The Chris Sale trade caught everyone by surprise, including Chris Sale

The Chris Sale-for-Vaughn Grissom trade between the Braves and Red Sox caught many in baseball by surprise, including Sale himself.  The veteran southpaw related in a recent appearance on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast (hat tip to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford) that being dealt “wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities.  That wasn’t even a thought that crossed my mind” heading into the offseason.  As Sale plainly put it, “Why would anybody want me at this point?” in the wake of multiple injury-plagued seasons.

There was also the factor of Sale’s 10-and-5 no-trade rights, so he could’ve rejected the chance to join the Braves.  However, after less than a day of discussing things with his family and inner circle, Sale okayed the deal, with some Grapefruit League geography playing a major role.  The Braves’ spring facility in North Port, Florida adds only roughly an hour to Sale’s commute from his home, so “I can still live my life while being part of this team in spring training.  That was probably the most important thing.  One hundred percent.  My kids play sports.  They’ve got school stuff going on.”  Sale also relayed the amusing item that the first proper conversation he had with Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow after weeks of texts and “phone tag” was when Breslow let Sale know the trade was in the works.

More from around the AL East…

• Top Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann is day-to-day with inflammation in his calf and hamstring area, manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (X links) and other reporters.  It doesn’t seem like Tiedemann will be sidelined for too long since an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, though any kind of injury setback is perhaps more concerning given how Tiedemann missed big chunks of the 2023 season due to shoulder and biceps injuries.  After pitching just 44 minor league innings last year, Tiedemann is going to be built up slowly and steadily to the point where the Jays hope he can take on more of a regular starter’s workload, and perhaps make his MLB debut before 2024 is through.
• Despite multiple trade rumors over the last few months, Harold Ramirez is still with the Rays, and he tells John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times that he is just focused on baseball as Spring Training games get underway.  Ramirez will earn $3.8M this season and is arbitration-eligible next winter as well, leading to speculation that the Rays might be open to dealing an increasingly-expensive (by their payroll standards) player with limited defensive value as an outfielder.  Romano also notes that the recent signing of Amed Rosario brought another right-handed outfield option into the mix, so it still wouldn’t be a surprise if Tampa swung a late deal to move Ramirez prior to Opening Day.