Hot Stove Heater: Chris Sale changes his socks

When it comes to fantasy ownership, Play for Today is one of my long-running strategies. Trust what’s in from of you. Don’t look too far in the future.

With that in mind, I’m a Dave Dombrowski sympathizer. And I like Boston’s move to get Chris Sale.

Dombrowski, Boston’s general manager, blew up the Winter Meetings with three notable moves Tuesday, with the Sale move the signature play. The cost was significant: Chicago picked up two glittering farmhands in 2B Yoan Moncada, perhaps the best prospect in baseball, and RHP Michael Kopech. Outfielder Luis Basabe and pitcher Victor Diaz are also headed to Chicago. The White Sox were able to land so much because Sale’s contract is a team-friendly bargain; he’s affordably controlled (with two team options) through 2019.

Anyone who owned Sale in a keeper league surely wanted him to go to a soft National League landing spot, but at least Boston’s setup is friendlier than Chicago’s. Let’s run through the components.

Run support is never a guarantee, but the Red Sox offense is far better than Chicago’s (Mitch Moreland will help here; he was signed Tuesday night). The Red Sox have a much better defense and bullpen (Tyler Thornberg was acquired Tuesday, to set up Craig Kimbrell), and the pitch framing can’t be any worse than it was on the South Side. Sale also gets away from two AL Central opponents who had his number — Minnesota and Cleveland — though perhaps that was tied to familiarity.

Fenway Park, sure, that’s a challenge. So was U.S. Cellular. But with Sale’s swing-and-miss stuff, sometimes the environment doesn’t matter. I consider the park change to be close to negligible.

Boston’s rotation makes a lot more sense with Sale, theoretically, at the front of it. For all of David Price’s skills, and contract dollars, he’s a better fit as a No. 2. And while Rick Porcello is coming off a dream season — heck, a Cy Young season — he slots more reasonably as a No. 3 going forward.

Sale’s career ratios are probably a good place to start with our projections — 3.06 ERA, 1.07 WHIP. He should win 17-20 games on this Boston team, given ordinary luck. And 200-plus strikeouts are always a given.

Moncada, 21, was a Top 7 prospect on the three major scouting clipboards a year ago, highly regarded. His final infield position isn’t clear — he’s played some second, some third — but the selling point is his offense. He holds a .287/.395/.480 career slash in the minors, with 23 homers and 94 steals over 187 games. His bat has been compared to Robinson Cano’s, and then there’s all that speed. The White Sox will give him every opportunity to win a spot this spring.

Kopech, 20, is more of a wild card, since he’s a pitcher and several stops from the minors. He’s yet to throw a pitch above A-ball; he also has an amphetamine suspension and a fight with a teammate on his resume. Kopech can hit well over 100-plus with his fastball, and has 172 strikeouts in 134.2 career innings. He’s also walked 4.6 men per nine innings, which needs to come down. Some view him as a future No. 2; other see a potential closer, down the line.

The Rockies grabbed the hot-stove baton Wednesday, reportedly signing Ian Desmond to a five-year contract. Desmond’s position isn’t initially clear — he could play first base, or stick in the outfield if the club trades Charlie Blackmon or Carlos Gonzalez.

Bottom line, Desmond will enjoy a home-park float for the second straight year. He posted an .865 OPS in Texas last year — it fell to .703 on the road — and I don’t need to sell you on the benefits of Coors Field. There’s no better place for a hitter to hack away — the infield is fast, the outfield expansive, the breaking pitches lack in bite. Keep the line moving. Gravity always wins.

Desmond’s lack of plate discipline might throw some people, but his 5×5 stat line was a net win — .285-107-22-86-21. The stolen bases could depart at any time, especially in his age-31 season, but I’d have no problem pricing the rest of that line into his 2017 projection. This is a useful building block for anyone’s fantasy offense.