Atlanta Braves Fleeced Red Sox in Major Offseason Trade

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 01: Austin Riley #27, Ozzie Albies #1, Matt Olson #28, Mauricio Dubón #14, Chris Sale #51, Mike Yastrzemski #18 and Drake Baldwin #30 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in game three of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on October 01, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images)

The Atlanta Braves are currently taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers in a tense NLDS matchup.

With the series knotted at 1-1, Game Three is extremely pivotal for both sides, and both LA and Atlanta will roll out its ace on Tuesday evening.

In honor of Chris Sale getting the start for Atlanta, let’s take a look back at the major offseason trade between the Braves and the Boston Red Sox in December of 2023, which totally changed the direction of the Braves.

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How Did the Braves Pull This Trade Off??

On December 30, 2023, the Atlanta Braves traded for Chris Sale.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote (on that day): 

“The Atlanta Braves acquired left-hander Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox for infielder Vaughn Grissom on Saturday, shoring up their rotation with the seven-time All-Star they hope rounds out a World Series-caliber roster.”

2026 marked Sale’s third full season with the Atlanta Braves, and he’s perhaps his the peak of his probable Hall of Fame career.

Sale won the NL Cy Young in his first season with Atlanta (2024), and has made the All-Star team in three straight seasons. It makes sense why the Red Sox wanted to get rid of Sale, as he had just posted a 4.30 ERA over 102+ IP in 2023, but Sale clearly took that trade personally.

Now, Chris Sale leads the Atlanta Braves starting rotation, and he’s fresh off his third straight season posting an ERA below 2.60 with more than 125 innings pitched. Since joining the Braves, Sale has 590 strikeouts in 466.0 IP.

Chris Sale Looking to Propel Braves to NLCS

Speaking to the here and now, the 10X MLB All-Star Chris Sale is now looking to propel the Atlanta Braves to the NLCS for the first time since 2021 (when they won the World Series).

Sale will take the ball in Game Three (at home), and oppose Dodgers’ starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto in what is likely the best pitching matchup of these playoffs thus far.

Sale and Yamamoto squared off in late August, with both starters turning in stellar outings, and for Chris Sale, he pitched a complete-game shutout against one of the best lineups in MLB.

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