Rosenthal: Sale extension 5 years, $145 million

RedOctober3829

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Chris Sale in agreement with #RedSox on extension, pending physical, sources tell The Athletic. Deal expected to be five years, covering 2020-24, as @JeffPassan reported.


Ace Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a five-year contract extension in the $150 million range, pending a physical, league sources tell ESPN. Deal adds to his current contract, covers the 2020-24 seasons. Physical next week. @Ken_Rosenthal had it done first.

New threads are fun.
 

SouthernBoSox

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He's been one of the best pitchers in baseball for a very long time now and this locks him up through an age where he should remain himself. Like any pitcher, it's all about health. But make no mistake about it, he's unbelievable and having him on this team for 5 more years is fantastic news.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He'll be 35 at the end of the contract. Amazed the deal is for only 5 years. You wouldn't expect much age performance decline, so it's all about injuries.
 

JCizzle

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This is great news. However, I really hope this in no way hinders our ability to extend or resign Mookie
 

Cesar Crespo

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Since it's an extension, does it go in the books as 6/165 and count 27.5m against the cap instead of 30?
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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If he continues to have trouble getting through an entire season (and playoffs), could they flip him to a closer? He didn't seem to have any issues doing that last season.
 

steveluck7

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Mark Feinsand:
According to a source, Chris Sale's extension with the Red Sox will come in at slightly below $150 million and is also likely to include some deferred money. It's not done yet, however. Might be another day before it's completed.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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permanently or start him til august and closer the rest of the way?
I guess it would depend on the state of the bullpen when and if it becomes apparent that he just isn't going to get through a whole season as a starter.

That makes no sense. How many relievers make 30 MM/yr?
How many make 70% of that?
Right, I get that, but the money is a sunk cost. If he's stellar for 5 months and then turns into a pumpkin, people will be complaining about him getting paid $30 million to not be a guy you can count on down the stretch. Flipping him to a closer at least gets you a guy who is likely going to be lights out when it counts, even if it's a situation like Bosox79 mentioned.

I hope his injury woes are behind him and he's the ace of the staff for the next 6 seasons (including this one) and pitches them to a couple more titles. But if he turns out to be long term what the first few years of his career as a starter have yielded, would it be an option? That's all I'm wondering.
 

kelpapa

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Since it's an extension, does it go in the books as 6/165 and count 27.5m against the cap instead of 30?
I believe if the extension doesn't change this year's contract, it will not change his cap hit this year. It will only change future years. Trout's changed this year's contract, so it did affect his cap hit this year.
 

azsoxpatsfan

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He’s pitched seven seasons as a starter and never finished below sixth in CYA. And for all the injury talk 26 is his lowest number of starts. Not the type of pitcher you move to the bullpen
 

tims4wins

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I guess it would depend on the state of the bullpen when and if it becomes apparent that he just isn't going to get through a whole season as a starter.



Right, I get that, but the money is a sunk cost. If he's stellar for 5 months and then turns into a pumpkin, people will be complaining about him getting paid $30 million to not be a guy you can count on down the stretch. Flipping him to a closer at least gets you a guy who is likely going to be lights out when it counts, even if it's a situation like Bosox79 mentioned.

I hope his injury woes are behind him and he's the ace of the staff for the next 6 seasons (including this one) and pitches them to a couple more titles. But if he turns out to be long term what the first few years of his career as a starter have yielded, would it be an option? That's all I'm wondering.
LOL that the money is a sunk cost... I mean they are signing him today, if they want him to be a closer they wouldn't be giving him $150M and wouldn't be considering it a sunk cost. Maybe this happens in 2-3 years... if things go poorly between now and then.
 

RedOctober3829

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Red(s)HawksFan

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Felix averages $25M and might be relegated to the bullpen. Wade Davis appears to have the highest annual contract for a relief pitcher at 17.3M (with Chapman right behind him). That'd be around 58% of $30M.
Felix is going to the pen because he's not good enough to stick in the M's rotation. Sale potentially fatiguing in September is not the same thing at all. They're paying him starter money, he will start. If fatigue makes him bad enough to not be a top 4 starter, moving him to the bullpen probably isn't going to help.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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LOL that the money is a sunk cost... I mean they are signing him today, if they want him to be a closer they wouldn't be giving him $150M and wouldn't be considering it a sunk cost. Maybe this happens in 2-3 years... if things go poorly between now and then.
That's what I meant, not this season.
 

foulkehampshire

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Fantastic news. Sale's a generational-type talent and one of the few pitchers that has the combination of pure stuff and control/command to succeed in this park & division. As mentioned upthread, the injury concerns seem a bit unwarranted. Yeah his delivery in unorthodox, but he's been very durable throughout his career and I don't seem him as risky as any other pitcher that throws 95+. And the great thing about him is that he can and has been able to succeed without going max effort. The guy can flat out paint as well as any other finesse pitcher.
 

bosockboy

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Chris Sale extension with #RedSox will be five years, $145 million, sources tell The Athletic. Sale will earn $15M this season in final year of current deal. Extension is pending physical. Will run from 2020 to ‘24.
Wow. Great deal. Makes you wonder if he took less to help keep the core together. He’s a Sox lifer now. Fantastic news.
 

TheoShmeo

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I freaking love Sale’s no nonsense approach. I love that he is an incredible pitcher more. Sale reminds me, oddly enough, of Kevin Garnett. I hated watching my team have to compete against him. So glad that I won’t have to do that for a long time, if ever.

But...damn I hope he stays healthy. That he has has trouble on September/October is concerning.

Still, delighted to read this.
 

circus catch

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Not to mention, we traded Moncada, Kopech, and others for two years of Sale and the hope we could re-sign him. Now that is fulfilled.
 

BornToRun

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Not to mention, we traded Moncada, Kopech, and others for two years of Sale and the hope we could re-sign him. Now that is fulfilled.
That trade officially became worth it the moment that Machado got corkscrewed in Game 5. This just makes it better.
 

Rasputin

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So we have Sale, Price, Porcello, Eovaldi, and Rodriguez through 2019. We'll probably let Porcello go and we'll have Sale, Price, Eovaldi, and Rodriguez through 2021 when Rodriguez becomes a free agent, and Price and Eovaldi become free agents after 2022.

Assuming everyone stays reasonably healthy and productive--and that's a pretty big assumption--that's a really good core of a rotation through at least 2022.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Randy Johnson age 29-38...

Age 29: 19-8 / 3.24 era / 308 k / 255.1 ip
Age 30: 13-6 / 3.19 era / 204 k / 172.0 ip
Age 31: 18-2 / 2.48 era / 294 k / 214.1 ip
Age 32: 5-0 / 3.67 era / 85 k / 61.1 ip
Age 33: 20-4 / 2.28 era / 291 k / 213.0 ip
Age 34: 19-11 / 3.28 era / 329 k / 244.1 ip
Age 35: 17-9 / 2.48 era / 364 k / 271.2 ip
Age 36: 19-7 / 2.64 era / 347 k / 248.2 ip
Age 37: 21-6 / 2.49 era / 372 k / 249.2 ip
Age 38: 24-5 / 2.32 era / 334 k / 260.0 ip

And he was fairly awesome at age 39-41, too.

Fingers crossed for an aging curve even half that good, and woohoo!
 

nattysez

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Worth keeping in mind:
Sale threw 192 major league innings at 23 and his first year throwing 200 innings was age 24.
Big Unit's first year throwing 200 MLB innings was age 26.

Edit:
Probably old news, but BRef says the most similar pitcher to Chris Sale at his age is...David Price.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Great deal. Slightly undermarket. David Price is still the Sox highest paid player...
 

Myt1

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Randy Johnson age 29-38...

Age 29: 19-8 / 3.24 era / 308 k / 255.1 ip
Age 30: 13-6 / 3.19 era / 204 k / 172.0 ip
Age 31: 18-2 / 2.48 era / 294 k / 214.1 ip
Age 32: 5-0 / 3.67 era / 85 k / 61.1 ip
Age 33: 20-4 / 2.28 era / 291 k / 213.0 ip
Age 34: 19-11 / 3.28 era / 329 k / 244.1 ip
Age 35: 17-9 / 2.48 era / 364 k / 271.2 ip
Age 36: 19-7 / 2.64 era / 347 k / 248.2 ip
Age 37: 21-6 / 2.49 era / 372 k / 249.2 ip
Age 38: 24-5 / 2.32 era / 334 k / 260.0 ip

And he was fairly awesome at age 39-41, too.

Fingers crossed for an aging curve even half that good, and woohoo!
He was also about twice Sale’s size.
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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No pitcher since Pedro has been as fun to watch every turn on the hill. I love his arsenal. I love watching strikeouts. I love that he works quickly. He is among the most entertaining players in baseball and I’m glad to root for him for another 5 years.

Bring on #SaleDay!
 

Gash Prex

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Uh wrong thread - sorry.

Love the deal - we are lucky to watch him for the next 6 years
 
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