Red Sox Make 2025 Opening Day Decision With Ex-Braves INF Vaughn Grissom

Meanwhile, Sale will start Opening Day for the Braves.

Sale led the National League in wins, ERA and strikeouts during his first season with the Braves last year. With an 18-3 record, 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177.2 innings, Sale won the NL Cy Young award.

Grissom didn't spend all of last season in the minor leagues. But he hit just .190 with a .465 OPS in 114 plate appearances with the Red Sox. During 55 games at Triple-A Worcester, Grissom hit .259 with a .758 OPS.

During 2025 Spring Training, he posted a .177 batting average with a .535 OPS in 40 plate appearances.

That's a far cry from the .287 hitter Grissom was with the Braves from 2022-23. The infielder posted a .654 OPS as well in 64 games with Atlanta.

Those numbers alone could make the Sale-Grissom swap lopsided. But the Red Sox also sent cash in the deal, giving the Braves $16 million to pay for about 60% of Sale's salary.

On Jan. 29, Braves on SI's Harrison Smajovits ranked the Sale-Grissom trade one of the five best deals in Atlanta baseball history.

It's safe to say MLB.com's Mark Bowman would agree. Bowman posted a sarcastic tweet in reference to the 2024 trade after the Red Sox optioned Grissom to the minors on March 19.

"$16M and a Cy Young winner doesn't get you what it once did," tweeted Bowman.

Technically, Sale wasn't a Cy Young winner when the Red Sox dealt him. But Bowman's point still stands.

Atlanta fans will get to enjoy another summer of Sale leading the Braves rotation. Hopefully for the Red Sox, Grissom, who is still only 24 years old, figures things out in the minor leagues to earn another MLB opportunity.