Report: If Chris Sale Gets Traded, Red Sox 'Most Capable' Of Persuading White Sox
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Chris Sale is more than likely not going anywhere this winter. The White Sox have the left-handed ace under team control for four more years at a reasonable price, and they're not inclined to say goodbye to a top-of-the-line talent like Sale.
Yet the White Sox have gone 376-434 over the past five seasons, and if they want to turn the franchise around, the only way to do that is by acquiring at least three game-changing types of players.
That's where, according to a report, the Red Sox could enter the picture.
Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago wrote Friday that while a Chris Sale trade remains unlikely, the Red Sox are the team "most capable" of providing a package that may make the White Sox consider making a move.
"One AL executive suggested the Boston Red Sox would be the franchise most capable of acquiring Sale and one [White Sox GM Rick] Hahn would prefer because of the talent within," Hayes wrote.
While the idea of Sale in a Red Sox jersey may have Bostonians giddy, the theoretical return package may temper excitement.
Hayes guessed that Hahn would want a package that consists of Xander Bogaerts and Blake Swihart, just to start.
Bogaerts is coming off a breakout season, and Swihart performed better than anyone could have imagined in a season when he was not even supposed to advance to the big league level.
Bogaerts, 22, batted .320 with a .776 OPS and 81 RBIs, earning an AL Silver Slugger in the process. He was also a finalist for the Gold Glove.
Sale, who will turn 27 in March, posted the highest ERA of his career last year, though it was still just 3.41. Since becoming a starter in 2012, Sale has averaged 29 starts and 197 innings per season, posting a 2.95 ERA while racking up 900 strikeouts to just 178 walks. He's been named an All-Star for four years running, and he finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2014.
While the Red Sox could survive just fine without Swihart, potentially shipping Bogaerts out of town is a move that could hurt for years to come.
But, as new Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said this week, such is the cost of acquiring top talent in the big leagues. Predicting what the new man in charge will do is a fool's game, but it might be best to be prepared for a franchise-altering type of move in the coming months. Such massive front-office changes in a relatively short time period this past summer were not made so that the team could stand pat and continue on its course.
While a Sale acquisition remains unlikely, it is at least the type of transaction that may end up going down this winter and, one way or another, impacting the Red Sox for the next decade.
