UTK Special 1/3/24

The Chris Sale Conundrum

This newsletter comes from two emails that while seemingly unrelated are very much related. First, Rich D. asks “Is Chris Sale a Hall of Famer?” while Steve C. asks “Can Chris Sale stay healthy anywhere but Chicago?”

Let’s deal with the first. I’m not a Hall of Fame voter and I don’t do mock ballots for a vote I don’t have, but I do have standards for what I think are Hall of Famers. I’m not going to get into flame wars about it because frankly, I don’t care that much. I don’t think Harold Baines should have a plaque, but he does, he seems a fine guy and a good player, so I’ll be more concerned with the influence Tony La Russa had on the ballot and how someone in the future could leverage the results in a similar way.

I don’t believe Sale has the numbers for inclusion. 120 wins doesn’t even measure up to modern standards, while running through the Bill James questions or the JAWS numbers don’t help his case either. Of course, this is largely because of the second question; Sale didn’t stay healthy enough in the back half of his career, or rather, in Boston. His White Sox numbers were good, not great, but were a base to get closer to 200 wins. The World Series ring helps, but not many believe that his Boston days were a success, or good value.