Alex Anthopoulos did it again with this Braves trade

Alex Anthopoulos has done some pretty amazing things during his time as the Braves president of baseball operations, but he may have even bested himself this offseason.

Atlanta lost its two best players in Spencer Strider and Ronald Acunca Jr. at the start of the season. Along the way, another half dozen All-Stars have spent significant time on the injured list.

The only reason they’ve been able to stay afloat is because of the best pitching staff in baseball. The pitching staff ranks first in the MLB in fWAR, FIP, xFIP, and second in ERA to the Mariners. Now, how have they done that without the pre-season Cy Young favorite in Strider?

Alex Anthopoulos, that’s how. Atlanta’s GM pulled off two acquisitions this offseason that are the only reason this Braves team has been able to keep their heads above water — Reynaldo Lopez and Chris Sale.

Anthopoulos bet that Lopez would be able to return to the rotation after spending the last several seasons in the bullpen. It worked. Lopez made his first All-Star game and currently owns a 2.00 ERA and 1.167 WHIP, but his production pales in comparison to Sale’s.

Sale is coming off an outing in which he went seven innings with nine strikeouts, no walks, no runs and only six hits allowed. Now, he’s got a real chance to become a Triple Crown winner en route to his first Cy Young. Sale is the major league leader in ERA (2.46) and strikeouts (206) and has baseball’s best record (16-3).

All Anthopoulos gave up for the best pitcher in baseball was Vaughn Grissom, who has struggled in Boston and had no place to play in Atlanta. Grissom is currently in Triple-A and has spent time on the IL. He’s batting .148 and .367 in 23 games for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox are paying part of Sale’s salary as a part of the trade negotiated by Anthopoulos. Boston agreed to pay $17M of the $27.5M Sale was owed in 2024.

The Braves signed Sale to a two-year, $38M extension that revised his previous contract. The deal also includes an $18M club option for 2026 with no buyout. So, in summary, Sale is earning $16M, which the Red Sox are paying, this season and $22M in 2025.

Sale is enjoying arguably the best season of his career after totaling just 151 innings from 2020-23. It’s a joy to watch one of the greatest pitchers to ever do it, and it’s a reminder that the Braves GM knows what he is doing.