Sale on yielding ace role: ‘We play for a trophy, not a tag’

MLB panel discussing the Red Sox as the cream of the crop in the AL East after acquiring Chris Sale, but strange things can and do happen during an MLB season, so let's not hand them the division just yet.

BOSTON — New Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale says he isn’t worried that he might not be the ace of the pitching staff after being traded from the White Sox to Boston.

The 27-year-old lefty told reporters on Wednesday, "We play for a trophy, not a tag."

Sale was traded to the Red Sox on Tuesday at the baseball winter meetings. He was the top starting pitcher on the market, and the Red Sox gave up touted prospect Yoan Moncada as part of a package to land him.

Sale has been an All-Star for five straight seasons and finished in the top six of the Cy Young Award voting each time. He joins a staff that already includes 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello and ’12 winner David Price.

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