Signing contract extensions for young players has become more popular than ever in Major League Baseball. The latest example? The Minnesota Twins announcing Friday that they had inked 27-year-old Pablo Lopez to a four-year, $73.5 million deal.
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It's a trend Chaim Bloom and Co. would obviously love to be a part of. But when it comes to the state of this Red Sox organization, it's a bit more complicated.
For starters, there simply aren't a lot of candidates that you could start handing out these sort of things to. Sure, they did it with Garrett Whitlock and Matt Barnes. And the Sox did lock up Rafael Devers before he hit free agency, so that counts, as well.
But the whole idea behind this strategy - as we saw in the meat and potatoes of the Theo Epstein Red Sox run - is to get guys well before free agency, buying out the big-money years in exchange for paying them a bit more leading up to the open market.
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For these Red Sox, there aren't a lot of no-doubt-about-it candidates to even approach with such an idea.
Coming out of spring training, Triston Casas would seem to be the potentially spiciest candidate, especially considering his service time lined up with the newly-inked Corbin Carroll of Arizona. But was the team left Fort Myers, the first baseman said no discussions had taken place.
Brayan Bello was another intriguing name to consider. But, as we witnessed in his first start, betting early on pitchers SO young is a bit riskier than their position-playing counterpart.
Currently, because of his hot start, everyone is screaming about extending Alex Verdugo, who will be eligible for free agency after next year. Well, this would be the time to do it because, as we witnessed with Devers, once you get a year out the whole benefit of reeling in a more palatable long-term deal drifts away.
But now a newish name has emerged: Tanner Houck.
The Red Sox have talked to Houck about finding common ground on an extension, which hasn't come to fruition but should obviously pique the interest of a player like the 26-year-old. He won't hit his first year of arbitration-eligibility until after 2025, meaning the opportunity for free agency won't be coming until he his into his 30's.
But while Houck might not be considered at the level presented by Lopez - who will now becoming a free agent the same year the Red Sox righty is eligible, after the 2028 season - he has started to change the narrative a bit.
The pitcher ... nay ... the starting pitcher Houck has evolved into should make the Red Sox start prioritizing this extension over perhaps any other.
Obviously, the results can do an about-face from what we have seen from Houck so far. But what we have witnessed are not only results - with his seven-inning, three-run outing serving as the latest example - but how he is getting them.
The biggest knock on Houck has always been his path to getting out left-handed hitters. Sure, that slider is one of the most unique offerings out there, and the sinker is certainly anything but flat, but there needed to be that other weapon for those lefties.
Well, first has come the split-finger, which has found itself as something much more than an experimental pitch, with Houck throwing it twice as much as he did a year ago. And now a cutter has been introduced, with the righty throwing 50 of them this season - all but one coming against left-handed hitters.
Hitters rarely hit balls hard against Houck last season, but the average exit velocity this time around has dropped into the 12th percentile compared to living in the 18th percentile in 2022. And then there is the percent of baseballs being barreled up against him. In 2023 he is in the 39th percentile (which is really good) compared to the 86th percentile he managed last season (which was really bad).
In other words, Houck is figuring things out and landing in the kind of place that should make the team take a good, hard look at keeping him in the starting rotation.
It's early, and such ideas can flip on a dime. But what we have so far is something that should at least tweak the conversation.