‘Excited’ Sale eager to win ring with Red Sox

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The newest Red Sox pitching star won’t worry about being called “ace” on a staff that already includes reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello and five-time All-Star and 2012 AL Cy Young Award winnerDavid Price.

Instead, Chris Sale is ecstatic to join forces with his new team and put everything he has into trying to win a World Series for the first time in his career.

• Red Sox acquire Sale for Moncada, 3 others

Speaking on a conference call Wednesday, Sale could not have been any more enthusiastic about the next chapter of his career.

• Hot Stove Tracker

“I’m not going to sit here and say this or that about the ‘ace’ tag,” said Sale. “I don’t think that matters. I think when you have a group of guys that come together that believe in the same thing and fight for the same purpose, nothing else really matters. We play for a trophy, not a tag.”

Less than 24 hours after being the centerpiece of one of the biggest Winter Meetings blockbuster trades in recent memory, Sale expressed relief that the trade rumors that surrounded during his final months with the White Sox are over.

“It’s kind of like being the monkey in the middle. You’re just glad when you finally get the ball,” said Sale. “It’s hectic. There’s a lot of speculation, there’s story after story. I’m obviously getting flooded with text messages from family and friends. Just to have the whole process out of the way and get back to some kind of normalcy will be nice.”

It was at roughly 11:30 ET on Tuesday morning — about an hour and a half before the rest of the world knew — that Sale learned he was Boston-bound.

Not long after that, Sale …

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