The Red Sox and Chris Sale have agreed to a five-year, $145 million contract extension.
Sale, who turns 30 years old next weekend, was in the final year of his five-year contract extension with the White Sox signed back in March 2013. It eventually became seven years due to club options. The lefty is earning $13.5 million this season, so the $30 million average annual value of the new extension is quite the raise.
Sale was dominant for the Red Sox last season, going 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and a 237/34 K/BB ratio in 158 innings. He finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award balloting, but likely would have finished higher if he hadn’t gotten injured in mid-August and missed roughly a month of action. Sale was not quite as dominant in the postseason, but he pitched the final inning in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers, wrapping up the championship for the Red Sox.
The last four days have seen eight contract extensions, largely with notable players. Brandon Lowe, Alex Bregman, Ryan Pressly, Mike Trout, Eloy Jiménez, Blake Snell, and Paul Goldschmidt have each signed extensions since Tuesday. Other notable extensions since the end of last season include Nolan Arenado, Luis Severino, and Aaron Nola. This is why you go after the Bryce Harpers and Manny Machados in free agency when you can because the game’s best players won’t be reaching free agency with nearly as much volume as they used to -- they’re all signing extensions.