Despite a potential rift between Chris Sale and the White Sox’s front office, the team will not be trading its ace. General Manager Rick Hahn has no interest in moving Sale, multiple baseball sources tell Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com. This comes on the heels of one White Sox official telling Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe that there is “no chance” of a Sale deal taking place.
Last week, Sale weighed in on the controversy between Adam LaRoche and the team regarding his son’s presence in the clubhouse. After the ace’s pointed words for president Kenny Williams, rival teams quickly began to wonder if one of the game’s brightest young pitchers could suddenly come available. Hayes writes that Hahn received “a few new inquiries” from GMs hoping to acquire the soon-to-be 27-year-old in recent days.
Sale, 27 on Mar. 30, earned his fourth-straight All-Star selection in 2015 by pitching to a 3.41 ERA with career-bests in K/9 (11.8) and BB/9 (1.8) across 208.2 innings. Across six big league seasons, Sale has a 2.91 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. Not only is Sale a tremendous pitcher, but he is under team control through the 2019 season thanks to a contract that is considered to be one of the most team-friendly pacts in the game today. Sale is slated to earn $9.15MM in 2016 and $12MM in 2017 before options in the 2018 and 2019 seasons that would pay him $12.5MM and $13.5MM. Ultimately, Sale is regarded as an untouchable player in Chicago and some recent friction between the player and the team president will not give way to a trade.
This is kinda getting ridiculous, did anyone really think they would trade him?
Agreed. Kind of a duh article.
They are more than one player from contention. Not absurd to think they trade him for 3+ blue chip prospects exceeding Hamels’ return by far.
No disrespect, I do think it’s kind of absurd though. They can get the same 3 blue chip prospects a year/year and a half before he hits free agency for him. And teams are only willing to trade away so much of the future for anyone. Red Sox fan I’m guessing?
Big difference between Sale’s contract and Hamels. Decent gap in age as well. Phillies needed to trade Hamels. The Sox can build around Sale..
Everything the White Sox have done in the off-season indicates they believe they are in better position to compete than you think.
The person that would be traded first is Eaton. He has made dumb comments before and is the one that is pushing the bad attitude in the club house. Wait a few months and he will be gone in the right deal.
Met Fan I don’t agree with that. White Sox fan here. I think we’re easily a last place time, despite additions.
@sportingdissent you actually think the White Sox are a last place team? You must know very little about baseball or you’re just a hater
Glad they put that story to bed early I guess
The media loves a good hook and the kid-in-the-clubhouse angle brought up a lot of innuendo. If Miguel Cabrera was overheard saying he didn’t like the McDonald’s in downtown Detroit,, they’d be using his name as trade bait too.
When can we put this issue to bed?
10 weeks and dozens of journalists articles from now it might be an afterthought
Until a new segment of “whatever happened to…” begins on MLBTR :P
Hey, at least ESPN/sportscenter is finally talking about something baseball related. Aside from the toss age comments – which I thought were a god send, not bc I agree with the comments, but rather bc we actually got some baseball talk. Rather than just the NFL and the Warriors 24/7/365. God I hate ESPN.
Don’t get their NBA obsession. I don’t know a single person who is an NBA fan. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but we’re talking nhl level niche market. I suppose with the money they dole out to the NBA they must promote it…or they know who actually watches their shows…no idea.
I can’t tell if this is a joke or not.
I want to make a shirt that says “I’m just here for the bigpapi4ever comments.”
Guesses on his trade proposal for Chris Sale?
Lol. Sale for .213 career hitter Bradley, Jr., Jerry Remy’s old jock strap and a new iPhone.
So do I! Because it seems like the only comments I see are his
You mean to say the “only crazy trade proposals” you see right?
Sale for Vasquez. Straight up. Win/Win for both teams. LOL
(Sarcasm)
Haha you nailed it.
Love it.
So what you’re saying is…Chris Sale is definitely getting traded?
If Sonny Gray and Chris Sale aren’t available, Padres or Indians should be all over trading Tyson Ross, or Carlos Carrasco. Yes they aren’t ‘Ace’-level yet like Sale or Gray, but they are young, and do have front-end stuff. I’m sure teams like the Dodgers, Red Sox, and maybe even the Yankees, want impact-pitching, and are willing to trade some of their top prospects to get young controllable starters.
Corrasco/Ross likely wouldn’t net a Urias, Moncada, Byrd level prospect, but Pads/Tribe could get a franchise-boosting package in return with other top prospects. Probably nothing will happen now, but by July, I’d be surprised if Padres or Indians haven’t traded one of their top starters.
Carrasco is 29.
Still 28, until tomorrow. But he is still more controllable than other pitchers on the trade market (for at least three more seasons).
I believe the Yankees are going after Strasburg this winter after they shed $50+ million in payroll. Cashman has become very stingy with the team’s prospects. Don’t think he is interested in any of the Indians pitchers. Sale, maybe, but he isn’t going anywhere.
Pads should trade everything that isn’t nailed down. Unfortunately, you actually need to have something other teams want. They don’t have many chips at the table.
Who is Byrd?
This is now getting to be blatant click baiting.
Pretty much. The bomb shell that the Sox will not shop Sale…following previous reporting that they wouldn’t shop Sale. Pointless update.
Agreed. LOL
Teams haven’t even set their rosters to break spring training, and everyone’s supposedly trading people all over the place. Cafardo took over from Gammons as chief rumor monger in Boston. It used to be that they waited until a team floated out a feeler that a star player would be available, and at that point we’d read that the Red Sox had interest in the player. Now the writer doesn’t even wait for the team to put out the feeler, they make it up and stick it out there. In the last 40 years, it seems as if as soon as a star player is rumored to be on the market there is a note in a national publication saying the Red Sox ae interested in him. I guess Red Sox fans don’t like their players, they always live to hope they get someone else’s. It seems like only a bit over a year ago when I read all about how Hanley Rameriz and Pablo Sandoval were going to lead the team to the promised land……along with the legendary Wade Miley.
Sale is immature, goes off half-cocked and is a trouble maker. If we can get equivalent value let’s trade him. Also, Ventura once again showed a gross lack of leadership. He must go. Lastly, right or wrong, it is TIME for Williams to leave the organization for good.
Slow going in baseball news,huh?
There is a saying in the Navy – “the best stations are the one I came from and the one I’m going to”. Red Sox fans are like that with their rosters.
Hmmm.. As a former swabbie from many decades back.. I never heard that before.. Maybe it’s something else brought in from the new, lead from behind strategy?
That is a saying that goes back to WWII. It’s comes from a generation of people that understood that things are not perfect in life, and one has to suck it up and move on…and succeed. Probably a bit foreign to you.
Sounds like a lot of fan boys, and local news guys, are freaking out at the idea of having their team trade a bunch of ‘b listers’ and rough prospects for one of the best pitchers in the game again.. Time for more mindless ‘If my team trades 2 ‘a’ ball prospects we can then get Sale’
I first read that and thought you accidentally hit the space bar when typing blisters. I was wondering why people would try to pawn off a minor skin condition for an ace, but then I figured that maybe Red Sox fans probably did try an offer of a AA pitcher, an A ball outfielder, and a carbuncle to be named later.
Players have gotten out of a city for less. Truth is, Sox aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, could be an excuse just to get onto a real contender finally.
Pretty much a go figure. But if the ChiSox are out of it by the all star break I gotta imagine they’ll float Sale’s name for a major return.
The important thing is that LaRoche is finally gone. If he didn’t wanna fulfill the contract he signed and try to possibly finish his career on a high note, good riddance. I respect the whole family first thing but it’s a foolish decision to walk away like that. And so is all the speculation on Sale.
What is foolish is a complete stranger assuming he knows better than an individual about decision made regarding his and his family’s future. $13 million dollars is life changing for you and me, but not for someone that has already made $50 million in the past few years. The guy had enough “screw you” money in the bank to be able to walk away when he didn’t agree with a boss’s directive. 99% of all workers would love to be able to do the exact same thing and you will too as soon as you are old enough to have a job of your own.
Yeah I’m really confused how he’s family first, when his wife and daughter are still back home. That doesn’t seem very family first-ish to me.
It would be very interesting to find out which GM’s called Hahn.
But the Red Sox offered Allen Craig! What more could Chicago possibly want?
Sigh… no they didn’t. One writer suggested Craig could be a final piece to help balance salaries that are exchanged along with 3 to 4 of the Red Sox top prospects. No one ever said the Red Sox should use Allen Craig as bait for Chris Sale.
Wow, really? Unless I missed something, this is the first problem anyone has had with Sale. Do people actually think they’d trade him over this? Jeepers crimeny, did this Drake LaRoche thing get blown out of proportion or what.
No. Go look through all of the articles that mention anything about Sale getting traded. Notice they’re all from Boston writers.
Yeah, for all the whining I do about the writers here in MN, I’m sure glad I don’t live in Boston or care about the Red Sox. They sure seem to fling around a special brand of poo there.
You can say that again. The Boston media is brutal, as are a lot of the fans. Huge issues with sensationalism and recency bias for sure.
Why not an article on how Travis Shaw is gonna push Fat Bear out of Boston?
it would seem silly they’d trade one of the best pitchers cause he spoke out against Williams, Likely better off firing Williams..
If the white sox fall out of contention this year, maybe they look at the dodgers or the cubs to make a trade for sale.
Wasn’t so much about the money, RayRay. Just saying he chose the profession of being a major league ball player and signed a contract to do just that. The money is an added bonus at this point. He quit on his team when he couldn’t have his way and his boss was looking out for the teams best interest (even though said boss sucks). Not exactly a great example to set. Shows bad character on his part.
If it doesn’t work this year, you’ve got to explore it next offseason. I think it’s a few years before it any merit comes of it, but it’s rare to see guys like Miller, Fernandez, and Sale even brought up into trade rumors because those are the guys you want on your team. Then you see what Atlanta got for Miller and you’re shocked. Eventually teams will be trading their rookie of the year players for more top prospects lol. I wish we’d see more top prospect for top prospect type trades.
Don’t see Sale mentioned because of the team philosophy and his team friendly contract. I think people get in a mindset that it’s either let’s win it all this year or tear down. I’d like to see baseball not reward that. Fans shell out a lot of money for baseball and deserve valid attempt. Cubs pulled it off, because of all fan bases..there’s pays more and roots for the jersey the most in spite of who wears it. I’ve been at Wrigley at times and seen people never even notice a game was going on…it was incidental to the party. Might be time to allow teams to trade draft picks.
Sox blow