On August 6, mere weeks after his major league debut, the Boston Red Sox signed former top prospect Roman Anthony to an eight-year, $130 million contract extension. Some sports fans wonder why any team would give a 21-year-old rookie so much money so early in his career, but the Red Sox and their fans feel they signed him for a bargain.
Boston may be lucky it got him to sign at all. Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox and Anthony's agent never had true, back-and-forth negotiations ahead of the deal (subscription required). Rather, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow approached with three different offers, each time shortening a "considerable" gap in the sides' asking prices.
Boston has no shortage of cash at its disposal, but it has even more than it initially anticipated this time this year because of the Rafael Devers trade. The Giants agreed to eat the rest of Devers' $250 million-plus contract in exchange for a more minimal player and prospect package, so the Sox had more than enough money to commit to paying Anthony whatever he wanted. Speier reports that Anthony was enthusiastic about the Red Sox's $130 million offer, and if his career advances the way Boston hopes it will, his contract will be incredibly team-friendly.
The Red Sox have taken an Atlanta Braves-like approach to signing their young talent. Brayan Bello signed a six-year, $55 million deal in 2024, and he's currently posting the best season of his career. Center field Gold Glove candidate Ceddanne Rafaela signed for eight years at $50 million last year. The Braves inked a 21-year-old Ronald Acuña Jr., a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate, when healthy, to an eight-year, $100 million contract — the Red Sox hope Anthony's deal will age so well.
Red Sox made multiple lower offers to Roman Anthony before he and his agent agreed to $130 million contract
From Anthony's perspective, he could've signed for millions more if he waited until he was closer to free agency. MLB insider and former GM Jim Bowden reacted to Anthony's contract in an appearance on the "Foul Territory" podcast.
"I can't believe Roman Anthony left that much money on the table, I'm actually in a state of shock," Bowden said. "I don't understand how you can sit there and watch Ronald Acuña Jr and watch Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and see the difference between the two.... Roman Anthony just signed a Ronald Acuña deal."
The Red Sox's deal for Anthony is astoundingly team-friendly if he becomes the player they and experts around the league expect, and there's no need for the front office to try and shortchange him any more than it already did by signing him so young. Anthony and his agent were more than happy with its offering, though, and Boston got exceedingly lucky.