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Imrem: Big winners of Sale deal? Cubs

Which team won Tuesday's blockbuster White Sox-Red Sox trade?

The Cubs did, of course.

Don't they win everything these days?

Speculation on Monday had the White Sox dealing Chris Sale to Washington.

That would have given the Nationals a monster pitching rotation with Max Scherzer, Chris Sale and Stephen Strasburg at the top.

Washington, already a contender, would have become an even more formidable challenger to the Cubs.

Let's say the Nats qualified for the 2017 postseason: Scherzer, Sale and Strasburg would match up nicely against Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks in a seven-game series.

The Cubs don't have to worry about that now.

Instead, the American League has to worry about Boston's starters: Sale, David Price and reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello.

"(Sale) gives us a chance to win now," Red Sox baseball president Dave Dombrowski said.

Then he mentioned nearby Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who won the World Series last month.

"We'd like to accomplish what he did," Dombrowski said.

Everybody in baseball wants to get to where the Cubs are.

So does everybody in Chicago, though the White Sox don't have to worry about winning a championship anytime soon.

The Sox won't be a threat to anyone until maybe 2018 or 2019 ... and then only if this and other anticipated deals prove successful.

Yes, Sale's exit signals the Sox finally are all in on a rebuild that has only just begun.

"We don't view this as a quick fix," Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "This is the first step in what likely will be an extended process."

Nobody on the 2016 roster should feel safe: Not Jose Quintana, not Jose Abreu, not Todd Frazier, not Adam Easton, not Melky Cabrera, not anyone except for maybe a few youngsters.

Sox fans seem to be OK with exchanging veterans for prospects who hopefully will comprise a contender later than sooner.

"If I was in Rick's place," Dombrowski said, "I'd be happy with what I got because those are good young players."

None of the four promising youngsters the White Sox received for Sale, a five-time all-star, has spent more than a blink in the majors.

If anyone tells you these guys can't miss, tell them that there's no such thing as can't-miss.

Countless can't-miss prospects have missed. Not even new South Side phenom Yoan Moncada - a top-rated prospect and perhaps a starting infielder for the Sox as soon as 2017 - is a sure thing.

Hahn projected that Moncada will play in the middle of the Sox infield for a long time. That's great on paper but still has to be great on the field.

You know what? Sale isn't a sure thing even after seven terrific seasons with the Sox.

Sale might take a season to adjust to the Red Sox like Jon Lester did to the Cubs, or he might blow out his arm in spring training, or he might go goofy with scissors again in Fenway Park's home clubhouse.

Nothing is certain even when Team A receives one of the majors' best pitchers and Team B receives one of the minors' best players.

"In the end," Hahn said, "we knew this was something we had to do."

The White Sox general manager sure did sound like he "thinks" his team will become a winner in the Chris Sale deal.

Meanwhile, the Cubs must "know" they already are.

mimrem@dailyherald.com

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