Vaughn Grissom reflects on the trade that abruptly ended his Braves tenure

After trading Vaughn Grissom for Chris Sale, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told a hilarious story: He said that, after he explained the trade to Grissom, the infielder jokingly told him that he could have pitched if the Braves needed pitching that badly.

The best part: Grissom actually said that.

“Yeah, I was going through so many emotions,” Grissom told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday in the visiting clubhouse at Truist Park. “I was trying not to cry so bad, and I’m just that guy – I just cry. He hit me with that (explanation about how the Braves needed pitching) and I was like, ‘How can I lighten this up so he knows I’m not actually, like, crying my heart out?’”

Then on the spot, Grissom – using a voice that sounded like he was about to cry – impersonated what he said that day.

“Hey Alex, I could pitch bro,” Grissom recited, as he said it that day.

And then Grissom added: “Alex is the best, dude. To be able to play for him, underneath him, and watch how he even just runs it, is second to none. I’m glad we had that relationship where I could joke with him. I was serious. I got a cutter still. No. Nah, it was just all love. I appreciate what he did for me. Obviously, it’s gonna help my career in the long run. He’s the best. There’s no one better than him.”

Credit: AP

Part of why players love and respect Anthopoulos is because he’s honest with them. He’ll shoot them straight, which isn’t always the case in the industry. So, when he dealt Grissom to Boston for the starting pitcher he needed, he told Grissom the truth about why it happened and why it hurt to do.

“He just broke it down for me,” Grissom said. “He was like, ‘Listen, Griss, you know what we need. We need pitching. We gotta take that extra step. No one wants anyone else except you. We have to give up good people to get what we want.’ And I completely understood. It hit me like a truck. I was surprised, but I figured it was gonna come, if not this year, then next (year), whatever it was. I understand the transaction part of this game, so it’s easy not to take personal – especially when it’s coming from someone so genuine, like Alex. He did an amazing job handling me, too. Like I said, I’m an emotional dude. His delivery with it was beyond perfect.”

When Grissom said he “figured it would come,” did he mean that he had been reading the tea leaves in the organization?

“Well, no. I’m not gonna lie: I never thought I was gonna get traded or anything,” he said. “I thought I was gonna be a part of what was gonna happen in left field, because I thought I could do it. But there was always a shot. There’s always that shot. But you never think it’ll be you – same thing as, I’m sure, all the guys over there (on the Braves), they just don’t feel like it’s ever going to be them. … Like I said, I thought about it, but it wasn’t like, ‘Okay, it’s gonna happen.’”

In early December, the Braves acquired Jarred Kelenic. Right after the trade, Anthopoulos said Kelenic and Grissom would compete for the starting left field job. A few weeks later, a trade with the Red Sox materialized. To acquire Sale, Anthopoulos had to give up Grissom. And on a conference call after the trade, Anthopoulos spoke glowingly of Grissom.

Before trading for Kelenic, Grissom was the in-house option to start at left field. It seemed like that could be a way to get his bat into the lineup. But following the Kelenic trade, it was fair to wonder whether Grissom still had a place on the Braves.

As a human being, how did Grissom take the Kelenic trade? Did it hurt at all?

“Yeah. Yeah, the human part of it, yeah, it hurts. You’re just like, ‘Okay, I felt like I could’ve done the same job,’” Grissom said. “But he’s a great player and he’s established and stuff, so I get it, with the way things gotta go. I was maybe thinking he’ll get traded or something – who knows what transactions can happen? But I knew Alex, he’s gonna have a great plan for the team and everything’s gonna work out for the best. But yeah, initially, I was like, ‘If he stays, I’ll be gone. And if he’s using this as a (trade) piece, then we’re all good.’ It was all cool, though. I wasn’t like, ‘Ah, — that guy.’ It is what it is. We’re all ballplayers trying to get to the same thing, trying to eat at the same table.”

The Red Sox are providing Grissom with an unbelievable opportunity to play every day – something he wouldn’t have received in Atlanta. He can be their starting second baseman. He missed the majority of spring training and the first 33 games of the season due to groin and hamstring injuries.

Grissom went 1-for-5 and scored a run Tuesday night in his return to Truist Park.

In 2022, Grissom debuted and showcased his bat-to-ball skills and good baserunning. Defensively, he was fine at second base. Last spring, the Braves gave Grissom a chance to win the starting shortstop job, but he didn’t seize it. Orlando Arcia, a better defender, won the job.

Grissom took full ownership of not seizing the opportunity in Atlanta.

“I got all the opportunity in the world,” he said. “I didn’t make the best of my opportunity in the infield. When I was here, maybe I wasn’t mentally ready. I was thinking a lot. I was just trying to be perfect, trying to be perfect, perfect, perfect, and that’s not the way you play this game. I felt like I got all the opportunity in the world. (Alex) showed me all the love. It was beautiful. My time here, I couldn’t say anything more. Everything that happened, happened because of me. They threw me out there and they trusted me, and it didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted.

“But I feel like on the trade, I got a chance to step back and breathe a little bit, and go play my style of baseball, in a sense. I don’t mean I’m coming for anybody like I wasn’t able to play my style, but it was, like, a bit more pressure on myself, probably, for myself.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez

How did Grissom decrease the pressure he put on himself to be so perfect and give himself grace?

“When I learned so much with (former Braves coach Ron Washington), it was great,” Grissom said. “I learned the base foundation. But yeah, I took it too far in my own head because I was like, ‘You can be perfect.’ I just convinced myself you could be perfect, there was a right way to do everything – instead of just going out there and catching the ball and then throwing it to first. I kind of made it a little harder on myself then it needed to be or should’ve been. Obviously when I settled down and went to Gwinnett, it felt great. … I still kept everything that Wash taught me and I could still play my game and implement his game into it as well.”

And in late December, the trade gave Grissom a better opportunity.

“To be able to take a step back, breathe, play my game – you never know where the story ends,” Grissom said. “This game is crazy. A lot of ... can happen really quick.”

He pointed to Chris Martin – whose locker was across the clubhouse – as an example. Martin, a reliever on Atlanta’s World Series team in 2021, is playing for his seventh team. He’s never played anywhere for more than the three seasons he spent with the Braves. And Grissom has other teammates in Boston with similar situations.

They show him something.

“The story doesn’t end,” Grissom said. “When one door closes, another one opens.”

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