The Atlanta Braves have decided to re-sign newly acquired left-handed starting pitcher Chris Sale to a two-year, $38 million contract extension, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports.
The contract extension follows the Braves' acquisition of Sale, 34, from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for 22-year-old Vaughn Grissom.
As a Mets fan who hates the Braves, I couldn't be happier. Grissom slumped last season, but will explode in 2022 with Atlanta.baseball reference project Next season, he's expected to return to his 2022 form, posting an on-base percentage and slugging percentage of .764, well above the .659 mark he posted this year.
Sale, on the other hand, is coming off his first season with 20 starts since 2019. The injury-prone left-handed pitcher was an absolute stud when healthy while with the Chicago White Sox, making the All-Star team seven consecutive years from 2012 to 2018. Hit Baseball reference.
but, Torn The 2019 UCL forced him to miss the entire 2020 season. Injuries to his ribs and pinky limited him to just 11 games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. When the southpaw finally returned to the mound last season, he posted an impressive 4.30 ERA in just 102.2 innings pitched.
Now, the Braves got $17 million in cash from Boston in this deal, which Passan says will cover Sale's contract for this season.
Left-handed pitcher Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves have agreed to a contract extension. The new contract starts this season and is for two years and $38 million, with a club option for $18 million in 2026. His contract before the sale was for 2024 with an option for 2025.
Essentially, the sale…
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 4, 2024
But Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos' decision to give Sale even more money is a bit of a headache. (Related article: Atlanta Braves give up on signing Michael Soroka, whose career was derailed by injury)
I have to reluctantly admit that Anthopoulos has been a great GM for Bravos. He signed Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris, and a number of other young players to relatively cheap long-term deals, and he helped build a franchise that is currently very good without mortgaging its future. is being built.
That's why this move is so puzzling. All of the aforementioned players are well under the age of 30, but none of them had to be let go in order to acquire big talent. And this guy turns him around and acquires a very young, versatile, cheap and controllable middle infielder and gets a flier for a 34-year-old reclamation project? I don't smell anything here. I wonder if Vaughn Grissom's family has some old blood feud with the Anthopoulos or something.
