FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Red Sox needed some good news. Friday, they got some.
The team finally executed a strategy it had been starved for in recent years, giving one of the players the organization views as a huge piece of its foundation a contract extension that helps paint a much more palatable picture for the future.
Brayan Bello has committed to the Red Sox, and the Red Sox have committed to Brayan Bello.
This was the world that much of the baseball world has been basking in of late, with teams like the Braves rolling out one extension after another. You had teams like Milwaukee (Jackson Chourio) and Tigers (Colt Keith) locking up players before their first major league game. A year ago, it was Corbin Carroll inking his deal with the Diamondbacks after playing just 32 games. Just a couple of weeks ago, Pittsburgh committed a five-year deal to its ace, Mitch Keller.
It's also an existence the Red Sox used to bask in. Josh Beckett. Kevin Youkilis. Dustin Pedroia. Jon Lester. Clay Buchholz. Those were the days.
And while there have been a smattering of success in recent years with the likes of Xander Bogaerts (who opted out of his five-year deal) and Rafael Devers, those had been late-in-the-game type of agreements. Getting out ahead of the players' contractual commitment has not been the Red Sox' forte.
Sure, Garrett Whitlock's deal was a team success story - especially with the two club options that would have been his first pair of free agent years. But missing the early-career window of a Mookie Betts represented a dagger for the Red Sox, and ultimately cost them when Devers' fork-in-the-road came around.
Then came word that the Red Sox were trying once again, having identified those players they deemed worthy of such an approach. But Triston Casas' response this offseason to the Sox' offer was "Nah, I'm good." And - as of Thursday - Tanner Houck didn't seem close on being next up with Bello-esque news. ("Some talks back and forth a little bit, but as of yet to really report," Houck told WEEI.com.)
But in fairness to the Red Sox, after Bello, Casas and Houck, there aren't a whole lot of logical targets at this time to go all Braves on.
The conversation might be different a year from now. You have players such as Jarren Duran, Josh Winckowski, Kutter Crawford and perhaps Ceddanne Rafaela that might change the narrative with breakouts 2024. There is also the next wave of minor-leaguers - Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, etc. But for now, the risks are worth the rewards.
Even with Bello, there are no guarantees. That isn't how this works.
But in the Red Sox' current world, the 24-year-old pitcher represents the team's best gamble not named "Triston Casas". He is good. He wants to get better. He appears to be a good citizen and teammate. And, once again, he is good.
This is a building block. Not an entire ground floor, like teams the Orioles can claim. But just one, singular building block. It is, however, something. A positive step while sifting through more uncertainty than the Red Sox have seen in years.
These days, such steps are worthy of celebration in the world of the Red Sox. So that's exactly what they will do this weekend.
