Chris Sale excited to join Braves, signs two-year, $38 million deal after trade from Boston

Braves sign Chris Sale to two-year, $38 million deal - Battery Power

ATLANTA — If you’re an outspoken pitcher who destroys things like a TV or your team’s throwback uniforms, but you’re a perennial top-five Cy Young Award finisher averaging 240 strikeouts and nearly 200 innings with a sub-3.00 ERA over seven seasons, you’re considered intense, a fiery competitor who only knows how to do things at one speed and with brutal honesty.

But when you’re beset by injuries — from Tommy John elbow surgery to a broken wrist from a bicycle accident — and only make 31 starts in four years, those characteristics are viewed differently by many fans and others outside the clubhouse. Now you’re an overpaid flake and/or loudmouth who’s too aggressive, injury-prone and unreliable.

Such is the baseball life of Atlanta Braves newcomer Chris Sale, a rangy, 34-year-old left-hander ranked among the truly elite starting pitchers until four years ago before things spiraled due to injuries with the Boston Red Sox. The seven-time former All-Star has a chance to revive his career in Atlanta after the Red Sox traded him last week for infielder Vaughn Grissom, Boston including $17 million just to unload the final year of Sale’s contract.

The Braves showed how much they believe in him by doubling down on Sale’s future Thursday when they signed him to a two-year, $38 million contract that includes an $18 million club option for 2026. He had a 3.16 ERA in the last 15 of his 20 starts in 2023 and 125 strikeouts with 29 walks in 102 2/3 innings for the season, a rate of 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings almost identical to his robust 11.1 career rate.

“They put their faith and trust in me and that obviously makes me feel confident going forward and gives me a boost, not only going through spring training but going through the year,” Sale said Thursday after the two-year contract was announced. “It also allows me to feel a little bit more comfortable, like I’m going to be here for a couple of years so I can kind of get settled in and not really bounce around.”

He smiled and added, “I’m married and have three sons. So, one-and-dones aren’t really too good for us.”

If Sale turns things around and performs at a high level for the Braves, a couple of his former catchers will not be surprised one bit, and both say he’ll be a positive influence on Atlanta’s other pitchers regardless.

“Listen, Chris Sale is far from a prick — he’s not even close to my level,” said retired catcher and broadcaster A.J. Pierzynki, a notoriously abrasive player who caught Sale in 2010-12 with the White Sox in the pitcher’s first three MLB seasons. “Chris Sale is one of the best dudes I ever played with. His locker was next to mine after (Mark) Buerhle left in 2012, and he’s one of my favorite guys that I ever played with. I think he’ll bring a lot to the (Braves).”

Sale finished sixth in Cy Young Award balloting in 2012 and was a top-five finisher in six consecutive seasons after that with the White Sox and Red Sox. He has a 120-80 career record and 3.10 ERA in 343 games including 263 starts, and the only active pitchers with lower ERAs in 1,000 or more innings are Clayton Kershaw (2.48) and Jacob deGrom (2.53).

He joins a Braves rotation that includes 2023 MLB strikeout leader Spencer Strider, 2022 Cy Young Award runner-up Max Fried and 40-year-old Charlie Morton, whom Sale joked that he’s going to ask about the fountain of youth that Morton has apparently been sipping from.