In a move that should come as no surprise, the Braves plan to exercise left-hander Chris Sale ’s $18 million club option for 2026, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The team hasn’t confirmed the news.

The option was tacked onto the two-year, $38 million extension Sale signed with Atlanta shortly after being traded from the Red Sox to the Braves in late December 2023.

Sale went on to win the first Cy Young Award of his career in 2024, earning the National League’s pitching Triple Crown with a league-best 18 wins, 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts over 177 2/3 innings.

A fractured left rib cage cost Sale more than two months in 2025, a trying campaign that saw the Braves deal with a slew of injuries and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Sale, though, was quite go

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