After renegotiating Brain Snitker, the Atlanta Braves announced today that.

His previous contract, which was slated for a $27.5 million salary this year with $10 million deferred until 2039, is replaced by this one, which also includes a $18 million club option for 2026.

The seven-time All-Star commits to at least two seasons with the Braves instead of just one in exchange for an additional $10.5 million in guaranteed money, all without having to wait for a deferred payment.

Sale, 34, is expected to earn $22 million in 2025 in addition to $16 million this season.

The Red Sox agreed to send the Braves $17 million in two equal installments this season as part of the trade that sent infield prospect Vaughn Grissom to Boston. This means that the pitcher’s whole contract plus an additional $1 million is covered until 2024.

Given Sale’s history of injuries, Atlanta is still taking a significant gamble on the new contract. Over the past four seasons, he has only made 31 starts, 20 of which came this past year,, when he finished 6-5 in 102 2/3 innings with a 4.30 ERA.

Along with Sale, the group also includes 40-year-old Charlie Morton, longstanding ace Max Fried, and 2023 All-Stars Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder. Promising youngsters Hurston Waldrep and AJ Smith-Shawver may also be considered for starts.

Following his return from the current injury absence on August 11, Sale made nine starts for the Red Sox with a 3.92 ERA, giving up two earned runs or less in six of those outings. During that time, he gave up 32 hits and struck out 54.

With the Red Sox, he was placed on the injured list nine times, primarily for elbow and shoulder problems. On March 30, 2020, he underwent Tommy John surgery; he didn’t return to a major league mound until August 14, 2021.

He’s clearly spent some time in the IL over the past several years, according to Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos. “You are unable to escape that.

Sale has had double-digit victories in seven consecutive seasons, and in each of those campaigns, he was chosen for the All-Star team and placed among the top six candidates for the AL Cy Young Award.

However, Sale is just 17–18 with a 4.16 ERA in 56 starts after going 12–4 with a 2.11 ERA for Boston’s World Series-winning squad in 2018.