The Steal of the Decade? Vaughn Grissom’s Regression Makes Chris Sale Trade Look “Borderline Brilliant”.vc

ATLANTA, GA – The revelation did not come from a headline-grabbing scandal—it came from a quiet, internal report that landed like a thunderclap across Braves Country: Vaughn Grissom, the former top prospect the Atlanta Braves traded to the Boston Red Sox for veteran ace Chris Sale, has taken a sharp and unexpected downturn in his development.

This news transforms the perception of the 2023 offseason trade—already viewed as bold—into something now being called “borderline brilliant” for Braves President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos.

The Truth That’s Turning Heads: Grissom’s Regression

When the trade was executed, many analysts questioned whether Atlanta had given up too much in Grissom, a young, high-upside infielder with control. The Red Sox saw him as their long-term solution at second base. However, Grissom’s tenure in Boston has been an absolute disaster, forcing Red Sox management to put him on the roster bubble for 2026.

Here’s the truth that’s turning heads and making the trade look massively one-sided:

• MLB Inactivity: Grissom appeared in only 31 Major League games in 2024 and spent the entire 2025 season at Triple-A Worcester.
• The Downward Spiral: He has fallen out of favor with the Red Sox due to a combination of injury setbacks, lack of production, and persistent defensive struggles at second base.
• On the Bubble: According to multiple reports, Grissom is a genuine candidate to be Designated For Assignment (DFA) this offseason, meaning the Red Sox may jettison the player they acquired for Sale before the start of the 2026 season.

Shrewd Strategy or Ruthless Foresight?

While the Red Sox essentially paid the Braves $17 million to take Sale’s contract, the performance disparity is the true shocker. Sale, in return for Grissom and the cash, won the NL Cy Young Award in his first season in Atlanta (2024), made back-to-back All-Star teams, and has logged over 300 innings with a dominant 2.46 ERA across two seasons.

The controversy now centers on Anthopoulos’s foresight:

• The Question: Did the Braves see the warning signs on Grissom—specifically the defensive limitations and the difficulty in translating his Triple-A offense to the majors—before trading him?
• The Whisper: Rival evaluators are quietly acknowledging that the Braves might have known more than they let on, moving a young arm at the perfect moment, before his prospect value completely collapsed.

For those who doubted the Sale acquisition due to his injury history, the new information forces a painful question: did Atlanta pull off one of the savviest value plays of the decade? They traded a prospect they had no room for, who has since regressed, and in return received a Cy Young winner who helped secure the rotation for two crucial, cost-controlled seasons.