In that article, this answer to the question is why I will always like Chris Sale.
Is it hard to handle the criticism that you're an overpaid player, who some may consider has not lived up to expectations?
Sale: I had a good career in Chicago. When I got to Boston, my first year was really good too. My second season was decent but I ran into some shoulder issues. We ended up winning a World Series, so I'd even call that a relatively good season with a little hiccup. Then, 2019 was an absolute disaster. But in the end, I've never paid attention to what people say about me, because it doesn't matter.
What my teammates, what my family, what my coaches think about me, that's first and foremost. Not to mention the fact that all these people were talking about how I was so underpaid and undervalued, that I wasn't making enough money for the production that I was doing. Then overnight, I'm an overpaid player. If the flag is that easily blown, you can't really pay attention to it.
I appreciate the fans of baseball, and especially Boston fans. Just like me, they have high expectations and they'll let you know when you're not doing what they want you to do. But if you look at my track record, I have always had really high expectations, and I'm the first one to tell you when I suck. At the end of the day, I truly believe you should never play any competitive sport for anything other than to win. If you're playing for a contract, if you're playing for numbers, if you're playing for fame and fortune, whatever it is, usually you can tell what players play for that kind of stuff; they never achieve what the final goal is.
When you play a game from the time you're 4 to however old you play, all you want to do is win. Once you lose that, then it's time to go home. I'm too competitive to care about anything else other than winning. People asked me when I was playing under a quote-unquote team-friendly contract, what my main goal was. It was always to win. Now that I'm making all this money and I'm not producing, my goal is still to win. It doesn't change for me, no matter who I play for, the money I'm making or however many years I have in the league. I play to win.