- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Sale’s changing Sox send ripple effect
- Updated: December 7, 2016
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Were the Winter Meetings lobby a ticketed attraction (and maybe we shouldn’t give people ideas here), then the Chris Sale trade that went down on Tuesday at the Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center would allow this year’s event to qualify as money well spent. This is the kind of stuff we come for — the big, bold splash involving a perennial All-Star and Cy Young Award candidate who is, ahem, changing Sox.
A swap this seismic doesn’t occur in isolation. It has ripple effects throughout the industry. And here, in no particular order, are the teams most affected.
• Hot Stove Tracker
White Sox: The gates are now open, and the rebuild is off to the races. Once you trade your best player — and especially when that best player has a reasonable contract attached to him — you obviously don’t have any untouchables. While the extra year of contractual control attached to Jose Quintana might mean he lines up better with the Sox’s competitive timetable, there’s something to be said for really committing to a full-scale rebuild and maximizing his value now. Beyond that, Todd Frazier, David Robertson, Adam Eaton, Nate Jones, Jose Abreu and Melky Cabrera all have the potential to be moved.
“I don’t know if [the Sale trade] necessarily leads to a quickening of our pace,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “We’ve had conversations on a number of different fronts, and we’re extremely open-minded on ways to continue the process we started today.”
Nationals: Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said his interest in the starting pitching market was “basically Sale or nothing.” We don’t know if it’s quite that extreme for Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, but that seems to make sense. The Nationals’ rotation was already strong without Sale, and this club has more pressing needs in the back end of the bullpen and in the outfield (assuming Trea Turner does move back to shortstop). The Nats struck out on Sale, missed on closer Mark Melancon and, so far at least, haven’t nailed down the Andrew McCutchen trade that they once seemed to be trending toward.
But given their willingness to part with some highly prized prospects (specifically, Lucas Giolito and …
