Chris Sale unsure if resurgence would have been possible in Boston

The early days of Chris Sale on the Boston Red Sox were as good as any fan or Red Sox player could have hoped for. The southpaw was a Cy Young Award runner-up in 2017 and guided Boston to its most recent World Series win (2018).

But the bad days late in his tenure are far fresher in the minds of the Fenway faithful. Sale’s latter years were marred by injuries and lackluster performance, before he was eventually traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2024.

The change of scenery seemed to aid Sale, and he’s undergone a career resurgence in Atlanta. He even won the NL Cy Young in his first season with the Braves. Naturally, that led NESN personality Jared Carrabis (and fans at home) to wonder if the same reinvigorated Sale would have been possible on the Red Sox, had the trade not happened.

Carrabis asked Sale point blank on a recent episode of the “Baseball is Dead” podcast. His answer was nuanced.

“That is a really good question. I don’t know,” Sale admitted. “After the ’23 season … I knew I basically had one year left of [Red Sox] baseball. And I went into that offseason, and I was like ‘I want to end on a good note’. I was tired of being hurt, tired of sucking, I took that offseason to really get after it.

“And then I get traded. And I found a new trainer because obviously I couldn’t go to JetBlue [park] to train anymore. This guy Jay down in Naples, he got me going, doing some different stuff, and I really felt like that helped me a lot with my health.”

Had that trade not gone down, Sale wouldn’t have been forced to get a new set of eyes on his lingering ailments.

“If I had stayed in Boston, would it have been the same? I don’t know, it’s hard to tell,” Sale said. “But because of the trade, I’ve found someone and got into some places and did some things that really helped me.”

So, it’s safe to say that, even if it would be possible to get Sale pitching with authority again in Boston, it at least wouldn’t have been as likely. The change of scenery worked out in Sale’s favor.

That trade also didn’t wind up all that terrible for Boston. The returning piece, Vaughn Grissom, didn’t pan out at all, hardly even getting into games in Boston. So the direct return for Sale wasn’t nearly as valuable as what Sale became for Atlanta. That’s without question. But Boston took the time to improve its overall rotation following that trade.

It’s possible the team wouldn’t have been as willing to make a splash trade for Garrett Crochet had it not been for Sale’s departure.

Given that the Red Sox’ 2026 rotation, even without Crochet, was one of the main contributors in their season turnaround, there’s not much use wondering what could have been if Sale stayed healthy, or if the team held onto him just a little bit longer.

The Braves sit atop the NL East, led by Sale’s 2.16 ERA. Boston has remained competitive in the tightly contested AL East. And both teams will be making a strong push for the World Series. A win-win for all parties involved, no matter how fans may feel seeing Sale shove for another team after Boston.