Chris Sale won’t be a free agent after the 2026 season.
According to ESPN, the Atlanta Braves agreed to a contract extension with the 36-year-old lefty through the 2027 season that has a club option through 2028.
Sale is set to be paid $27 million in 2027 and would be paid $30 million in 2028 if the Braves pick up the option. He’s making $18 million in 2026.
The nine-time All-Star won the first Cy Young Award of his career in Atlanta in 2024 when he posted a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177.2 innings pitched while going 18-3. A season ago, Sale threw 125.2 innings and had a 2.58 ERA with 165 strikeouts. He missed over two months in the summer after fracturing ribs.
That 2024 season was his first in Atlanta after seven seasons with the Red Sox. Sale began his career with the Chicago White Sox and spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career on the South Side before he was traded in December of 2016.
The Braves acquired Sale for Vaughn Grissom in December of 2023 after he had dealt with injuries for years. After not playing in the shortened 2020 season, Sale threw just 151 innings across his final three seasons in Boston, including 5.2 innings in 2022. In his final season with the Red Sox, Sale had a 4.30 ERA over 102.2 innings pitched.
He’s clearly bounced back in a big way for the Braves as they attempt to keep pace with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Atlanta was second to the Phillies in 2024 and fell to fourth in 2025.
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