Since Craig Breslow took over as chief baseball officer, the Boston Red Sox have been aggressive about extending up-and-coming talent. The "sign 'em young" strategy has become popular around baseball after the Atlanta Braves signed then-pre-arbitration Ronald Acuña Jr. to the bargain contract of a lifetime at eight years for $100 million.
There are some risks to early contract extensions and the Braves' deal with Acuña has also faced some adversity. Acuña has been heavily injured in his career. In four of his nine big league seasons, he's played less than 100 games. In two other seasons, he's played 107 and 119 games. Only twice has he posted what can be considered a "full season" of work, and one of those was in 2019, before his extension kicked in.
Still, it's easy to see why some front offices are willing to jump the gun for an early contract extension. When players are healthy and meeting their potential, the contracts are extremely team-friendly. But those are two big qualifiers, neither is guaranteed.
Breslow has extended five young Red Sox since he took over: Garrett Crochet, Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Ceddanne Rafaela and Brayan Bello. Some of those deals have been undeniably successful, others have gone the way of Acuña, somewhere in the middle, and some have been outright stinkers.
We've ranked Breslow's contract extensions from worst to best to assess his success level. We've evaluated the deals based on price, how much time is left on the contract and the output of the signed players so far.
Ranking Craig Breslow's Red Sox contract extensions by price and accomplishment
5. Kristian Campbell
Less than a week after his 2025 major league debut, Boston signed Campbell to an eight-year, $60 million contract extension. The deal looked like a steal for the first month because Campbell slashed .301/.407/.495 through April 30, but things quickly went downhill from there.
Campbell lost his swing and pitchers caught up to him. He was batting .223/.319/.345 on June 18, 2025, his last major league game before the Red Sox optioned him. Campbell's defense at second base had also been brutal, so there was nothing to keep him in the majors. He's been in the minor leagues since, working on his swing and making slow progress.
Campbell has been passed over for promotions when the Sox have had injuries. His $7.5 million AAV is a tough blow to Boston's luxury tax line when he hasn't played a major league game in well over a year. He still has potential, but he's a long way from the player the Red Sox expected him to be.
4. Brayan Bello
Bello is the first player Breslow extended and one of the toughest to evaluate. The young righty signed a six-year, $55 million deal in March 2024 and he's shown improvement in some categories since then, but it's been a rollercoaster. Bello had posted a career 4.37 ERA in the two seasons before his signing and a 4.02 in the three years since.
Bello in 2024 made 30 starts for the first time. He followed that up with 29 appearances the following year. His 2026 season is one of the strangest most people will ever see — he posted a 9.12 ERA and 2.26 WHIP over his first five starts of the year before the Red Sox optioned him. When he returned to the major leagues as a reliever, he clocked a 1.98 ERA and 1.01 WHIP out of the bullpen.
Bello hasn't exactly been the "mini Pedro Martinez" that many Sox fans hoped he'd be. But he's durable, he's shown plenty of potential and he's signed for cheap with a $9.167 million AAV. If he can return to the rotation and stay there with a solid performance, this will be a good deal by Breslow.
3. Roman Anthony
Red Sox fans had heard about Anthony for years before he reached the big leagues, and for goodf reason. The young outfielder is expected to be a star hitter when he comes into his own. That hasn't happened yet.
Anthony has been plagued wth injuries since he made his MLB debut, an issue he didn't have in the minor leagues. Since his debut on June 9, 2025, Anthony has played 126 games. Twenty five of those came after his strange hand injury that never healed, and it kept him from hitting when the Sox needed him most.
When healthy, Anthony is the definition of a spark. He batted .292/.396/.463 with 18 doubles and eight home runs over 71 games in his rookie season, before an oblique injury ended his season. If that's his normal level of output, his $16.25 million AAV is a great deal. Anthony hasn't proven that he can stay on the field long-term, but he has eight more years under team control to right the ship.
2. Garrett Crochet
Breslow's 2024 Crochet trade came with a huge asterisk. It would only be worth trading four top prospects for Crochet if Boston could sign him to a long-term extension, and quickly, before his value as a starter spiked too much. Breslow pulled it off — on March 31, 2025, he signed Crochet to a six-year, $170 million deal.
Crochet's extension didn't begin until the 2026 season, and he missed nearly the entire thing due to two arm injuries. But his talent is undeniable, as evidenced by his first season in a Red Sox uniform, when he clocked a 2.59 ERA, 1.028 WHIP, 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings and a league-leading 255 strikeouts over 205.1 innings of work. He finished second in the AL Cy Young Award race, just one spot behind Tarik Skubal.
The first year of Crochet's contract didn't go to plan, but he's signed for six more years. If those years look anything like his first with the Red Sox, Breslow will have done well signing him for less than $29 million AAV.
1. Ceddanne Rafaela
It was obvious soon after his debut that Rafaela is a special player on the defensive side of the ball. His lightning speed, otherworldly athleticism and unrivaled ball tracking ability make him one of the most skilled defenders in MLB, and an incredibly entertaining watch.
Shortly after the start of the 2024 season, the Sox signed Rafaela to an eight-year, $55 million deal, $6.25 AAV, and it's already aging well. Rafaela has won two Gold Glove Awards for his unmatched work in center field. He's put in the work at the plate for his offensive presence to begin approaching the level of his defense — Rafaela in 2026 batted .285/.321/.444 with 32 doubles, three triples and 16 home runs over 138 games. He registered 154 hits, 18 more than he had last season, despite the fact that he played 18 fewer games in 2026.
Rafaela is a near-irreplaceable defensive asset and he grew into one of the Red Sox's most consistent hitters. He may not be Boston's biggest star, but his contract is Breslow's biggest win.
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