ORLANDO, Fla. – The Chris Sale chapter in Boston Red Sox history officially closed Tuesday afternoon with the trade of infielder Vaughn Grissom to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for outfield prospect Isaiah Jackson.

When the Red Sox acquired Grissom, now 24, from the Atlanta Braves on Dec. 30, 2023, they expected him to be their everyday second baseman. They raved about the power potential, recalling how he blasted a two-run homer over the Green Monster when he debuted with the Braves on Aug. 10, 2022.

Instead, as Sale joined the ’24 Braves and finally completed the comeback season that so painfully eluded him during his final years in Boston, injuries and illness derailed Grissom’s Red Sox tenure from the early days of spring training.

Sale led the majors with a 2.38 ERA, 2.09 FIP, and 18 wins, topped the National League with 225 strikeouts, was an All-Star for the first time since 2018, and won his first career Gold Glove and Cy Young awards. Over two seasons with the Braves, the former Sox southpaw is 25-8 with a 2.46 ERA in 50 games.

The ’24 Red Sox opened the season without Grissom, who suffered a groin injury early in spring training. Just as they were preparing to activate him in late April, he fell ill with the flu and lost several pounds from his already-lean frame.

Grissom made his Red Sox debut on May 3, 2024. A month later, he exited the second inning of their June 1, 2024 game with a hamstring strain. He hasn’t played in a big-league game since. Over 31 games for the Red Sox, he batted .190 with a .465 OPS, 20 hits, three doubles, 10 runs and six batted in.

Grissom spent the entire ’25 season in Triple-A Worcester. Despite various injuries to the big-league infield throughout the season, the Red Sox never called him up. He landed on the minor league injured list in late August with right foot inflammation, and was later received a season-ending plantar fasciitis diagnosis.

Over the last year, Grissom grew frustrated with his role, or lack thereof, and made it known he would welcome a trade. On an Angels team seemingly always in rebuild mode, he should get the fresh start he needs.

“Sometimes that’s the way things work out,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Tuesday evening. “He’s a great kid and a great player and still 24 years old, so I think that there’s a bright future ahead of him. But just thinking about the way that our roster is coming together, the path to having an impact here is probably not super clear.”

The Angels selected Jackson out of Arizona State University in the eighth round of this year’s draft. He was their No. 25 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

“(He’s) an outfielder that we like,” Breslow said. “Young, just drafted last year, hits the ball hard, can play really good defense, and we’re excited to get him into our development system.

The trade also opens a spot on the 40-man roster, a notable benefit ahead of Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft, though Breslow said the timing was “not necessarily” related.

“It does give us some flexibility,” said Breslow, “but that wasn’t the driver there.”