By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Braves fans have been clamoring for a big move by Alex Anthopoulos to re-vamp the Atlanta club going into 2024.

In a trade between Christmas and New Year, the Braves pulled the trigger bringing Chris Sale to “the A”.

The 7-time All-Star has been riddled with injuries the last 3 years and hasn’t appeared in more than 20 games since 2019.  Despite the health issues, both he and the Braves believe he is the healthiest he has been in a while.

“I feel really good.  This is the first time in quite a while I’ve been able to have a normal offseason,” Sale said in media availability from the Braves Spring Training facility in North Port. “I’ve been throwing bullpens since November, and I haven’t been able to do that for years!”

Originally when the trade was finalized, Boston was sending Chris Sale and $17 million (to cover that amount of Sale’s salary) in exchange for former Braves top-prospect Vaughn Grissom.

Because of Sale’s contract structure, Sale was owed $27.5 million in 2024, with the Red Sox paying $17 million of that, the Braves were on the hook for $10.5 million, but $10 million of that 10.5 was deferred to be paid in 2039, so essentially the Braves were getting Sale for $500K in 2024.

That changed, however, just 5 days later with Chris Sale and the Braves announcing a 2-year extension of the contract on January 4^th.

With the new contract, Sale will collect $16 million in 2024, and $22 million in 2025 with a $18 million club option for 2026. Don’t forget that Boston is still paying $17 million of Sale’s salary, so the Red Sox will be essentially paying all of Sale’s 2024 earnings, and an additional million of the 2025 pay.

I know this may not have been the “big splash” that Atlanta faithful were looking for, but this is sneakily a fantastic deal for the Braves. You not only get a quality left-handed starter to add to the rotation, but also an experienced 34-year-old that has seen a lot at the big-league level.

Yes, Sale has been injury-laden the last 3 years, but of those, he returned for a good portion of 2023 with the Red Sox, making 20 starts with a 6-5 record and a 4.30 ERA (remember after not having a normal off-season and beginning of the year).

This year, he will enter with the first normal off-season into spring training for him since 2018 when he went 12-4 and posted a 2.11 ERA and finished 4^th in the Cy Young Award voting.

I’m not saying he’s going to post those numbers and turn into the ace of the staff in Atlanta (although it may be a distant possibility), but the great thing for Atlanta is…. The Braves don’t need him to be that.

Braves pitching took a hit themselves from the injury bug in the pitching rotation in 2023, but everything looks promising as the team heads to North Port for Spring Training.

Spencer Strider and Max Fried are one of (if not the single) best 1-2 punches at the top of a rotation in baseball.

Although Fried was also injured at different points in 2023, he pitched well when he was available, and with a full off-season to get right ahead of a contract year, I’d expect a big 2024 from Fried.

Strider has been about as steady as it gets. Somehow, I still believe Strider is underrated on the grand scheme of the MLB, but we might be slightly biased.

The Braves also picked up the $20 million option for Charlie Morton in 2024, so going into Spring Training 2024, Atlanta should feel good about some combination of Fried, Strider, Morton, Sale being the top 4 of the Atlanta rotation.

So, is it the “flashy bigtime deal”? Probably not, but if there is an organization that has taught baseball that you don’t need a roster full of “flashy, high-priced talent” to win, in the words of the late-great voice of Truist Park Casey Motter, IT’S YOUR ATLANTA BRAVES.