Last March, the Red Sox hammered out long-term extensions with young contributors Brayan Bello (six years, $55 million) and Ceddanne Rafaela (eight years, $50 million) before Opening Day. Could they make similar commitments this year?
Garrett Crochet isn't the only extension candidate in Red Sox camp this spring. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)Getty Images
Boston, like every other team in baseball, is interested in talking about extensions with a handful of players before Opening Day on March 27 and March, historically, is a popular month for such deals to get done. Even with a payroll currently projected (for CBT purposes) at $248 million, the club could strike a deal that starts in 2025 in an effort to tamp down future average annual values.
Lefty starter Garrett Crochet, who was acquired with two years of control, is the obvious top priority for the Red Sox when it comes to extensions before Opening Day. The sides have been in contact about such a deal since early January, and talks are believed to be ongoing between the club and Crochet’s representatives at CAA. At the beginning of spring training, the 25-year-old southpaw opened the door to go year-to-year with the Red Sox, though there’s still a belief that there’s common ground to be found between the sides. Notably, Crochet — who has been coy when asked about a deal throughout camp — made a bit of news Friday when he told The Boston Globe that he doesn’t want to talk about an extension once the season starts.
“For me personally, once the season starts, I would like for whatever conversations are currently being had to be placed on the back burner until the following offseason,” Crochet told Alex Speier. “We have a big season ahead of us and we’re trying to do a lot of special things. I don’t want to be a distraction for the team in any way and I myself don’t want to be distracted by having to answer these kinds of questions in the media.”
Crochet isn’t the only candidate for a new deal on the roster. The Red Sox have three players who are in their first year of arbitration (Kutter Crawford, Jarren Duran and Tanner Houck), three pre-arbitration players who might seek security (Wilyer Abreu, Triston Casas and Justin Slaten) and three top prospects who could be considered for extensions before debuting (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer). At this point, though, there are few signs of tangible traction with many of those players.
The Red Sox have yet to have any talks with Casas, Duran or Slaten so far this spring, according to multiple sources, meaning there has been no progress there. There’s nothing brewing at this juncture with either Campbell or Mayer, according to sources, and Anthony made it known he’s not particularly keen on an extension in a recent interview with The Globe. It’s unknown at this point if the Red Sox have approached Abreu, Crawford, Houck or others.
Boston has made offers to Casas in the past but has not been close to satisfying his demands and following an injury-plagued year, there seems to be little chance the sides match up on his value. Extending Duran, who at 28 has four years left before hitting free agency, has never been a club priority to this point. Crawford’s lingering knee injury could complicate possible talks, as could the fact he already won’t be a free agent until he’s about to turn 33.
Houck is someone the Red Sox have targeted in the past and could be an extension target after an All-Star season, though he has three years of control left and will hit turn 32 in his first free agent season. Boston rewarded Garrett Whitlock with a reasonable four-year contract after a strong rookie year in 2021 and could look to revisit that playbook with either Abreu or Slaten by the end of camp. It’s known the club is interested in exploring deals with Anthony, Campbell and/or Mayer before their debuts, but it’s relatively rare to find common ground on those deals.
For now, Crochet remains the top extension target with the possibility for a surprise or two existing before the opener.
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