On Monday night, news broke that the Red Sox had reportedly agreed to a six-year extension with Garrett Crochet worth $170 million, which would keep the 25-year-old ace in Boston through the end of the 2031 season.
The new deal technically kicks in ahead of the 2026 season, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that it includes an opt-out after 2030. It’s also noteworthy that this extension is reportedly the largest deal ever for a pitcher with four-plus years of service.
Despite only having 33 career starts under his belt, including a mediocre outing on Opening Day in Texas, the Red Sox decided to make Crochet a very wealthy man before the player had the body of work to make himself an even wealthier man.
On Tuesday, WEEI’s Adam Jones wondered if the trade-for-and-extend method used for a player like Crochet is a window into how the Red Sox plan to operate moving forward.
“I would applaud the Red Sox if this is their plan,” he said on Jones & Keefe. “And they said this is their plan, maybe this is evidence of John Henry turning a corner, ‘We’re gonna lock up our young core.’
“They’re trying to do it with [Kristian] Campbell. They did it with [Ceddanne] Rafaela and [Brayan] Bello, they’re trying to do it with [Tristan] Casas, maybe not as successfully. ‘We’re gonna lock these guys up, and we’re not gonna spend 40-45-50 million a year in free agency. We’re not doing that.’ So, OK, you’re not gonna do that, that’s fine. There are other ways to flex your muscles when it comes to the financials. And the Red Sox have a big, big advantage over most of baseball when it comes to bottom line, how profitable they are, the deep pockets they have.
“This is another way to do it. And if this how you want to do it to avoid spending $300 million on a pitcher in free agency - trade for him, use your farm system, [Kyle] Teel and [Braden] Montgomery out, Crochet in, you extend him, that’s a great plan. And if this is what the Red Sox are gonna start doing going forward, I’d applaud them. They are putting their money where their mouth is on that plan, finally. And so I don’t wanna give them too much credit. I don’t want to get too far ahead of it. They are still 1-4 and have sucked to start the year. But this I like. This is what we were begging for from the second they acquired Crochet. And now they’ve done it, so good for them.”
While Jones and scores of others in the local media have been vocal critics of Henry and the Fenway Sports Group’s (FSG) lack of spending on the Red Sox since trading generational talent Mookie Betts ahead of the 2020 season to avoid future luxury tax penalties, he’s willing to give them their flowers on getting a deal done with Crochet before he’s able to pitch himself into a stratosphere the organization is not willing to cross into.
But is there someone specifically within the FSG power structure that deserves the most credit?
Perhaps someone who was a part of building two World Series champions in Boston in the early aughts, along with another curse-reverser in Chicago in 2016?
Jones made reference to a post on X.com from WEEI’s Jon Lyons on Monday night suggesting the return of former general manager Theo Epstein to the Red Sox organization, albeit in a different role specifically within the power structure of FSG, may have played a factor in Boston’s push to spend more since the end of last season.
“So look, I don’t wanna kick-John-Henry-kick-John-Henry-kick-John-Henry, then he spends his money and give Theo all the credit for it,” said Jones.
“Well, I mean, if anybody could convince him, maybe it is Theo?” replied WEEI’s Rich Keefe. “Fine. Whoever it is, I’ll take it.”