Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves have agreed to a one-year contract extension worth $27 million, sources told ESPN, keeping the future Hall of Fame pitcher from reaching free agency next winter. The deal includes a club option and tacks on a year to his current contract, representing the largest single-season salary the Braves have ever guaranteed a player.

The extension comes after Sale resurrected his career in Atlanta following five injury-plagued seasons elsewhere. The 36-year-old won the National League Cy Young Award in 2024 and posted a 2.58 ERA with 165 strikeouts in 125⅔ innings during 2025, despite a rib injury limiting his workload. The Braves moved quickly to secure Sale after injuries to young starters Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep this spring tested their pitching depth.

Sale, entering his 17th big league season, has been one of baseball's most dominant pitchers with a career 3.01 ERA over 2,084 innings and 2,579 strikeouts. The new deal takes one of the best pitchers off a free agent market likely to be affected by a potential lockout and marks the second extension Sale has signed with Atlanta after being traded from the Boston Red Sox in December 2023.