Red Sox News: Chris Sale's $15M Contract Option for 2019 Exercised

In what will go down as one of the easiest decisions of this MLB offseason, the Boston Red Sox have picked up pitcher Chris Sale's $15 million option for 2019, the team announced Tuesday.

After contributing to a franchise-record 108 regular-season wins, Sale also helped Boston win its ninth World Series title.

Since coming over to Boston in December 2016, Sale has been everything the Red Sox have hoped for and more. The hard-throwing southpaw has gone 29-12 with a 2.56 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP in 59 starts over the course of two seasons. He finished second in American League Cy Young award voting during his first season with the team.

This year, Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP in 27 starts. He also went 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in five postseason appearances (three starts) as Boston won its first World Series since 2013.

Not only did he start Game 1 of the World Series and help the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he also closed out the series by pitching the ninth inning of the clincher:

His versatility helped him join some exclusive company, per Baseball Reference:

Drafted in the first round in 2010, Sale debuted that same year and has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for the better part of a decade. He has been selected to seven consecutive AL All-Star teams and has finished in the top six in AL Cy Young voting every year since he became a starter in 2012, a streak that is likely to continue this year.

Part of why the Red Sox acquired Sale was the fact that he was playing out a five-year, $32.5 million deal, which included a pair of team options. While he has certainly outplayed his contract, even more now that he has helped deliver a championship, he has previously denied ever having any regrets about signing the team-friendly deal, as he told Scott Merkin of MLB.com in December 2015:

"I've seen it since then, just kind of going crazy and not one part of me, and I'm being as honest as I can possibly be, there's not one part of me that is upset, sad, whatever you want to call it. Not one bit of me feels that way. I knew exactly what I was getting into at the time I was getting into it, and I could not have asked for anything more."

He echoed similar sentiments on WEEI's Kirk & Callahan in February:

"I don't worry about that crap, honestly. I have one thing to do, right? Play baseball. Pitch. Be a good teammate. Those are all kind of all wrapped into one thing as what I am as a pitcher. I am not an agent. I am not an owner. I am not a general manager, so I know basically nothing about contracts. If and when that happens, all of them can take care of that. I am worried about baseball."

It's possible Sale and the Red Sox could agree on an extension before Opening Day, but as of now, he will enter the 2019 season in the final year of his contract. That would give him a chance to test free agency at 30 years old.