Latest Red Sox roster move makes Chris Sale trade an even bigger win for Alex Anthopoulos

You heard it here first. This is breaking news. A complete and utter shock. The Atlanta Braves and Alex Anthopoulos have won a trade.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but Atlanta's front office has been a model of excellence in recent years. The 2024 campaign has not gone to plan for the Braves, but we can hardly pin this unfathomable spate of injuries on Anthopoulos. Maybe Atlanta should've done more at the trade deadline, but no front office is perfect. The Braves fandom must settle for something close to it.

Before the season, Anthopoulos engineered a rather bold and unexpected trade with the Boston Red Sox, acquiring Chris Sale in exchange for top prospect Vaughn Grissom. The Braves also received cash considerations from Boston. It was a contract dump for the Red Sox above all else, but Grissom was expected to make an immediate impact in the middle infield.

Alas, it has been a challenging season for the 23-year-old. He's batting .148 through 81 major-league ABs with a rancid .367 OPS. That's a small sample size. Grissom spent the last month on the IL with a hamstring strain, which is never a simple injury, so he deserves some benefit of the doubt. The kid has plenty of time to figure it out. But, with Grissom recently optioned to Triple-A, we can probably rule out an impactful 2024 campaign from the former Braves draft pick.

That is a shame. Boston is firmly in the Wild Card hunt and, don't look now, but the Red Sox could probably use another top-line ace on the mound. Preferably a Cy Young candidate. If only there was such a player on the roster...

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Braves look like obvious winners in Chris Sale trade with Red Sox

Sale was on the downslide in Boston, but he has uncovered the fountain of youth in Atlanta. Incorporating new grips and new strategies on the mound, Sale has been quite possibly the best individual pitcher in the National League this season. He's 13-3 through 21 starts with a 2.75 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, registering 165 strikeouts in 127.2 innings pitched.

Venture to bet on the NL Cy Young race, and you will probably find Sale listed atop the odds. It has been a vintage season from the eight-time All-Star. What a story it would be for Sale to win his first Cy Young trophy at 35 years old, when the majority of MLB fans were ready to write him off.

Injuries loom large in the Sale discourse. This is the first time he has surpassed 100 innings in a single season since 2019, so it's fair to wonder how sustainable Sale's output is. Atlanta has to worry about more than the regular season. The Braves are aiming for a long playoff run, and depth is already slim. Spencer Strider is out for the season. Max Fried has been on the IL of late. Charlie Morton is 41. Reynaldo Lopez has his own innings concern. The Braves cannot afford an extended absence from Sale.

Even with all those worries, though, it's impossible to deny the value of what Sale currently provides. The Braves transformed a backup infielder into the National League's most dominant arm. Grissom has a bright career ahead of him — we can't write the obituary on his career at 23 years old — but odds are Grissom never sniffs Sale's present level of dominance. It's hard to compare apples to oranges, or infielders to pitchers, but if the Braves can get a couple years of ace-level work out of Sale, this trade will go down as a true Anthopoulos masterwork.