Left-hander signs one-year contract for 2027 with an option for 2028
Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves today signed LHP Chris Sale to a one-year contract extension for the 2027 season worth $27 million, with a club option worth $30 million for 2028. Atlanta initially signed the left-hander to a two-year contract with an option for the 2026 season after acquiring him via trade in December of 2023.
Sale, 36, has compiled a 25-8 record with a 2.46 ERA over 50 appearances, 49 starts, in his first two seasons with Atlanta, and has been named a National League All-Star in both campaigns. He captured the first Cy Young award of his career in 2024, when he won the Triple Crown by pacing the National League in wins (18), ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225). Since joining the Braves for the 2024 season, he leads all qualified NL pitchers in winning percentage (.758, 25-8) and FIP (2.34), and ranks second in ERA (2.46) and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (11.57). His 25 total wins over the last two seasons rank sixth in the National League.
A veteran of 15 major league seasons, Sale has combined to go 145-88 with a 3.01 ERA (697 ER/2084.0 IP) over 393 career appearances, 312 starts, between the White Sox (2010-16), Red Sox (2017-23) and Braves. He is a nine-time All-Star, won the Gold Glove award in 2024, and has paced his league in strikeouts on three separate occasions. The left-hander finished in the top five in AL Cy Young voting in six consecutive seasons from 2013 through 2018, before capturing his first such honor in the National League in 2024. He recorded the final three outs of the 2018 World Series, striking out the side to secure the title for Boston.
The native of Lakeland, FL, has fanned 2,579 batters over 2,084.0 innings in the majors, and his 11.1 strikeouts per 9.0 innings stand as the most in major league history among pitchers with at least 1,500 innings. He has struck out at least 200 batters in eight different seasons, and his 225 strikeouts with Atlanta in 2024 stand as the most by a left-handed pitcher in a single season in franchise annals. He also holds single-season strikeout records by a left-hander for both the Red Sox (308 in 2017) and White Sox (274 in 2015).
Originally selected by the Chicago White Sox in the first round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, Sale debuted with the club later that season and pitched the first seven seasons of his career with the team. Boston acquired him via trade in December of 2016, and Atlanta acquired him along with cash considerations from the Red Sox in exchange for INF Vaughn Grissom in December of 2023.
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