Sources: Chris Sale, Braves agree to 1-year, $27M extension - ESPN

Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a one-year, $27 million contract extension that includes a club option, sources told ESPN, keeping the future Hall of Fame pitcher from reaching free agency next winter.

Sale, who turns 37 on March 30, resurrected his career with the Braves after five injury-pocked seasons, winning the National League Cy Young Award in 2024 followed by a strong 2025.

The deal, which tacks on a year to his current contract and has a $30 million option with no buyout for the 2028 season, represents the largest single-season salary the Braves have guaranteed a player.

The Braves locked up Sale in the wake of injuries this spring to young starters Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep — injuries that will test their depth as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 76-86 season in 2025.

Sale was one of the few bright spots for the Braves, though a rib injury limited him to 125⅔ innings, in which he posted a 2.58 ERA and struck out 165 while walking just 32.

Entering his 17th big league season, Sale has been one of the most dominant pitchers of his generation, with a career ERA of 3.01 over 2,084 innings with 2,579 strikeouts and 487 walks. With a fastball that still sits at 95 mph and runs up to 99 complementing one of the game's most devastating sliders, Sale has carried power stuff deep into his career and remains a 6-foot-6, 180-pound enigma for hitters.

The deal is the second extension Sale has signed with Atlanta, the first coming after the Dec. 30, 2023 trade from the Boston Red Sox. Sale had gone to Boston in a ballyhooed trade with the Chicago White Sox in December 2016 and was brilliant in his first two years with the Red Sox, striking out 308 in his Boston debut season