Sale, Red Sox agree to deal adding $145 million to contract

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Ace left-hander Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a new contract Saturday that guarantees an additional $145 million from 2020 to 2024.

Sale has been an All-Star the last seven years and would have been eligible for free agency after this season.

He is guaranteed $15 million this year under the second option year of the contract he signed with the Chicago White Sox before the 2013 season. The deal wound up to be worth $59 million over seven years plus award bonuses.

The new contract adds $30 million salaries annually from 2020-22 and $27.5 million a year in 2023 and 2024. His salary can escalate by up to $2 million per season from 2021-24 based on finish in Cy Young Award voting.

Since he was acquired from Chicago in December 2016, Sale is 29-12 with a 2.56 ERA, holding opponents to a .196 batting average and averaging 13.17 strikeouts per nine innings.

He was 1-0 in four starts and four relief appearances in last year’s postseason, striking out the side against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series to complete Boston’s fourth title in 15 seasons.

Over the last seven seasons, Sale is 103-62 with a 2.89 ERA and 1,789 strikeouts in 1,482 1/3 innings.