This Should Be Next Red Sox Move After Reported Garrett Crochet Deal

The Red Sox are building something in the Craig Breslow era, and they added a massive piece of the foundation Monday night.

Boston reportedly agreed to terms with new ace Garrett Crochet on a six-year, $170 million contract extension that will keep the left-handed pitcher in a Red Sox uniform at least through the 2030 season. It’s another significant financial investment in a core of superstars the Sox hope they can augment and build around with a rush of young, cost-controlled talent knocking on the door of the big leagues.

One player who has already walked through that door is Kristian Campbell. The versatile 23-year-old made his big league debut on Opening Day and is poised to be a fixture in Boston for the next decade. The Red Sox don’t necessarily have to do anything to ensure he’ll be under team control for the next six years based on his rookie deal, but with the Crochet business done, a Campbell extension feels like the next shoe to drop.

That’s because there have already been rumblings about such a move. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported over the weekend the Red Sox and Campbell are closing in on an extension. Campbell told reporters Sunday in Texas the two sides were indeed talking but hadn’t yet struck a deal.

Signing Campbell to an extension would be the latest in a developing trend for the Red Sox, particularly under Breslow. Last year, the Red Sox signed outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela to an eight-year, $50 million extension after just a smattering of big league games, and Boston also signed pitcher Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55 million extension last March when he had just 39 starts under his belt.

The Red Sox aren’t alone in deploying this tactic. If anything, the Atlanta Braves have set the standard for the practice. The Braves signed Michael Harris II to an eight-year, $72 million extension in 2022, a year he started in Double-A and had played just 71 games upon signing. In 2019, the Braves made Ronald Acuña Jr. the youngest player in MLB history to sign a $100 million contract. They gave him an industry-altering, eight-year, $100 million contract that bought out all of his arbitration years and up to four free-agent seasons. When healthy, Acuna is one of the five best players in baseball, making his deal maybe the biggest bargain in professional sports.

The Braves also did the same with star third baseman Austin Riley, giving him a 10-year, $212 million contract extension a few years before he could hit the market.

It all worked out for Atlanta in 2021 when the Braves won the World Series. They have made the playoffs in each of their last seven seasons, winning no fewer than 88 games in each of those campaigns (not counting the COVID year in which they went to the National League Championship Series).

These deals can be tricky for both sides. The team has to commit tens of millions (sometimes hundreds of millions) of dollars to players with relatively small career sample sizes. In Campbell’s case, it’s an objectively small sample size. But if the team is right — as Atlanta has been — it provides surplus value and security, which obviously can affect a player’s long-term earning potential. In some cases, though, the comfort each side has with the other wins out.

If that’s what the Red Sox are aiming to replicate, it’s not a bad idea, and signing Campbell to a deal similar to Harris’ pact would be the logical next step.