Of all the moves they have and haven’t done, the Red Sox trading Chris Sale to the Braves easily ranks as their most shocking offseason transaction.

The move was unexpected for several reasons. Sale had the right to refuse any trade, and he loved Boston and was determined to mount a comeback with the Red Sox. He’d also spent so much of the past four seasons sidelined with various injuries and surgeries, several of them freak accidents, it seemed unlikely that any team would be interested in acquiring an almost-35-year-old who’d pitched a grand total of 151 regular-season innings over the past three years.

Many had written Sale off long ago, declaring that he’d never be fully healthy again, let alone the dominant pitcher he once was, and that he was only sticking around to collect his enormous paychecks. Though several of his injuries were freak accidents – a stress fracture to his ribs, a fractured pinky from a comebacker, a broken wrist from riding a bicycle – he became an unfortunate punchline. Thus, the trade was shocking, but also deemed somewhat insignificant by those who thought Sale wasn’t contributing anything to the team, and therefore, wouldn’t be missed.

Former teammates and members of the organization would disagree. Sale was a leader in the Red Sox clubhouse. He was beyond accountable and exceedingly hard on himself when he struggled. It wasn’t easy for him to praise himself, but he was overflowing with appreciation for the organization. Over the last year, in particular, he constantly expressed gratitude for his newfound health and ability to contribute again.

All of that made a strong impression on his teammates, including one of the youngest members of the Red Sox.

“I’m always gonna be happy for everybody,” Triston Casas told the Herald on Wednesday. “I try to see the light in everything, and I think he has a great opportunity in Atlanta, to do something special over there.”

“That’s a team that’s built to win right now,” the first baseman said. “They have a playoff, World Series-caliber roster, and if he’s healthy, he’s going to be right at the top of that rotation and providing so much information for that young staff, like he was doing for us. He’s going to be missed in this clubhouse. His on-the-field leadership, his off-the-field leadership, clubhouse, locker room, bus ride, plane ride impact, it’s going to be missed because he’s that type of personality that makes an impact everywhere he goes.”

The trade may benefit Sale immensely – he’s already inked an extension with the Braves, who are poised for another postseason run – but in his mind, there was also a sacrificial element to allowing the deal to go through. When leadership approached him about a potential trade, he agreed to waive his no-trade clause.

“Leaving Boston wasn’t easy,” Sale said on his Braves introductory Zoom call earlier this month. “I’ve been there for a long time, it was a second home to me. My family loved it, my kids loved it and (Boston) treated my family the best.

“It was great, but at the same time, I felt like I went through some really tough times there and they always had my back. I felt like this was an opportunity to put me in a situation to help myself and put (the Red Sox) in a situation to help them, too. I felt like I kind of owed them something because the last few years haven’t quite lived up to what I wanted to be there.”

Last year, Sale finally managed a partial comeback, and despite a two-month stint on the injured list, finished the season strong. So much so that Alex Cora even announced that he planned to give him the ball for Opening Day this year. Instead, the southpaw is getting a fresh start in Atlanta. His former Red Sox teammates will carry on without him, but Casas knows that he’s not alone in feeling that he benefitted from sharing a clubhouse with Sale.

“He’s just such a solid human being,” Casas said. “(He) has all the money in the world, and doesn’t want any part of it. And he just, he lives for other people, and he’s very sacrificial for his family, his friends, and teammates. He’s just such a selfless guy.

“I am gonna miss him, because he made an impact on me for sure, just like so many other people.”