The Boston Red Sox front office has experienced a recent change in priorities when it comes to its commitment to winning.
After nearly half a decade of unimpressive offseasons dominated by signings that didn't move the needle, the Red Sox have recently taken a different approach. They traded for Garrett Crochet, who projects to be one of the fiercest arms in baseball and signed him to a contract extension after his self-imposed deadline. Boston also extended top prospect Kristian Campbell after his solid first few weeks in the major leagues.
Teams and reporters around MLB have taken notice of the Sox's investment. In an April 9 story for The Athletic, MLB insider Jim Bowden ranked 11 recent contract extensions around the league, and he placed the Red Sox's Campbell and Crochet extensions at No. 2 and 3, respectively. The Padres' nine-year, $135 million pact with Jackson Merrill took the No. 1 spot.
This is great news for the Sox, as Bowden ranked the deals from a team perspective. Boston has been on a tear when it comes to club-friendly deals — it extended Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55 million deal and Ceddanne Rafaela on an eight-year, $50 million deal in 2023. Bello has been injured to start 2025, but the second half of his 2024 season was great (3.47 ERA in 72.2 IP) and Rafaela's defense is absolutely worth his price.
MLB insider Jim Bowden credits Red Sox for team-friendly Kristian Campbell, Garrett Crochet extensions
Some fans may have been confused at the Red Sox's very early extension for Campbell, but it's another step toward becoming the Braves of the north. Atlanta locked up its promising young talent early, with Ronald Acuña Jr. the most high-profile among them. The Braves in 2019 signed then 21-year-old Acuña to an eight-year, $100 million extension, and he's earned four All-Star appearances, three Silver Sluggers, and MVP votes and an MVP award since.
The Red Sox must see similar potential in Campbell, and if it works out, he'll be signed for a bargain. His eight-year $60 million deal could age extremely well if he lives up to Boston's expectations. He's already well on his way, with a .341/.440/.585 slash line in his first 13 big league games.
The Sox are fortunate Crochet agreed to his extension past Opening Day. If he pitched another season as good as his 2024 (3.58 ERA, 209 strikeouts, 146 IP), he would have no motivation to sign with Boston. Crochet would be just one year removed from the free agent market at 27 years old. If he bet on himself and posted another great season, he could've fetched well over $200 million from some of the biggest markets in the league.
The Red Sox are back in a big market mindset, but they're being smart about it. They've (hopefully) learned from their mistakes after letting Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts escape their price range, and they're getting ahead of future fan-favorites' breakouts. If Campbell and Crochet perform as well as Boston expects them to, it'll be thankful it extended them early, and so will Sox fans.