Sale traded to Red Sox, who’s the next big name to move?

“There’s a surplus right now”, he said on Tuesday.

Brian Cashman didn’t dance around the significance of Chris Sale going to the Red Sox in a deal Tuesday that increased the amount of pressure on the defending AL East champions.

“You’re a perennial contender for making the playoffs, having a realistic chance of winning a World Series”, Sale, a five-time All-Star with the Sox, said.

And, oh baby, are they going for it. But after offering four prospects, including two top prospects in infielder Yoan Moncada and pitcher Michael Kopech, Boston came away with the experienced starting pitcher.

Sale joined an already talented rotation with the AL East champions, now pitching alongside 2016 AL Young Award victor Rick Porcello, former victor David Price and knuckleballer Steven Wright. He also comes with his benefit: a team-favorable contract that calls for a $12 million salary next year and includes club options for 2018 at $12.5 million and 2019 at $15 million. After taking the 2016 season to rehab a shoulder injury and get back in shape, the veteran was expected to compete with Shaw for the starting job at third, all while Moncada loomed in the minors.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon). Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon answers a question from the media during Major League Baseball’s winter meetings, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016 in Oxon Hill, Md.

Speaking of the price tag, what the Sox gave up for Sale was by no means small.

Dombrowski wrestled with the inclusion of Moncada, whom the Red Sox paid $63 million to sign in 2015, including a $31.5 million bonus and equivalent penalty for exceeding their global signing bonus pool. Basabe, a 20-year-old outfielder, is ranked eighth.

The last general manager in Boston, Ben Cherington, who hoarded his prospects to build for the future, was fired.

Despite so much speculation around Sale and the possibility of a trade, he said it wasn’t until the last couple of weeks that he believed it was a real possibility.

“When you trade a pitcher of Chris Sale’s ability, it can only be because we were motivated by an impactful return of young talent, and we have more than accomplished that”, Hahn said in a statement. So you need to try to take advantage of that opportunity. Kopech could anchor Chicago’s rotation.

The Yankees already are facing the prospect of seeing Sale a lot next year after this trade put him in the same division.

By the start of Spring Training, the White Sox should have gutted what was once one of the better cores in the American League. We’re trying to win. He’s a great player. “And I can be a better player (with) that experience”.

“But you’ve got to give to get a guy like Sale”. Thornburg now solidifies the Red Sox bullpen by penciling in to hold down the eighth inning ahead of closer Craig Kimbrel. They were caught in no man’s land, mired in mediocrity. They seem to have settled on Mitch Moreland for their DH-or rather their first base, moving Hanley Ramirez to DH-and can fill their last bench spot internally with someone like Marco Hernandez. Now that Sale is gone, well, everyone is up for grabs.

Moncada said he’s also looking forward to playing with Jose Abreu, a fellow Cuban whom he played with on Cienfuegos in the Cuban National Series when he was 17.