Chris Sale signs new two-year, $38 million deal with Braves

Love something as much as the Atlanta Braves love locking players up to team-friendly extensions. A few days after landing Chris Sale in a shocking deal with the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta has signed the lefty to a new two-year, $38 million deal. The contract will include an $18 million club option for 2026 as well, tacking on another year of team control:

Previously, Sale was due $27.5 million in salary for the 2024 season — $17.5M this year, $10M deferred for 15 years — and the team held a $20 million option for 2025. Now, the seven-time All-Star is guaranteed $16 million this year and $22 million next year, and the Braves can add on an extra year at $18 million for 2026 if they so choose. Atlanta received $17 million from Boston in the trade, cash that will cover all of Sale’s 2024 salary.

The Braves wouldn’t have made this trade if they didn’t believe that Sale still had plenty left in the tank entering his age-35 season, and the new contract doubles down on that faith. Previously, Atlanta would have been able to cut bait next winter, if Sale struggled with injury — no small thing for a guy who hasn’t thrown more than 102 innings in a season since 2019 — or ineffectiveness. Now, they’ve tacked on another guaranteed year, pushing the club option back to 2026.

But, Sale’s recent health issues aside, you can certainly understand why Atlanta would feel good about the lefty moving forward. Sale’s 4.30 ERA in 2023 doesn’t tell the whole story of his season: Over his final 15 starts, he posted a 3.16 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 79.2 innings; he also closed the year on a tear, allowing just two runs over his final 16 frames. He still misses plenty of bats (75th percentile in whiff rate, 88th in K rate) and he still suppresses hard contact (73rd in average exit velocity) despite a slight decline in fastball velocity. In short, he’s still a very good pitcher when he’s on the mound, and there’s little reason to think he can’t continue to be so in 2024 and 2025. The risk of injury is what it is, but Atlanta made that bet the moment it decided on him as its big rotation upgrade; they might as well get another year out of it — at a salary that will look awfully friendly if Sale offers the plus production he’s capable of — if that bet winds up hitting.