The Boston Red Sox opened the year with a win, but three straight losses to the Texas Rangers certainly put a damper on the start of team's 2025 campaign. Boston's bat were eerily silent, especially Rafael Devers, who went 0-for-16 with 12 strikeouts to start the season. Yikes!
But a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy weekend emerged with talks of a potential contract extension with Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell. While Boston may have failed to reach a long-term agreement with pitcher Garrett Crochet, the wheels are in motion for the Red Sox to lock up one of their elite young stars.
Red Sox News: Kristian Campbell contract extension talks are ongoing
Chris Cotillo of Mass Live is reporting that Boston and Campbell are engaged in contract negotiations, and even went as far as to say that a deal could get done as soon as this week. Cotillo was quick to offer a disclaimer, stating that he also wouldn't be surprised if there was no news at all as the week moves along.
Adding some next-day thoughts on Campbell/extension: Talks are ongoing, as he acknowledged, and they are past the feeling-out phase, I’m told. There’s no deadline here, obviously, and the sides are talking.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) March 31, 2025
I wouldn’t be surprised if a deal is announced in the coming days. I… https://t.co/SLj3KnhACD
Campbell made his major league debut on Opening Day and is under team control for the next six seasons, so there's obviously no rush to get a deal done immediately. However, this trend of signing young stars to monster contract extensions while they're still pre-arbitration eligible has become trendy in recent years. Milwaukee Brewers' outfielder Jackson Chourio signed an eight-year, $82 million last season before ever making his MLB debut.
The Red Sox are obviously looking to secure some cost control for the future while also keeping one of their top young talents in the organization for the next several seasons. This is definitely a story worth keeping an eye on.
Red Sox News: Jonathan Papelbon said what about Rafael Devers?
Leave it to Jonathan Papelbon to go off rails talking about something even he probably doesn't understand. The outspoken ex-Red Sox reliever was on NESN during a postgame show over the weekend, and his comments surrounding Devers weren't just off-topic; they weren't even coherent.
Papelbon's initial analysis was spot on. He was speaking about Devers' failure to get his front foot down in time and swinging late. But then, the conversation took a wild turn. Papelbon got into an exchange with Tom Caron and suggested that Devers was out of shape. And there may be some truth to that based on the lack of reps that he received during spring training ... but not to the level Papelbon took it.
Papelbon went on to have Billy Madison-esque moment where he'd be awarded zero points because everyone in the room is now dumber for having listened to what he said. "Maybe we gotta trim a little bit of fat, Jim (Rice)," Papelbon said, "Know what happens when you trim fat? Pigs squeal...You trim fat, pigs squeal."
Social media is sure to have a field day with this one. But there was one thing that Papelbon said that is 100% accurate. Before the segment ended, speaking about Devers, Papelbon said, "The swing is just a little bit behind."