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Chris Sale Explains Approving The Trade To Atlanta

Trey Daubert / MLB / January 4, 2024

Chris Sale Explains Approving The Trade To Atlanta

Chris Sale was traded to the Braves but he actually held all of the cards. The former White Sox and Red Sox starter held a no-trade clause in his contract with the Red Sox. Boston could only deal Sale to a team he approved of. In the end, he was happy to approve a deal to go to Atlanta.

VIA Mass Live:

“There were obviously a lot of factors on this,” said Sale in a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “Again, I had to kind of work quick. The biggest thing for me was, I wanted to put myself and my family in a good situation. That meant not a whole lot of other places to go. I wanted to be in Florida for spring training and I wanted to play for a team that’s good. Atlanta’s had an unbelievable run; they have one of the best teams in baseball and I was excited to join them and do that.

“Leaving Boston wasn’t easy. I’ve been there for a long time (seven seasons). It was a second home to me. My family loved it, my kids loved it and (the organization) treated my family the best. It was great. But at the same time, I felt like I went through some really tough times there and they always had my back. I felt like this was an opportunity to put me in a situation to help myself and put (the Red Sox) them in situation to help them, too. I felt like I kind of owed them something because the last few years (I) haven’t quite lived up to what I wanted to be there.

“It was in favor to both parties.”

“It definitely caught me by surprise,” Sale said of the development. “Things worked quick. So it was a little bit before the New Year, Bres reached out and kind of put this on the table. And like I said, it was quick. I had conversations with my wife, with my agent, family, stuff like that. So right around the New Year, that’s when we kind of pulled the trigger on it and went ahead with it.”