While the 2025 Boston Red Sox roster looks nearly finalized except for a few minor decisions that will be made during sprint training, the Sox needs to fill out its long-term core group of players.
Currently, Trevor Story and Rafael Devers have established a strong veteran infield, while Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Garrett Whitlock are the bones for a stable rotation for the next two years. No matter how skilled they are, these five players don’t offer enough guarantees to keep the Sox competitive for the rest of the 2020s.
By locking down a few more players, the Red Sox can polish their identity and make it easier to sign top talent, as free agents are getting harder to land with the team's future up in the air. Here are three players Boston should extend early to avoid arbitration and have some longer contracts on the books.
3 best early Red Sox extension candidates to buy out arbitration years
Garrett Crochet
Premature contract extensions don’t exist with Crochet. With the Chicago White Sox, Crochet has a career 3.29 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, including an All-Star Game appearance this year. What's even more impressive about Crochet is that his best season came while he was on the worst team in baseball’s modern era last season. He won AL Comeback Player of the Year, ranked fourth in the AL in strikeouts, and placed eighth in WAR among AL pitchers.
There’s no reason for the Sox not to extend him. Crochet is only 26 and has plenty of great pitching ahead of him. He’s proven he can keep his durability and performance up after Tommy John surgery. Crochet has also expressed that he wants to stay with a team long-term by refusing to pitch in the postseason, which can only be interpreted as a green light for the Sox to keep him in Boston. No test run is needed, give him what he wants.
Jaren Duran
It’s time for the Sox to step up to the plate and give Duran a deal that lasts several years. For the last four seasons, Duran has been playing on deals worth less than $1 million, and lately, he’s outperformed his contracts. Between 2023 and 2024, he slashed .288/.343/.489 with 10.8 WAR overall. Duran was equally exceptional in the outfield, tallying the most assists and third most putouts among AL outfielders.
Boston has gotten away with keeping him on a budget, but it’s time that they acknowledge the talent he brings. The Sox have seen Duran’s growth and improvement since they drafted him out of high school in 2018, and there’s no better reward than a contract that will secure his place on the team for the foreseeable future. Duran is a star and he deserves to be paid.
Tanner Houck
Unlike recently signed Patrick Sandoval and Walker Buehler, Houck has been mostly consistent. He has a career 3.55 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in his five seasons with the Sox and is improving year by year. This past season, he pitched 178.2 innings, dropped his HR/9 rate to a career-low 0.6, and recorded his first complete game and shutout, earning him an All-Star debut. His top-ranked defense as the top AL pitcher in putouts and fielding percentage also stood out.
With plenty of changes well underway with the Sox figuring out who will be part of their six-man rotation, the Sox should make their lives easier by reserving Houck a spot in the roster. The Red Sox don’t need to know exactly how they’ll use him to keep him. Although he isn’t a free agent until 2028, Boston should extend the righty before he increases his value even more.