The Braves are not trading Chris Sale. The club’s president of baseball operations, Alex Anthopoulos, made that quite clear Wednesday afternoon in an appearance on 680 The Fan in Atlanta.
With the Braves in the midst of a disappointing 33-39 season, there’s been growing speculation that the team could opt to sell prior to the Trade Deadline on July 31. Naturally, Sale’s name has come up as a possible trade chip, given the widespread demand for frontline starting pitching, the left-hander’s age (36) and the fact that he’s only under control through 2026 (via an $18 million club option).
However, when asked about other teams potentially trying to pry the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner from the Braves this summer, Anthopoulos was quick to shut down the idea.
“No, zero [chance],” Anthopoulos said. “I’ve seen the speculation. It’s completely ridiculous to me. We are not selling, especially someone that has club control beyond the current year. Will not happen. I never make definitive statements unless I’m going to stick to them. Once you make definitive statements and then you go back on them, you’re a liar and you’re done.
“Will. Not. Happen. Bold, italicize it, caps. So much so that I’m trying to make a trade now -- it’s very hard right now to make a trade in June -- just to signal to everybody that we will not sell.”
Entering Thursday, the Braves were 5 1/2 games out in the NL Wild Card standings. But with the talent Atlanta has on its roster, it’s not hard to imagine the club getting back in the race.
Things certainly have been looking up lately -- the Braves have followed a seven-game losing streak by winning six of eight, including two straight against the first-place Mets. And with Ronald Acuña Jr. quickly recapturing his MVP form after making it back from his second ACL tear, Spencer Strider starting to find his footing (13 K’s in his last start) following right elbow surgery and Sale bouncing back from a shaky start to the season, the Braves could be poised to continue this recent surge.
Anthopoulos knows firsthand how quickly a season can turn around. In 2021, the Braves lost Acuña to a torn ACL in his right knee and were under .500 at the Trade Deadline, yet they chose to buy -- and wound up winning the World Series. That experience clearly still resonates with Anthopoulos, who emphasized his belief in the current group despite the team’s struggles this season.
Anthopoulos did leave the door slightly ajar for a potential pivot if the season takes a dramatic turn for the worse, though he indicated that such a shift would require a severe collapse. And based on his comments about Sale, it’s likely the Braves would only entertain trading players on expiring contracts, such as designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and reliever Raisel Iglesias, if they were to sell.
"[If] you get to the end of July and things are completely changed, I guess we would reevaluate, but you’d have to be extreme,” Anthopoulos said. “We’re built to win. Our expectations are to win. Our expectations are to go for it the entire time.”