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Photo by Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia CommonsSale IS the Deadline Move
The best arm available to the Braves before October isn't in Detroit — he's on the 60-day IL, three weeks from game action.
The best arm available to the Braves before October isn't in Detroit. He's in Gwinnett throwing bullpen sessions. Twelve days from rehab starts.
Chris Sale had a 2.08 ERA when a line drive broke his rib. Twelve wins. A hundred forty-three strikeouts in 117 innings. That's not a guy fading at 37. That's a Cy Young winner who caught a bad break. Literally.
Atlanta is seven games up. They don't need Skubal's certainty. They need Sale's ceiling.
You want to trade Caminiti and three more prospects for two months of a rental the Tigers might not even move? The Dodgers have better packages. The Braves are the long shot. It's over before it starts.
Every beat writer says go all-in. I disagree. The Braves already went all-in — $108 million on Sale's arm. That WAS the move.
Sale is three weeks from game action. Same filthy slider. One bad ricochet doesn't erase 20 dominant starts.
A rib heals. Prospect capital doesn't grow back.
Spend Monday on bullpen depth and let your ace come home. Stop trading for what you already own.
Bookmark this. September Sale is coming.
The Tilt
The Braves should let the Skubal sweepstakes go and trust their $108 million Cy Young winner's rib to heal.
— Dex Ponce
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