The Atlanta Braves are not sellers yet, but if things don’t change, they will be. If they do decide to sell, Chris Sale will become one of the hottest names at the trade deadline.
Sale won the National League Cy Young Award last year. He has a 2.93 ERA this season. He has an $18 million club option for next season, but if the Braves do not intend on having him play for them in his 16th season, they need to entertain the idea of trading him for young players. The Braves are 27-34 and seven games out of a Wild Card spot.
There is still time to turn things around for the Braves. However, it’s hard to imagine morale being high, especially after a blown 6-run, ninth-inning lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. If Sale is made available, FanSided’s Christopher Kline suggested the team trade him to the Detroit Tigers.
“Tarik Skubal’s uncertain future only adds fuel to the fire, as Detroit’s window only extends for as long as Skubal leads the rotation,” wrote Kline. “If the Tigers expect to start fielding Skubal trade calls next offseason, well, adding Sale — and locking in that club option for 2026 — at least gives Detroit short-term comfort. In the immediate future, he gives the Tigers arguably the two best left-handed aces in baseball, along with a cadre of up-and-comers in Reese Olson, Keider Montero and Jackson Jobe to flesh out the rotation (and, given their depth, potentially supplement the bullpen).”
The Tigers have the best record in baseball right now. Last season, when they went on an improbable run to the postseason, they did it without giving Skubal much help. This year, they are firing on all cylinders, and adding Sale would help them get through October.
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“Detroit’s offense has exceeded all reasonable preseason expectations. If the Tigers can hit teams with Skubal and Sale out of the gate in the playoffs, then it becomes hard to pick against them, even with more star-laden teams like New York and Houston dominating the discourse cycle,” wrote Kline.
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