024.
Sale was never healthy for us and I honestly don’t think we do
If they kept Sale and Giolito stayed healthy they are definitely in the playoffs in my opinion. I don’t think Detroit gets in. Sale would of ate innings and prevented the bullpen from blowing up.
That’s got to be nail number one, in the Breslow coffin!
North – I expect Breslow to leave in 3 years, and be replaced by Cora.
It could have been a nail in Bloom’s coffin that he didn’t trade Sale to the Rangers when he had a chance.
Kingbum: “would of ate” should be “would have eaten.” It’s never too late to learn.
that’s just not true, the reason we gave him an extension is he performed near cy young caliber for multiple seasons
I have to admit, at the getgo, the trade didn’t seem so bad because Sale barely pitched for us for three years. I was okay with it (and a big Sale fan myself). I defended why it was made, but the outcome has been bad so far. Still don’t blame Breslow as we weren’t signing Sale again and at least got a player back that can mature. It might not work out but it was a gamble
The – Sox had a very friendly team option for next year. Think about how much more it will cost the Sox *trying* to replace him over these two years. They already spent $56M.
The biggest – $17Million dollar gamble that backfired!!
For Sale fans, it was a godsend. NO MORE CORA.
Well, they got two more years of Sale
Fever you’ve got to be kidding. Your hindsight is blinding your reason and memory.
I know I was one who couldn’t get him out of town fast enough and I think most agreed including Red Sox brass who paid half his salary this year.
You cannot with a straight face say they shouldn’t have made the deal, especially since I know you saw the last 3 years of his 5-year contract with the Red Sox.
And you’re wrong about Mookie too. In fact I can’t wait to see the next guy the Red Sox should and need trade away that you’ll use the exact same phrase and switch names. My goodness you’re totally off base with your post here.
Gary – I respect your opinion but you are way in the minority here. Can you at least admit his performance the last 5 years was hampered only by health?
EVERYONE ELSE knew if he could stay healthy, he would dominate again. Just like Verlander and so many other pitchers have done.
Yes and that’s the entire bottom line. He couldn’t stay healthy. I thought that was THE issue? He wasn’t done, there wern’t that many miles on his arm !!
But with his frail body, age, Herky jerky delivery, and probably with his high strung personality, he couldn’t stay on the field. No one wanted to see another year of THAT. Get something for him now.., maybe a hot hitting minor league second base prospect?
Gary: Exactly. Sale could not stay healthy in Boston. Over the 4 years before the trade (2020-2023), Sale pitched a total of 151 innings. I was happy to get rid of Sale and get something for him. Sale’s preseason odds to win Cy Young were as long as +6600 back in March before oddsmakers and bettors knew if he’d be back to full strength after all the injuries.
nypost.com/2024/09/11/betting/chris-sale-is-runnin…
Typical FPG. Wants to ignore the fact that health is actually extremely important and as Gary said the bottom line with Sale. throwing 150 or so innings over a 5 year span is huge problem. The ability to available is extremely important and Sale was not that.
And not for nothing but Verlander is way more durable than Sale every was.
Gary – Please don’t ever invest in stocks. You will surely assume stocks that have gone down will never go up again, and vice versa. You’d lose your shirt. Lol
456 innings over a five year span, including the COVID year. Exaggerate a bit?
Not exaggerating. The 4 years before the Red Sox traded Sale, he pitched:
2020: 0 innings
2021: 42.2 innings
2022: 5.2 innings
2023: 102.2 innings
That adds up to 151 innings pitched.
Smart teams don’t care about 2020 2021 2022 2023. Braves only cared about what they projected him to do in 2024. They seen the medicals. One hear he needed tj. Then he missed because of surgery. Then came back from surgery. Braves don’t care about any of that. What’s his health in the day we are trading for him. What is he going to do for us.
FPG: that’s not what he’s saying but then again you’ll never admit someone else right and your wrong
sorry 4 years and that’s still problematic.
Fever I kept my Lilly and sold my SMCI. I think I should be fine.
He was never going to lo be dominant for the Red Sox as that team is just okay.The Braves however are better than the Red Sox in every category.Even if he did pitch well as a member of the 2024 Red Sox they wouldn’t have scored any runs for him.I enjoy reading your insightful passionate posts on the Red Sox as you truly are a diehard fan!
Mr – I like your handle, and just may use it to name my next dog! One of my dogs is a Papillon, he barks a lot. LOL
I agree Sale probably wouldn’t have been as dominant this year in Boston, but he’d still have been dominant. He’s a strikeout pitcher therefore he doesn’t rely on the infield defense that much (Red Sox outfield defense was very good).
Red Sox wouldn’t have scored any runs for him? They scored 47 more runs than the Braves, and that’s despite Casas and Devers being injured for much of the season and Rafaela playing more than he should because of other players being injured.
Thank you, I appreciate it! Sometimes I tend to get a little too passionate though. LOL
Sale’s 8 year AAV was $22Million. What other elite Cy Young winner is going for less?
Bad manager is the only thing that hurt Sale and made him unavailable. 10 years with Ventura, Farrell and now ATL and no problems like the Cora years. The finger is pointing in the wrong direction and you have 10 years of evidence.
Sag – Sensational post, I totally agree!
Those were odds with Cora as manager. The minute the trade happened the odds shifted and rightfully so.
Sale was unavailable until he stepped away from Cora and poof he was the same guy from his first 8 years of pitching. Why is that? Is that a Sale issue or a Cora issue?
10 years of evidence it’s a Cora issue and you don’t have to hate Cora to recognize the coincidence that ONLY his years were Sale’s bad years.
Mrbarky – You mean like 3B defense? Great point.
Sale was not healthy or happy in Boston the last few years. Going home to play for a team that actually wants to win rejuvenated Sale’s career. I’m happy for him but there is nothing saying he would’ve pitched to the same results if he stayed
Rsox – Home? He was born and raised in Florida, college too.
The Sox bought high and sold low, awful decision. And they knew he was finally healthy a year ago.
Atlanta is the closest to Florida Sale will ever get because neither the Marlins or the Rays would ever pay that salary
So what awards did the Red Sox get with Vaughn Grissom? Oh… wait…
Awards? When did Grissom play? He was on the Shelf. And “oh wait” for what. You to realize the man never got on the field ? LOL
Sarcasm is great most of the time but when they’re laughing in front of you, but sticking a knife in your side with one hand and grabbing your balls with the other, it’s not so much fun.
That’s very descriptive.
I don’t think Gary likes me
I give you a thumb up like on your posts all the time. I think there’s one down below here.
I’m just sensitive to the Sale trade Bashers today.
Horrendous trade. That simple. Only a moron would pay to have a Cy Young removed from your roster. Boston’s done it twice in 5 years.
Sad – “And the award for worst trade of the year goes to …”
* I do believe Grissom MIGHT make the trade less lopsided in the future. But as of right now, it’s horrific.
Fever Pitch Guy –
Here’s the catch to this trade. Grissom wasn’t even a pre-arb one yet. He has 7 years of eligibility. What if he’s league average and comparable to 1000 other 2Bs Boston could have. Did Boston get value out that part of the deal? Nope
What if they paid ATL $17Million to make Cora their bench coach and let Sale pitch like he wanted to and Cora wouldn’t let him? Are the Red Sox better off? Hands down and the future chances of a ring in Vegas jump enormously.
Sale 6.2 WAR
Wheeler 6.1 WAR
Wheeler pitched more innings, keeping it very close
Sale deserves it, by a hair over Wheeler
By more than a hair.
Totally agree MLB top 10.
Appears the voters saw it as much more lopsided than the WAR stat would suggest. Probably more to do with the fact Sale made a huge bounce back, while this was pretty much expected of Wheeler, than any glaring difference in their performance.
While I agree Sale was worthy of the award, “this was pretty much expected of you” seems a poor reason to vote for someone else in Cy Young. I mean, isn’t there a “Comeback Player of the Year” award? If it *were* closer, but Wheeler was a bit better, he should not lose the award simply because Sale’s performance was “more surprising.” Shall I note that, though not to the same degree, it was actually a bit of a bounce back year for Wheeler as well — his ERA dropped a full run from last year (3.61 down to 2.57), the only year without a sub-3.00 ERA since 2020? And Wheeler had a strong case for CY in 2021. After pitching almost 50 more innings than Corbin Burnes, it felt like kind of a letdown he didn’t win that one.
How much did sale era drop from last year? You philly wheeler guys got cheese steak for a brain.
*Wheeler should not lose the award because Sale’s performance was more surprising…*
But he did.
You guys should be grateful Skenes didn’t pitch all year for Pittsburgh, Wheeler would’ve got the bronze if he had.
Sale had the triple crown even while missing a few starts that is what got him the award not the comeback
MLB – You have to include the refugee factor for Sale. The man’s last 5 years with CORA was like being in a prisoner of war camp. Even if Wheeler’s numbers were better I’d give it to Sale for escaping and being a free man again.
Earned*
I’m a big believer in no one is deserving of anything. It should be earned and Chris Sale without a doubt earned this Cy Young award.
I just think about how many wins Sale would have if not for on some bad White Sox clubs early in his career…
Wheeler gets robbed yet again.
No, he didn’t. Sale had, objectively, a better season.
Wheeler should’ve gotten 2021 but that’s it
Sale couldn’t even finish the season healthy. Objectively.
How did he still win the pitching triple crown then?
Sud get your facts straight. Sale finished the season on ir. The 36 year old is a injury prone veteran. Sorry to burst your braves bubble. Wheels deserves his extension, sale not so much.
He missed the last 3 weeks. Braves made the playoffs and Sale won the triple crown. You are obviously a Phillies fan, as your angry crying gives you away.
Also, I will give you this: Wheeler deserved every bit of the extension he got and then some. There isn’t a better big game pitcher in my mind, in the National League.
See, being a fan of one team should not make you act like a petulant child.
@Johnny Devil: Get your own “facts straight.” Sale didn’t “finish the season on ir.” The Braves held him out the last week of the season due to back spasms. He was good to go if the Braves had made it past the first round of the playoffs. Not only was he NOT on “the ir,” he wasn’t even on the IL.
Wrong
You can’t be serious
Woods: I guess it depends on what criteria you use. One of the biggest for me was the triple crown. I thought it would be Sale, Skenes and Wheeler.
The criteria he used was “I’m a Phillies fan. He got robbed”.
Sale won the pitching triple crown, Wheeler didn’t
Sale was more deserving
Where was sale during crunch time? Hurt ….
Poor Johnny. Sale was fine until the last series of the season. Braves still made the playoffs, yet again.
No sid you are incorrect.
About?
I see, he missed the last three weeks of the season and they made the playoffs. Cry harder.
Johnny – Talking to Cora? Or do you mean in 2024?
I got it. Let Cora coach Wheeler for a season and see how he does!!! Prison time is brutal.
Woods – Get in line behind the Pirates fans.
Losing to the NL Triple Crown-winner while only really besting him in IP, WHIP is not a robbery. If it is, it’s a white-collar crime that gets 2 months in a Key West detention center with conjugal visits.
Not a robbery at all, but wheeler also had 8 more QS than sale, which helps save the BP. Sale deserved it, but they werent as far apart as some are making it out to be.
You’re right, and that’s impressive, but it wasn’t unanimous, unlike Skubal’s win. Sale lacked 4 1st-place votes, which is telling. QS is impressive, but he also had 1 run better FiP than Wheeler in 22.1 less IP.
Few sillier stats in sports than a quality start.
Not really, it has value… the more a sp has, the more he’s going deeper into games and keeping runs down, and most importantly, keeping the BP from wearing down more over the season.
@run. True but i dont think FIP is as meaningful on its own. Its not like FIP analyzes every defensive play to see where someone benefitted or not. And xFIP was closer than that.
But didnt matter, sale also had better k/bb, xFIP as mentioned. Just a better year. Wheeler only had him on whip and inn/qs. K were basically even. I just think it was closer than many were saying.
Ok a little off track but QS is the most BS stat alive. 6 innings 3 runs qualifies. When did a 4.50 ERA become “quality”?? That’s middling.
It’s so subjective though. If it was valuable QSs would lead to wins and vice versa. Not saying having a guy pitch deep while being effective isn’t helpful, because it sure is.
Totally true.
Yeah ill def nitpick the 3r 6ip with you, dont like that… but it seems in this era the QS becoming even rarer giving it more value just bc of quality depth into games.
Ive always looked at 6+ip and 2er or less… to me thats way more telling
I could handle 6/2 or 7/3 even but anything over 4 ERA doesn’t deserve a positive stat
I think thats what they should change it to actually
The GOAT wins his first!!
Are you the goat if you win your first at age 36
He’s still my GOAT!!!! Better than any Seattle pitcher too!!
Fenway – Sorry I love Sale but Big Unit was better.
Randy was good, but did he ever smash a minor league TV
Misty – Obliterating an 8-inch dove in mid-flight with a pitch takes far more talent than smashing a 26-inch stationary TV.
Randy wasn’t cool enough to tear up his own teams jerseys though!!
Fenway – Okay you’ve got a point on that one!
Nobody wanted Sale 18 months ago lol. I knew he was still Chris Sale.
Champ – You must have missed it, the Rangers wanted Sale two years ago.
I wanted him for sure. It all worked out
Come on literally no one expected him to make 30 starts after getting injured in 5-6 consecutive seasons
Sad – Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
5 straight roulette spins landing on red doesn’t guarantee it will always land on red.
And being injured for 5 years doesn’t guarantee he would never be healthy again.
Let’s see if he’s Chris sale next year.
Johnny – I’d bet 30 starts and a sub-3 ERA.
Ill take that bet, specifically the under on number of starts
Sure you did
an incredible comeback story for sale, 1 that few if anyone saw coming. when all is said and done i think he will find himself comfortably in the hall of very good
Nah….HOF is likely-the old measures are being watered down and he stacks up well with his contemporaries.
sale will be 36 years old on opening day, only 138 career wins, and 1,950 IP. He’s been great, still needs a few more seasons like 2024 to be considered a HOFer.
But yea the measures are watered down these days. it doesnt take much anymore. there’s fewer and fewer truly special players good enough for the hall, and alot of borderline guys get in simply bec its alot more fun to induct someone than no one.
btw, if sale gets in, then degrom should be a slam dunk choice.
Degrom is like johan Santana in terms of peak and career but at least sale dominated a decade when Jacob only dominated half of one
Sale gets into HOF because of watered down standards these days but degrom would need to have a comeback like sale in order to get in
So they weren’t watered down when Herb Pennock went into the HoF in ’48? Lombardi in ’86? Rizzuto in ’94?
It’s not a “these days” problem.
@cam
rizzuto & lombardi were inducted by veteran committee, not fair to compare them to chris sale who is being suggested as a HOFer voted in by writers.
herb pennock in 1948? you are really going back far lol. at that point the HOF was very young. a decade old. wasnt much reason to say he wasnt a HOFer – 241 wins as a SP and 5 WS championship rings
@sad
Thats not true, degrom same peak as sale. From 2014-21, degrom over sale 1261.2 to 1171.2 ip, 2.50 to 3.06 era, 2.64 to 2.81 FIP, 1.01 to 1.02 whip, sale up 2.86 to 2.90 xFIP, 6.07 to 5.10 k/bb. Theyre very close during those peak years w degrom a slight edge. Degrom 2 CY and 6 top 10 CY finishes. Sale 1 now and 7 top 10. IMO they both are easy HOFers. Degrom actually has the lowest whip in history, and highest QS percentage in history.
@cam. I know for a fact I am better at baseball than Herb Pennock. Baseball pre-1960 was just a bunch of regular people. Babe Ruth was just Dan Vogelbach born at the right time with the benefit of being surrounded by a league almost entirely made up of scrubs
Ma – You realize 2014-2021 deGrom had the advantage of not facing DH’s except for an interleague game here and there, right?
Johncoltrane – Sale is capable now that he’s escaped Cora of putting up 180 or more innings a year with a mid 2 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Wins will depend on the offense and relief.
To make the Hall he’ll need at least four more excellent years. If he stays in ATL he could be looking at 250 Ks a year or another 1000 strike outs in his career.
deGrom is a lock for the HOF based on talent and staying with Bochy and his pitching coaches.
@fever Of course, but he was still right there with the HOF best in the NL too. In that time, 2nd best ERA in all MLB, 1st in FIP. He was an elite pitcher, regardless of opponent. Would his numbers have been a little higher? Possibly. Or maybe he would’ve just adjusted to the one extra bat in the lineup.
The DH doesn’t seem to have affected him in the times he’s been healthy since it became league wide in 2022 (20 starts, 2.82 ERA, 1.98 FIP)…. small sample I know, but he’s just clearly one of the best of the last decade, if not the best.
How can you say sale isn’t a HOFer but degrom is a lock???
Chris had the greatest pitching comeback since John smoltz (a HOFer) in the 2000s, and even further back there’s Tommy John himself
Who gets injured for 6 years and comes back with a cy young and triple crown
for the record, I think they both are HOF… if I implied otherwise, my mistake
He needs 4 seasons of a 5+ WAR to cement the Hall. He actually has a better chance than most 36 year olds to pitch past 40 because he had like 5 years of pitching very little due to injury. His best 7 year peak is just 41 WAR and 49.9 is hall average so he needs to get to at least 73 WAR which is Hall average for starters. Right now he’s at 53….He needs a repeat of this year next year minimum. That would get him to 59 with a Cy Young and World title you can see it.
Sale is so far away from the Hof he needs to pitch until he’s 56 .
nothing against guys like sale or degrom, i hope they continue to have healthy careers and make the HOF. but if they are worthy then why not players like curt schilling, kenny lofton, omar vizquel, billy wagner, andruw jones? these guys should have been voted in long ago, especially if we consider that the standards have lowered in recent yrs
@john to me the difference is when healthy, degrom and sale are top 3 in their entire era. So if the longevity isnt there, the peak has to be dominant. I don’t personally think it needs to be a 7 year peak, but that seems to be a norm now.
If johan Santana or Orel herschiser or David cone was in the hall of fame, degrom deserves to be in it
Yet he doesn’t even have 2k innings, no playoff stuff except when he was young in 2015, NL was easier with no DH, a lot of reasons
If Jacob goes into 2025 and wins a 3rd cy then put him in like sandy koufax but right now it’s uncertain
When those older players were on the ballot voters looked at numbers differently. And schilling isn’t a baseball only vote for some voters. Depends on competition for each year.
I only care about my own hall of fame and not that much but that’s why they aren’t in that hall of fame.
John – Schilling is because of his controversial personality. He was disliked as a player and is hated by many now.
@fever
Thats a horrible reason to exclude someone from HOF. you’re not voting for president of the united states. Curt was a great SP – reg season & playoffs. A shame he isnt in
Curt deserved to be in the HOF but in baseball unlike the NFL and NBA you can’t be an ass and expect to get in (why isn’t Pete rose or Albert belle in?)
Curt lost the fame part in hall of fame, he has no respect anymore
Only reason Curt Schilling ain’t in is the baseball writers don’t like his politics and he won’t apologize for it
Just goes to prove my point that times have rly changed & players are judged differently
Ty cobb said alotta awful stuff & he was chosen for the 1st hof class easily
Personally i think hof has lost much respect for not allowing pete rose, or not voting in curt & some of the others i mentioned
john – Cobb did a lot of stuff that was horrific. Check out the movie if you can, it’s quite good.
As for Rose, the HOF has an agreement with MLB to make ineligible any player that has a lifetime ban by MLB.
And I don’t blame him. He deserves it and they’re taking it away from him
Obviously you won’t be at your best needing tj and recovery from tj. Other injuries. Guy has always had a fip under 4. When healthy he’s good. No reason to think he would never be healthy again. Wouldn’t want to look him up to his 40s but his injury luck flip was long over due
How are they feeling up in Bean Town?
Fermier – We’ve expected it for a long time. We are used to watching our stars go elsewhere.
I am actually okay with this. It was a gamble that so far turned out bad for us. But who would have thought Chris Sale would be back to dominance after 3 mediocre years? It looks like a horrible trade but only because of the outcome. I see why Breslow did it. Sale wasn’t coming back either way and tons of fans just two years ago said the Sale extension was the biggest joke. Well, now they have flip flopped
The – This line made me smile:
“It looks like a horrible trade but only because of the outcome.”
What else matters other than outcome???
You might as well have written “Sale looked good only because he won the Triple Crown”.
Tell that to the hundreds of fans who were disgraced at the Sale extension because the outcome was he was injured.
Sometimes you take a gamble. We lost so far (of course Grissom isn’t done yet so we can’t really say it’s a wash yet), but I see why it was done.
Was signing Sale to an extension bad because of the outcome? I liked that deal as well, but it didn’t work out. Outcomes matter the most but you have to interpret time and place.
But honestly, Fever, I’m not going to argue. Wouldn’t want you to ban me again and you always have your mind set, so it’s not worth my fight. This is how I feel, you can call me stupid for it if you want. I miss Sale but I’m not upset at the outcome.
Ohtani is only going to win the NL MVP because he went 50/50+. Did I do that right? haha
the – Sale had health issues at the end of 2018, he rushed into the extension the following ST after pitching like 4 innings …. he knew surgery was inevitable, that’s why he gave the team a discount.
I love Dombrowski, but that Sale extension was a major blunder probably because everyone was basking in the glow of 2018. Dave should have waited until at least the All-Star break before giving the extension.
biggest troll – Sale’s AAV for 8 years is $22Million.
Chris Sale was in the Cy Young race 5 straight years under Ventura in Chicago. He finished 2nd under Farrell.
Sale led the Cy Young race to the all-star game in 2018 and then Cora intervened and sat him because the Red Sox had a big lead. He lost the Cy Young, he lost momentum and Cora lied that he had an injury which makes people think he was hurt before he got his 2019 contract.
Funny how all the BS went away the minute he left Cora. Farrell had no issues, Ventura had no issues and clearly ATL had no issues. The problem can’t be more obvious.
Fever – Your timing is off.
Sale got the extension in ST of 2019 while Cora told the starters to show up 2 weeks late to ST because they pitched so late into 2018 winning the world series. FYI That’s something no other manager has ever done because it’s pure stupidity.
When Boston started spring training late several pitches had problems. Eovaldi got hurt and Sale and Price were getting lit up. After the fiasco in Japan and the west coast trip Sale returned to Boston and Cora called a news conference saying he was going to work with his coaching staff to fix Sale’s mechanics. Sale standing in the background rolled his eyes but played good soldier when the reporter asked him. He said he’ll do whatever the coaches suggest.
He did and it severely hurt his elbow tendon. He pitched in agony that summer and by the time they fired Dombrowski he had been on the IL several times and it was clear he needed TJ surgery. The three interim GMs sat on their hands and then Bloom did until it was obvious COVID was going to impact a season without Mookie. The March surgery was 7 months too late and cost the Red Sox an extra year without Sale..
Sale had IL time in 2018 because of Cora not Sale. Cora mistakenly rested Sale after the all-star game and nearly blew the lead the team had when it came down to the post season. Then his Spring Training mistake undermined the deal Dombrowski had for him because the second he signed he was behind the eight ball thanks to Cora’s massive mistake of starting the starting pitchers 2 weeks behind schedule. All injuries in 2018 were fabrications. Go back in the archives and you’ll see his first stint on the IL after the all-star game was to rest him because as Cora put it “he has a tendendy to get dead arm in August”. Then when he sat him for nearly a month Sale K’d 12 in 5 innings and might have broken Clemens record but Cora pulled him for no reason as could be seen clearly on Sale’s face. The following Tuesday bullpen session Sale made the mistake of saying his left shoulder was a bit tight. Cora immediately put him on the IL for another month. At that point, Sale had sat so long it was like starting spring training again. You have continued to call those injuries to his arm but they weren’t. They were actions taken by an uninformed manager to protect player by over resting him and telling the press he was hurt. It was all bull crap according to the people around Sale. Take a look at Sale’s workout in the off season between 2018 and 2019 and you’ll see he was 100% fit with no injuries. The injuries started when he was asked to pitch to start the season with 2 weeks too little prep time. Everything wen’t down hill after than for Eovaldi, Sale, Price and eventually Dombrowski all because of Cora. It was a good extension that made perfect sense based on the facts which are included in his off season preparation for the 2019 season when he got the extension.
The snowball Cora built turned into an avalanche that got Dombrowski fired and cost the Red Sox two years of availability with regard to Sale.
FYI … Sales contract was up at the end of 2020 and he was on a very low contract that was team friendly. Sale ate a ton of money in Boston when they were winning and he was starting the all-star games. Dombrowski never saw Cora coming. The ST strategy back-fired and cost Boston a fourth Division Title by damaging the pitching staff extensively. The top 3 pitches were severely impacted by Cora’s late start screw-up. Eovaldi went on the IL. Sale and Price struggled terribly and it led to IL time.
Sorry but no way Dombrowski could have predicted how incredibly inept Cora is. Maybe he should have seen it so you can be mad about that but Sale’s bump for the guy who started the previous two all-star games and finished 2nd and 4th in the Cy Young voting the two previous years was NOT an over pay. All money given to CORA was.
Sag – Why are you posting under such old articles? LOL!! I don’t look back at very old comments unless I see a notification top right corner, as I never activate email notifications.
Okay you’re partially right, here’s the deal. He started only 27 games in 2018 due to being on the IL with shoulder inflammation. That shoulder inflammation greatly contributed to the elbow injury because it obviously affected his mechanics. It’s probably best to say what Cora did AGGRAVATED and EXPANDED the impact of the original shoulder injury, but Sale was still initially injured in 2018 after overthrowing in the ASG.
His first ST appearance in 2019 was March 16th in which he pitched just 4 innings.
March 22 is when they agreed on the 5-year guaranteed extension effective 2020-2024 and he took a physical that day.
March 23 he made his 2nd and final ST appearance, pitching just 5 innings.
Here’s the link for his ST appearances:
mlb.com/player/chris-sale-519242?stats=gamelogs-s-…
Here’s the link proving he was acquired with a contract that covered 2017-2019 and his extension began in 2020:
mlb.com/news/chris-sale-contract-extension-with-re…
I have all this stuff memorized, I’ve written about it probably 100 times since 2019. LOL!!
I appreciate your posts!
It was a losing bet from day one. Only ? was the margin.
I think to a man we are happy for him.
He gave us his all there’s no denying that. He laid it all out there. Gave 110%.
I don’t think there’s any Red Sox fan that would say they’re pissed off about this. As far as the trade is concerned, you win some and you lose some.
And technically, we haven’t lost YET. If Grissom proves to be a failure for years to come, it’s a loss, but so many are writing him off just like they wrote Sale off before this year.
Of course we all know it’s a pipe dream, but there is still time for him to mature.
As a Braves fan, I hope Grissom becomes an All-Star caliber 2B for you guys! He is an awesome guy and deserves success
Happy for him. Dude’s a competitor and I wish him nothing but the best. Guy was just unlucky in Boston with injuries, and if he was still in Boston I 100% believe he would have been injured and missed a good chunk of the season.
Hunter Greene better have finished 4th…he had the highest WAR out of anyone. Otherwise this is outright Racism….
there was only three finalists, Greene wasn’t one of them
SMH
Greene had 3.8 fWAR. Sale had 6.4.
He was actually tied for 8th in fWAR (adjusted for 130 innings) in the NL and 15th overall.
Great pitcher, great season, but many others had better seasons..
fWAR is garbage..
The BBWAA and virtually everyone outside the world of MLBTR commenting uses fWAR.
But sure, garbage, because you say so. Never mind strike outs, earned runs, etc.
Your comment about racism is garbage.
Troll.
Greene somehow earned only 9 wins in 26 games started with a 2.75 ERA over 150 innings. The Reds’ offense was truly dismal in 2024.
150 innings gets you a rotation spot.
You heard it here first folks!
Uhh did he have the highest WAR?
wrong…try again
Thanks for showing how bad the War stat can be. No way should he have a better WAR than Sale or Wheeler. Maybe racism was used to jack up his WAR stat.
I can’t find a single other area where Greene was better than Sale – nothing. I am now extremely skeptical of WAR for pitchers
Got to bring race into it huh?.
Yea it’s Sale…. stathead.com/tiny/1i426
Three very worthy candidates and the best one won.
Skenes probably wins the next ten or so…
I bet so. He’s incredible. He has kind of already won a major trophy though……his girlfriend. lol. He will dominate the league for years, I hope the Buccos build around him.
It really is rather inappropriate and troll-like to talk about women like they are chattel or trophies. If you need to comment on that at all you can complement him for finding an intelligent partner who has developed keen social media marketing skills.
You are t even a top 100,000,000 commentator. Virtue-signaling loser.
MLB – Once you realize you wrote complement instead of compliment, even you will chuckle at the difference in meaning :o)
Point to FPG
AA made a great Sale in that trade.
Citizen – Y’all will like this Chris Sale commercial.
youtu.be/y2Qs9eQWDeM?feature=shared
Sale won the gold glove too – heck of a year. I need to check with my friends who are Red Sox fans because I cannot remember the player that Boston acquired in that trade. No worries, because it’s not like Boston needed starting pitching or anything…
OUTSTANDING !!!! One of the best comments so far.
Thus begins the first of four awards that we know absolutely is going to win: Sale, Skubal, Judge and Ohtani. All had exceptional seasons.
We all knew Skenes was getting NL ROY too
He didn’t really deserve it though. Merrill Played the full season in Center field. Skenes played 2/3 of a season, while only pitching every 5th day. I think he had 23 starts total if I’m not mistaking. Merrill played a much more taxing position, while still putting up huge numbers. Skenes got it just for some publicity for MLB.
Yes he had 23 starts a 1.96 ERA and 8 no decisions. A run here and there he’s at 15 wins and this conversation isn’t happening.
Merrill put up ROY numbers no doubt he just did it in the season of Skenes.
Skenes was a Cy Young finalist. Easily deserved ROY
cbraves – Wow. You are right because Merrill probably had a better year than Ohtani in your mind. Makes perfect sense. You know if Skenes pitches the whole year he wins the Cy Young unanimously. Right?
Hey….this is impressive…his career was left to fade away in a Roaring Dumpster Fire and here he is today a Cy Young Award Winner
Lefty – Triple Crown Cy Young winner ;O)
Hat tip again to the Braves’ brass, what an incredible deal they got.
Chaim Bloom, everybody! Hope AA is hitting him up in STL as his road destruction tour continues through the midwest.
What does Chaim Bloom have to do with a trade that that happened 3 months after he was fired?
Woopise daisy. Wrong guy, then. lol
Yes, this was among Breslow’s first acts when he replaced Bloom. Not a good start.
Guys are notorious for cleaning house when they come into a new job, sometimes at the club’s detriment and I think there are other (wise) GMs that anticipate that vulnerability with new GMs on-the-job trying to prove themselves.
Braves are one of the best but get zero credit for this one. A week platoon 2b only ( when they have a all star 2b already ) for a guy with cy young stuff and the other team is paying for him! It’s a no brainer.
Dumb take. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say 28 other teams had a “weak platoon” one position only young player they could’ve given up for Sale. Only one of those 28 teams did it. Gotta give credit where credit is due. AA has made a few moves I haven’t been a fan of but this was one of his best.
No doubt you found it to be a dumb take. I’m not surprised. Would love to see you name these 28 players. Teams just have all kinds of former top 100 prospects with mlb success and tons of service time remaining. Should be easy for you. Even though Boston didn’t want just any position. They had a need at 2b and there was nothing left to do in the minors for this kid. He was as they say mlb ready.
I would really hope Boston had a much more favorable opinion of him as well. Many thought he could be a good regular or even all star. Some even thought he could stick at ss. They almost certainly didn’t see him as a weak platoon.
Neither the Braves or Red Sox see Grissom as a “weak platoon 2b only”
I bet no other team thought of Grissom that way at the time of the trade.
Meanwhile, I bet at least half the league, likely including the Red Sox, saw Sale as a washed up, shadow of the pitcher he was and only good for a #4 or #5 starter.
If I seen it then certainly at least a few teams did. It’s obvious they aren’t ran by someone as good as me but you don’t have to be that good to see it.
The Braves were clearly frustrated by Grissom late in 2023. It wasn’t his fault, because he’d never played 2B before, but the shine had worn off. His offense also cratered, maybe because of the position change. They deserve credit for making the deal, but you can’t say they won the trade until we see how Grissom does over the next few years. He could blossom.
You might not be able to say it but I can and did when trade was reported. Braves won this trade. By a lot.
Sure he could blossom. Player projection isn’t 100% But most gms won’t take those poor odds. Luckily for Atlanta, Boston gm did. He’s a weak platoon right now. I can see him being a everyday player. But as a 2b he would have to become a yearly 800 ops guy to make this trade a win for Boston. Poor odds of that happening. Easy win for Atlanta even if it does. You just can’t take those odds.
Trading Grissom was big for the Braves because they have so few position prospects. I’m glad it worked out.
He wasn’t much of a prospect. Odds of being a stud were low. Just a guy. Easy to replace if need be. It was the easiest trade AA ever made. Only thing difficult about it was him fighting to hold back the smile and laughter.
At the time he was one of their top prospects, not just a guy.
One of their top prospects isn’t saying much. And every outlet I seen had him overrated. Just a guy.
So you disagree with the rest of the baseball world. Good to know.
It happens and I end up being right vast majority of the time. Was right on Sale. Looks good so far for Grissom. Don’t think braves fans will miss him whatsoever. Hope I am wrong and he is all star every year getting mvp votes. Im not rooting against the kid. And I so often right I can afford to have a miss.
Ok, whatever.
Look what can happen when you get players out of Boston. Same thing happened with Ruth…
York – RIP Dr Ruth.
Amazing what a player can do in his contract year.
I’m 90% sure he’s still under contact next year with the Braves, still an incredible feat nonetheless.
Wasn’t a contract year. The Braves extended him as soon as they traded for him. Good effort though.
May want to delete.
Boston also paid something like $19M to the Braves, so they essentially got 2024 Sale for free.
Sale pulled a Tiant.
IIRC, a few of Sale’s injuries weren’t necessarily baseball related? Didn’t he crash and burn on a bicycle one year and wreck his wrist? I thought there was another none baseball injury in there somewhere also? I could be misremembering.
As a Red Sox fan all I can say is FU Chris Sale!
Nah, jokes aside, it’s great to see him have a great year and finally get a Cy. Needless to say, when’s he’s healthy he is still insanely good.
Casual – It’s actually FGCU Sale ;O)
I’m curious how many people properly predicted this before the season started lol
Congrats Sale!
None. Nobody anywhere.
Not even the winner predicted the win
Sale did say before the season started that this has been the first off-season in the last five that he was fully healthy and able to have a normal regime. He was optimistic that he’d be able to get back to his usual level of production.
Not many. If anyone did they would be on x or mlb network taking their well deserved credit. I betted on him to win it but another 8 or 10 other guys as well. Very pleased but not as much as I would be if I was certain he would win and put everything on him.
Sale and Alex Anthopolous.
Good for him from a Red Sox fan. He deserves this. I hope Grissom turns into something eventually but even if he doesn’t, I’ll be a Sale fan.
It’s really interesting to see all the detractors come on here and assert “Sale didn’t deserve it”, “Sale was injured for the last 5/6 years”,
“Wheeler should have won it because I am a Phillies fan”. Phillies fanbase are one of the worst fanbases in MLB.
The reason Sale won this award was because he put in a magnificent pre season & preparation to be ‘ready’, and the other fact is that the Braves actually looked after his arm in the first half by using a 6 man rotation-this was no doubt a big factor in Sale not being ‘worn down’, and also it took into consideration Sale’s age and past history.
A magnificent effort by Sale, and a magnificent management job by the Atlanta Braves coaching staff, having the ability to ‘read the room’ and look after a champion pitcher in the most professional manner.
Sale certainly deserved the Cy Young this year. The injury comments are mostly about whether or not the Red Sox should have known Sale would bounce back this well this year.
All – this bounce back as you call it isn’t really the story. It’s the escape from Cora. The numbers don’t lie. All the years with Ventura were great, he finished second in the Cy Young with Farrell the last good manager in Boston, and now ATL proved it wasn’t Sale it was the stupidity of Cora. When was the last time you heard of a bench jockey player get promoted to bench coach and then manager while being a horse crap player and a dishonest individual? NEVER.
Sale was a victim of circumstances created by the owners desire to become more diverse. Now the fans have paid for that decision for 6 of the last 7 years since he got a one year sentence for his cheating.
Apparently one of the first to congratulate Sale was teammate Tromp.
Tromp said Sale had a magnificent season and there were no more votes to be counted for the award, therefore Sale is the winner of the Cy Young NL pitching award in 2024, and he also won the triple crown leading the league in wins, era, and strikeouts. It’s interesting how people assert that ‘ERA is not a good stat’, yet it’s used as one of the factors in this award.
His FIP was even lower than his ERA at 2.09 vs. Wheeler’s 3.13. That’s a significant gap.
I’m surprised Skenes came in third.
Well earned and it’s not even a debate
of course i’m bias to Paul but Chris or Zach was where it was going to go simply because Paul didn’t start in the show. Had Paul had a few more games then it would’ve gotten to be a tight race.
Think they got it right
Still figured Paul would get a few more votes but it is hard to be discouraged in third place given the situation
If he started in show his season would have ended in August so same result not enough innings. But yeah if they didn’t care about his arm and he pitched all season he most likely wins.
Had he also had 30ish innings in the minors. Now that may not translate to what his MLB count would be it would still be near Sales inning count.
What is just as important is pitch count. I don’t know those numbers but I suspect the minors pitch count isn’t very high.
I think the team was correct in keeping him in the minors, I probably would have kept him down a few more starts, I’m just saying that adding in his minors innings matter at least some and that had he gotten the chance to pitch a few more games in the MLB the cy young race would have been much closer
He could have been a opener in April but we all know the real reason he wasn’t called up until May. It didn’t work out for them but they basically forced him to win roy. He was too good and too ready to keep in minors until June July and they needed him.
Innings count is lowest level of arm protection. Pitch count is better. Workload is best. But Pirates use innings. So that’s what I used for them.
shouldve been skenes
Couldn’t have been Skenes. Innings limit.
he didn’t pitch enough mate, you’re crazy if you’d rather have skenes 1 year vs sales 1 year
i was just kidding mate
the day that trade was made, I said to my friend oh sale will win the cy young now, such a bad trade
Next time you have a great prediction say it on here or x or YouTube.
I couldn’t be more happy for Chris. Of course my RS couldn’t give him one more chance, so imagine they maybe thinking they should’ve. But also he may have not done as good in Boston.
They extended him when it was obvious he was headed to tj surgery. The moment he was finally looking healthy they trade him for a horrible return and pay him to pitch for someone else. Then sign another awful contract for another guy looking headed to tj. Hard to guess what Boston is thinking.
Chris Sale: There ‘til it matters most.
thats my dawg
Tight race with Wheeler, but this was the year of Sale.
And just to throw salt into the wound, the mo’ fo’ wins a Golden Glove.