MLB teams
Scott Lauber, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Sale excited about Red Sox rotation

MLB, Boston Red Sox

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- It's one thing, Chris Sale said, to finally get traded after more than two years of rampant speculation. It's another to join a team that expects to reach the playoffs and the World Series.

But to pitch in a starting rotation that includes two Cy Young Award winners?

"That," Sale said Wednesday, "is kind of the cherry on top."

One day after acquiring Sale in a haymaker of a trade at baseball's winter meetings, the Boston Red Sox unveiled their new pitcher on a conference call Wednesday. Sale called the Red Sox "one of the greatest baseball franchises ever" and expressed excitement over joining co-aces David Price and Rick Porcello on a playoff contender rather than staying with the Chicago White Sox, who have missed the postseason every year since Sale broke into the big leagues in 2010.

Sale said the first Red Sox player to contact him was Price, who endured a challenging first season in Boston after signing a $217 million contract last winter. Sale has gotten to know Price over the years and makes his offseason home not far from Porcello in southwestern Florida.

After years as the White Sox's clear-cut ace, Sale will have to share that title -- not that he cares.

"We play for a trophy, not a tag," Sale said. "I can definitely see a competition between all of us. Not only us three, but everybody -- [Drew] Pomeranz, [Eduardo] Rodriguez -- pushing each other, trying to be better and just making each other better. It would be nice, regardless of who's pitching on what night, the next night, we have as good if not a better chance all the way down the line.

"It takes some pressure off of everybody because you don't have to feel like you have a huge weight on your shoulders to win this game. It alleviates the pressure that might build on some guys."

Sale, a 27-year-old left-hander, has been as consistently dominant as any pitcher over the past five years, posting a 3.04 ERA, 1.061 WHIP and 10 strikeouts per nine innings while finishing in the top five in Cy Young Award balloting four years running. He also has one of the most team-friendly contracts in the game, with one guaranteed year and two club options remaining at a total cost of $38 million.

But the White Sox are committed to a full-scale rebuild. After resisting the urge to trade Sale for the past few years, they sent strong signals last month that they would move him, then finally relented when the Red Sox agreed to include prized 21-year-old infielder Yoan Moncada and hard-throwing right-hander Michael Kopech, two of the best prospects in baseball.

"It's kind of like being the monkey in the middle. You're glad when you finally get the ball," Sale said of getting dealt. "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."

In Boston, there's always pressure to win. But Sale said he tunes out external noise by not hanging out on social media, reading everything that's written about him or listening to sports radio. If anything, he says the intensity of pitching in front of sold-out crowds at Fenway Park will provide "a little bit of a jolt."

"I'm really more focused on the between-the-lines stuff," Sale said. "That's what I signed up for. That's what I look forward to. That's what I live for, playing the game of baseball. Everything else will take care of itself. It'll shake out. The good outweighs the bad. You've got to roll with it."

Sale, Price and Porcello become baseball's latest über-rotation, following other recent star-studded staffs such as the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels) and the 2015 Washington Nationals (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann). And while a trio of aces doesn't automatically equate to a World Series ring or even punch a ticket to the playoffs, it's a good place to start.

Porcello, who turns 28 this month, is coming off a Cy Young-winning season in which he went 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA. For all his struggles, Price, 31, finished 17-9 with a 3.99 ERA and is two years removed from a Cy Young runner-up season with the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Sale, the youngest of the bunch, went 17-10 with a 3.34 ERA in 32 starts for the White Sox.

"I'm as excited as anybody, honestly. I don't know how you couldn't be," Sale said. "You're in the annual running for making the playoffs and have a realistic chance for winning the World Series. I've always heard great things about the guys on this team. You have dedicated ownership and front-office guys dedicated to winning annually. Obviously it's a very special place."

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