Red Sox GM Says Chris Sale’s Contract Won’t Impact Spending on Big Money Deals

It’d be fair to say that the Chris Sale experiment hasn’t exactly worked out so far in Boston.

Since signing a five-year, $145 million contract extension in March 2019, the seven-time All-Star has struggled to stay healthy and put together another dominant season like the ones he had to begin his tenure with the organization in 2017 and 2018.

Sale, 34, went 6-11 in 2019 but has only played in just 12 games since then. He missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and has suffered fractured ribs and a broken wrist as part of his injury history.

He hasn’t had the best start to the year as he allowed seven earned runs in three innings on April 1 against the Orioles.

Despite the struggles that Sale has faced since signing his extension, the Red Sox haven’t been discouraged from making big deals in the future to acquire talent.

While appearing on Audacy WEEI 93.7 Boston’s The Greg Hill Show, general manager Brian O’Halloran talked about still believing in the Red Sox’s ace and not being hesitant about spending money on good players.

“There’s no reason why Chris can’t be a really good pitcher for us the rest of the season and beyond,” O’Halloran said. “…We always have enough resources to win. And if there’s been players that we thought were good fits on good contracts, we’ve pursued those. We have plenty of resources.”

Despite O’Halloran’s statement, there has been a certain hesitancy on behalf of Boston’s front office to pay up in order to keep its stars in the past.

Such was the case for Mookie Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers and most recently Xander Bogaerts, who signed an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres this past offseason after receiving a much smaller offer from the Red Sox.

There has been a bit of change and hope for the team’s fan base after superstar Rafael Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million extension on Jan. 11.