Chris Sale will no longer hit the free-agent market at the end of the 2026 season.
The left-hander and the Atlanta Braves agreed to a one-year, $27-million extension Tuesday. The deal includes a $30-million club option for 2028.
"If there's anyone who deserves it, it's him," Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. "I actually think it's important, you know, as odd as that might sound. There's no better person to have that highest AAV in the history of the organization, just because of everything he's about, how he goes about it and so on. So, yeah, he earned it."
Sale's career has been rejuvenated since the Boston Red Sox traded him to Atlanta prior to the 2024 campaign. He owns a 2.46 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 390 strikeouts across 303 1/3 innings over the last two seasons. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2024 and has twice been an All-Star with the Braves.
The Braves exercised Sale's $18-million team option in November, which was part of the original extension he signed in 2023. The new deal represents a significant raise for his 2026 salary and will make Sale the ninth-most expensive starting pitcher in 2027.
Sale was limited to 21 appearances (20 starts) and 125 2/3 innings last season due to fracturing his rib cage while diving for a ball. He missed more than two months due to the injury but was able to finish the season on the mound and heads into spring training healthy.
With Sale extended, the Braves now have their entire projected rotation of Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes, and Bryce Elder under team control through at least 2027.
The 36-year-old Sale is set to enter his 16th MLB season and said he'd like to finish his career in Atlanta.
