When the Red Sox acquired starter Garrett Crochet from the White Sox in mid-December, they did so with an eye on extending him past 2026, his last year under team control. Their efforts to that end have begun.
Garrett Crochet will call Fenway Park home in 2025. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)Getty Images
The sides have already had some dialogue about a contract extension, a baseball source confirmed Wednesday, though it remains unclear if anything is close. The Red Sox and Crochet’s representatives at CAA have been, and will continue to be, in touch about an agreement to avoid arbitration before Thursday’s deadline, and the one-year agreement has been the sides’ main focus throughout this week. At the least, however, preliminary discussions about longer-term possibilities have been held, too.
Crochet, 25, was acquired from the White Sox for a strong prospect package of Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez on December 11. The southpaw is entering his second year of arbitration, meaning he’s set to hit free agency after two seasons with the Red Sox. Boston is hoping to extend its control over him and Crochet, who has a history of injuries and has had a unique path to stardom in the majors, is believed to be amenable to those types of discussions.
Over the summer, after emerging as a hot deadline candidate due to a dominant few months in his first go-around as a starter, Crochet — citing concerns about workload and injury risk — made it clear to interested contenders that he would only pitch in the postseason if he got an extension in conjunction with a trade. A deal never materialized and he stayed put in Chicago through the season. The request, though, showed teams Crochet’s appetite for long-term security despite being just two years from free agency.
Because Crochet is only 25 (26 in mid-June), he could sign an extension now and still hit free agency at a relatively young age. His age, plus his lack of a track record as a starter — his 146 innings in 2024 represent the only rotation work of his career — make a contract difficult to project. Any contract would likely include bigger guarantees for the next two years than he would receive in arbitration plus the Red Sox buying out multiple free agent years. A five-year pact, for example, would give the Red Sox three years of extra control while allowing Crochet to test free agency — and potentially get a massive deal — at 30.
Crochet is projected by MLBTradeRumors (the leader when it comes to arbitration projections) to earn $2.9 million in 2025; the sides must exchange figures (or come to terms on a 2025 salary) by Thursday’s deadline. Though it appears more likely that the sides will come to terms on a one-year deal before any longer talks result in a deal, there would be some incentive for the Red Sox to bake Crochet’s 2025 salary into a long-term extension as it would lower the average annual value, and therefore, the competitive balance tax (CBT) hit over the course of the deal. There is also the possibility of agreeing to a one-year contract, then ripping it up as part of a re-worked extension.
Crochet, like many of his new teammates, will be in Boston for the team’s “Fenway Fest” event Saturday. Speaking to reporters on a Zoom call shortly after the trade, the former first-round pick was coy when asked about a potential extension.
“I really haven’t had much time to give it a lot of thought,” he said. “At this time of year, the main thing that I’m focused on is my training and getting ready for spring training. Until I’m told otherwise, that’s going to be my main focus.”
Crochet is one of four key Red Sox players the team needs to negotiate with before Thursday’s arbitration deadline, along with Kutter Crawford, Jarren Duran and Tanner Houck.
