Chris Sale will not opt-out of the final two years of his deal, will earn $55m
In the least most shocking bit of Red Sox news ever reported, left-hander Chris Sale will not opt-out of his last two years of his contract. The Red Sox will pay Sale $55 million the next two years. The news was first reported by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
Sale signed a five-year, $145 million extension with the club in 2019.
“He has told us that he is going to opt in,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom exclusively to the Boston Globe.
The 33-year-old lefty has pitched just 48 1/3 innings over 11 starts in the first three years of the extension. Sale who came back from Tommy John surgery, dealt with a slew of injuries in 2022.
He dealt with a fractured rib in Spring Training which kept Sale out for three months. Sale made two starts and then took a freak line drive off his pinky. About a month later, Sale broke his wrist riding his bike effectively ending his season.
What can Sale bring to the Red Sox? That remains to be seen as the team heads into 2023.
“He’s a part of this,” Bloom added. “You guys know what he can do. We were really encouraged by how he looked when he came back in that short time before he got hurt again. We fully expect him to be a huge part of our success next year. It’s always our responsibility to make sure that we’re prepared for as many things as possible that could go wrong. So that’s going to be a part of our offseason planning this year.”
Sale is expected to be fully healthy for Spring Training.
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique
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