Red Sox Acquire Chris Sale From Chicago White Sox
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox have acquired lefty Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox, the team announced on Tuesday.
In the deal, first reported by Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, Boston sends prospects Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Victor Diaz, and Luis Basabe to the White Sox.
A different kind of Sox... Welcome to the #RedSox, Chris Sale! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/nDLPljIlXP
— Red Sox (@RedSox) December 6, 2016
Sale, 27, finished 17-10 with a 3.34 ERA in 2016, striking out 233 batters in 226.2 innings. He has 1,244 career strikeouts in 1,110 career innings. He's made the American League All-Star team and finished no lower than sixth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in every season since 2012, when he became a full-time starter.
Sale joins a Red Sox rotation that already includes 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello and former Cy Young winner David Price. Perhaps most attractive about Sale is his contract, which will pay him $12 million in 2017. The Red Sox will almost certainly pick up Sale's club options of $12.5 million in 2018 and $15 million in 2019.
Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz, and Steven Wright are likely to compete to round out the final two spots in the suddenly-formidable Red Sox rotation, barring future moves.
Moncada was listed No. 1 among Baseball America's top midseason prospects during the 2016 season. Kopech was listed at No. 93. Diaz is a right-handed pitcher while Basabe is an outfielder; both played for Single-A Greenville.
ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted on Tuesday that the White Sox's haul for Sale is a "step down" from what they asked for at the July trade deadline, which included AL MVP finalist Mookie Betts and outfielder Andrew Benintendi.
Just hours prior to making the trade, Red Sox president of baseball ops. Dave Dombrowski told Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald that the Red Sox "have the depth to make other trades." They also acquired lefty reliever Tyler Thornburg from the Milwaukee Brewers for Travis Shaw and two others.
Zolak and Bertrand broke the news during Tuesday's program. Listen to the moment the news hit below: