The Braves introduced Tuesday that they’ve signed veteran left-hander Chris Sale to a one-year, $27MM contract extension with a $30MM membership choice for the 2028 season. (Atlanta is likely one of the few groups that publicly discloses contract phrases itself.) The Wasserman consumer was slated to succeed in free company this coming winter however will as a substitute follow Atlanta by way of at the very least 2027.
Sale, 37 subsequent month, is coming into his late thirties however stays as efficient as ever. Atlanta acquired the southpaw previous to the 2024 season in change for Vaughn Grissom in a take care of the Pink Sox that turned out to be a coup. Since becoming a member of the group, Sale has pitched to an otherworldly 2.46 ERA (2.84 SIERA, 2.38 FIP), with a strikeout price of 32.2% and a stroll price of 5.9%. These elite price stats earned him his first profession Cy Younger Award in 2024, though a ribcage fracture in 2025 has restricted his total workload in Georgia to a complete of 303 1/3 innings.
Accidents had been the story of Sale’s profession for a number of years previous to his arrival in Atlanta. For the primary 9 years of his huge league tenure, the lefty was completely elite with seven All-Star appearances and 6 top-five finishes in Cy Younger voting for the White Sox and Pink Sox.
That portion of his profession resulted in emphatic style as Sale struck out then-Dodger Manny Machado to safe the 2018 World Sequence for Boston, however come 2019 Sale struggled for the primary time in his profession. Whereas his peripherals remained elite, he posted a pedestrian 4.40 ERA and was restricted to only 25 begins on account of accidents. He’d go on to make simply 9 begins between 2020 and 2022 earlier than returning to the mound for many of the 2023 season with a 4.30 ERA in 20 begins.
Sale will not be a real workhorse, however he’s been extra sturdy in latest seasons and can now look to proceed the excessive be aware he’s present in Atlanta as his profession begins to wind down. Each Sale himself and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos just lately indicated to reporters (together with MLB.com’s Mark Bowman) that they hoped the rest of the 2024 Cy Younger winner’s profession can be spent in Atlanta, and now he’ll stay beneath membership management till the top of his age-39 marketing campaign. Sale informed reporters (together with Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Structure) after information of the extension broke this morning that the deal got here collectively rapidly after these feedback had been made early in camp.
“[Anthopoulos] stated what he stated, I stated what I stated, and we simply sort of checked out one another like, ‘Are we severe?’” Sale stated, as relayed by Bishop. “And I known as [my agent] and was like ‘Hey, name Alex, determine one thing out.’ You recognize, we made our pitch, they made their pitch, and we simply sort of met within the center. I imply, I really feel like this was [done in] like, every week.”
Sale might be trying to not solely put the ending touches on a compelling Corridor of Fame case but additionally lead the Braves again into the postseason after a tough 2025 season. He’s the undisputed ace of an Atlanta employees that appears very intimidating when at full energy however now figures to enter the season with out both Spencer Schwellenbach or Hurston Waldrep. Each younger righties had surgical procedure to take away bone spurs/free our bodies from their proper elbows earlier this month, and neither has a transparent timetable for his return.
As a substitute, Sale might be joined by Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes, and Reynaldo Lopez within the rotation as issues stand, with a handful of depth arms in competitors for the fifth starter job. It’s a bunch that might clearly use a further high quality arm, but it surely stays to be seen if Anthopoulos will handle so as to add somebody like that to the combo earlier than the season begins. No matter might occur with the rotation in 2025, nevertheless, the Braves can now transfer ahead with the peace of mind that one of many sport’s most elite hurlers might be staying on the town for the foreseeable future.
From a payroll vantage level, there doesn’t look like any rapid affect on the 2026 season. The contract is structured as a brand new deal starting in 2027, so it doesn’t change Atlanta’s baseline money payroll or its luxurious tax payroll for the upcoming season.
Sale’s deal does tack on $27MM of luxurious concerns to the 2027 finances, though the Braves already had substantial cash coming off the books at season’s finish. Ha-Seong Kim ($20MM), Raisel Iglesias ($16MM), Joe Jimenez ($9MM), Aaron Bummer ($9.5MM), Mauricio Dubón ($6.1MM), Jonah Heim ($1.25MM) and Jorge Mateo ($1MM) are all free brokers at season’s finish, and the one notable arbitration increase Atlanta faces might be Schwellenbach’s first journey by way of the method. As issues stand, RosterResource initiatives a $176MM luxurious payroll for Atlanta in 2027 — about $84MM shy of their present mark.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the extension and the 2027 wage.
