Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Red Sox Likely To Discuss Extension With Brayan Bello

By Darragh McDonald | July 17, 2023 at 8:32pm CDT

Brayan Bello is performing well enough in his first full season that the Red Sox seem to have interest in signing him to a long-term deal, with the club’s assistant general manager Eddie Romero saying as much to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.

“It’s all case-by-case, there’s no guidebook for it, but I think Brayan is a special case and we’ll make efforts to talk to him and his group,” Romero said. “He’s basically done what he needs to do and what we would want of a young starting pitcher in this organization and he’s gone about it the right way, he’s a great teammate and he’s improved the quality of his repertoire, he’s a very hard worker, and he’s earned the respect of everybody here so he’s the kind we want to stick around obviously.”

Those talks are unlikely to ramp up at the moment, since Bello’s preference is to focus on his performance while the season is still in progress. “If (the Red Sox) did speak to my representatives I don’t know,” he says, “because I told them if there are any extension talks I don’t want to hear about it in-season, because I want to focus on finishing my season good so that good things can happen for me.” But once the offseason rolls around, it appears he is indeed open to an extension. “I do want to stay here long-term,” he said. “This is the organization that gave me a chance to be somebody so I’d love to stay here.” Bello also expressed his openness to an extension with Rob Bradford of WEEI a couple of weeks ago.

It’s hardly a surprise that the Sox are interested in getting Bello to put pen to paper, given his strong results and the club’s need for long-term pitching solutions. He debuted in July of last year and make 13 appearances in the second half of the season, including 11 starts, posting a 4.71 earned run average in 57 1/3 innings. His 20.5% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate were both a bit below average but he kept the ball on the ground at an excellent 55.7% clip.

Here in 2023, he’s made 15 more starts with his strikeout and ground ball rates essentially holding steady but his walk rate dropping to 6.1%. That’s helped him drop his ERA by more than a full run to 3.14 for the season. He’s now been in the majors for just over a year and has a combined 3.77 ERA in 143 1/3 innings in that time and only celebrated his 24th birthday in May.

The rotation in Boston has many question marks at the moment. James Paxton is pitching well but is an impending free agent. Chris Sale still has one more guaranteed season on his contract and an option for 2025 but has been hurt quite often in recent years. The last time he reached 60 innings pitched in an individual campaign was 2019. Corey Kluber and Nick Pivetta have been moved to the bullpen, with Pivetta likely to stay there since he’s thriving and Kluber likely to have his option declined this fall. Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock each have plenty of club control remaining but both have struggled to stay healthy to the point that neither has hit 80 innings in a major league season yet. Kutter Crawford has a 3.74 ERA this year overall but a 4.73 mark as a starter.

Looking even further ahead, there doesn’t seem to be much immediate help coming from the farm. Bryan Mata is on the 40-man roster but has a 5.61 ERA in Triple-A this year. Brandon Walter is working out of the major league bullpen right now but has a 6.08 ERA in Triple-A this year. Some other non-roster depth pieces have also struggled, leading the club to sign journeymen like Dinelson Lamet and Kyle Barraclough to minor league deals.

Taking all those factors into consideration, it’s understandable why the club would want to keep Bello around. There shouldn’t be any terrible urgency, as he will finish this season with one year and 82 days of service time. That means he won’t be slated for arbitration until after 2025 or free agency until after 2028. But like all players, he will only increase his earning power as he moves closer to those dates, as long as he stays healthy and effective. Hunter Greene and the Reds recently agreed to a six-year, $53MM extension when he had five years of club control remaining, where Bello will be this winter. But players in their arb years can generally go beyond that, such as the $90MM guarantee secured by Logan Webb when he was between three and four years of service time or the $108MM that Luis Castillo got when he was beyond four years. That’s not to say that Bello is the same caliber of pitcher as those guys or that the Sox would have to pay that kind of money, but it does highlight the way that prices will escalate as potential free agency gets closer.

The Sox already have some significant long-term contracts on the books, with Trevor Story, Masataka Yoshida and Rafael Devers each making $18MM or more for each future season through 2027. But extensions for pre-arb players generally have the salaries ramping up gradually, roughly mirroring the scaling up process of the arbitration system. A theoretical Bello extension would likely see him earn modest pay bumps over the first few seasons and the most significant salaries would be after Story and Yoshida are off the books. Devers’ contract goes through 2033 but is the only Boston player guaranteed a contract in 2028 and beyond.

Given the aforementioned rotation uncertainty, the Sox seem like a candidate to look for starting pitching in free agency this winter, but they may also look to use a few dollars to lock up their best internal candidate as well.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Boston Red Sox Brayan Bello

Latest On Josh Donaldson
Main
Rangers To Sign First-Round Pick Wyatt Langford
View Comments (36)
Post a Comment

36 Comments

  1. Cohen’sLastWhiteTooth

    2 years ago

    Loved Brayan Bello’s Safari Planet.

    7
    Reply
  2. Occams_hairbrush

    2 years ago

    I like Bello but he is locked up for years either way so, whatever to be honest.

    If Pivetta is pitching 5 plus innings a game, which is the plan, it doesn’t matter a whole lot if he starts.

    Crawford, Whitlock and Hauck are all ML Starting caliber pitchers. They need another stud at the top of the rotation, those three and Bello are all under team control for years and all decent.

    2
    Reply
    • acell10

      2 years ago

      in general it’s not a bad idea to buy out a year or two of free agency especially for a younger player. he might be locked up for years but it’s way better for the team to have a player locked even when he’s a few years away from arbitration

      Reply
      • Occams_hairbrush

        2 years ago

        I mean it might be, it depends on how things play out. He isn’t a free agent until 2029. I get the temptation to low ball him and lock him in until 2031, but again I say…whatever.

        Reply
      • Fever Pitch Guy

        2 years ago

        acel – More often than not, locking up players too soon is a bad idea.

        How is Whitlock looking since his extension began? The extension he signed after just one year of service time.

        How did Severino’s 4-year contract after just 2 years of service time go?

        How about Myles Straw? 5-year contract after just 2 years of service time, he has a pathetic .576 OPS since the start of the 2022 season.

        Aaron Ashby got a 5-year contract after one year of service time, he hasn’t played since he got it.

        Plenty more examples, point is for every Bryce Harper there’s a Joe Charboneau, Mark Fydrich and Kevin Maas.

        3
        Reply
        • acell10

          2 years ago

          there”s also other examples like Acuna, Strider, J Rod where in some cases those contracts look like a bargain or will in JRod’s case. I suspect the rays will feel the same way about Wander soon too. It’s not quite as skewed as you’re making it out to be.

          Further in Whitlock’s case he’s not breaking the bank either and as of now not really hurting the red sox. I’d still argue that there’s a strong chance his contract could turn into a great deal for the sox.

          3
          Reply
        • DonOsbourne

          2 years ago

          Fever-
          Exactly. Those gambles are for teams that can’t afford to pay market value if their guys become stars.

          1
          Reply
        • acell10

          2 years ago

          Yankees can’t pay market value?

          Reply
        • Fever Pitch Guy

          2 years ago

          acel – You apparently haven’t been following JRod this season.

          He has a .719 OPS which is 134 points less than his rookie season, don’t let the All-Star appearance fool you. He made the team only because the game was in Seattle and they needed one Mariner on the team.

          Wander is the real deal, I fully endorsed that extension. But my point stands, pre-arb extensions don’t work out very well more than 50% of the time.

          3
          Reply
        • Occams_hairbrush

          2 years ago

          Whitlocks contract is great because it’s short money. Not getting Bello extended for short money.

          Reply
        • GASoxFan

          2 years ago

          Fever – you ask how’s Whitlock looked since putting pen to ink?

          I say just fine.

          1) he signed based on a reliever skillet and reliever performance. The fact they tried playing him in a different capacity now doesn’t change that.

          2) he signed for $17.75m over 4 years, plus a pair of team options at 8.25/10.5m with 1m/.5m buyouts respectively.

          So, ignoring the fact he was and has remained more effective from the pen than rotation, consider his performance against the salary being paid.

          Has what he’s products this season been worth 1.25m? Compared to what other players typically put up in the same time? I say absolutely.

          Do I expect his contributions next year to be worth 3.5m? Again, yes. Even if he plays *exactly* how he did this year, the answer remains, yes.

          What I would argue is that Whitlock had a deal that specifically suppressed in earning power because of his injury history and potential for more injuries.

          There was another thread where I made guesses at Bello’s potential earning power through arbitration, considering that Fried in 2022 matched Cole’s 2019 award for a pitcher’s last trip through arb in their arb-3 year (excluding super-2s which bello cannot ever reach). Basically, wage growth in arb awards hasn’t appreciably escalated yet to make a risk profile where you’d expect his final year of arb to match, say, position player like mookie money.

          So, you work backwards with the ability to renew near league minimum followed by roughly 40m in likely max arb awards over 3 seasons.

          Any premium paid needs to be to secure extra control via option years, otherwise it makes sense to go year to year and not assume injury/regression risk.

          That means, being a young player, an extension should cross much above the mid 40s to upper 50s for 5 seasons, 2024-2028, plus options at an acceptable cost in years 6, 7, or even 8 to justify paying more than just low 40s which would represent peak attainable earnings via arb

          3
          Reply
        • acell10

          2 years ago

          I have watched Julio. It’s just that unlike you I’m not going to write off a 22 year old with that much talent over barely a subpar half a season. Seattle has no regrets on that.

          1
          Reply
        • Fever Pitch Guy

          2 years ago

          acel – Nobody is writing him off, he’s just not earning his contract thus far.

          Time will tell, but as of right now the contract is looking like a mistake.

          Reply
        • Jurassic Carl

          2 years ago

          You act like you know what you’re talking about till you say something stupid like this.

          1
          Reply
        • Poolhalljunkies

          2 years ago

          Fever , whitlocks base salary is 1 million this year….thats half what they paid brasier, i think its a bit early to say there is anything bad about this kids deal..based on comparable contracts ..hes earned it

          Reply
        • acell10

          2 years ago

          after less than two thirds of a season it’s WAY to early to say that contract was a mistake. That’s incredibly short sighted.

          Reply
  3. DCartrow

    2 years ago

    Extend him.

    He’s the real deal.

    3
    Reply
    • Bobby smac9

      2 years ago

      He’s not arbitration eligible until 26. Why tie up the $

      Reply
  4. Rsox

    2 years ago

    Barraclough has actually pitched fairly well as a starter for Worcester. Sale/Bello/Crawford/Houck/Whitlock as the possible ’24 rotation screams the need for another front line addition. I don’t see them ponying up half of a billion dollars for Ohtani so that leaves guys like Stroman, Urias, Giolito, Nola as the “top shelf” options available. Stroman has David Price written all over him as a bad fit and honestly I’m not sold on Urias away from the Dodgers. One of Nola or Giolito would be my pick with Nola as a preference

    Reply
    • rsfan

      2 years ago

      I really hope we go after Yamamoto aggressively. Same team as Yoshida was on in Japan so you know they’ve scouted him just by virtue of being there. Plus he’s very good friends with yoshida as well so could help the recruiting effort

      5
      Reply
      • User 1104686089

        2 years ago

        No thank you, he belongs in Texas

        Reply
      • Jeff Zanghi

        2 years ago

        I’m in on Yamamoto for sure!! But also would target Urias despite his down year so far this year… unless is continues/gets worse or extends beyond just #’s (ie stuff/velo down etc) He’s just so young and at times has been fantastic he’d be a nice addition to their current group for sure (if healthy of course)

        Reply
    • Jeff Zanghi

      2 years ago

      Was going to say… Barraclough has far surpassed what I was expecting when I opened his BBRef page! Another thing I kind of knew but was surprised. Other than 1.5 seasons he’s really been quite effective throughout his entire career. Even his AAA numbers in the year he spent most of the season down were quite impressive. Who knows maybe the Sox have something here… not expecting him to become an Ace haha but serviceable SP seems quite plausible.

      Reply
  5. User 1104686089

    2 years ago

    Heck yeah they should, he looks really good.

    Reply
  6. DonOsbourne

    2 years ago

    The Red Sox don’t really have budget restrictions. What they need is a steady supply of talent coming through the pipeline. They don’t need to sign their guys to discounted deals. If they have a guy who deserves an extension when he approaches free agency, they can afford to pay him as long as they have a fair amount of other players under team control.

    2
    Reply
  7. yeah, sure!

    2 years ago

    10 years, $100mm ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    1
    Reply
  8. Occams_hairbrush

    2 years ago

    Pivetta is off the hook tonight. 11 strikeouts in 5 innings so far… He isn’t a starter though. Cuz they….you know..start.

    1
    Reply
    • kyredsox17

      2 years ago

      The A’s are terrible obviously but he’s looked good of late and tonight his FB has something extra on it.

      Reply
    • kyredsox17

      2 years ago

      The A’s are terrible, obviously, but he’s looked good of late and tonight his FB has something extra on it.

      Reply
  9. Jake Biggar

    2 years ago

    This is a great idea. I see the Spencer Strider deal as a solid comp for a Bello deal. Sox haven’t had a young starter look like this in a long time

    2
    Reply
  10. Jeff Zanghi

    2 years ago

    Webb and Castillo aren’t really all that much in this other “caliber” I mean sure they’re better right now and with a much longer track record but that’s kind of the point. Bello has only pitched in 143 innings and seems to just keep getting better. Not like drastically but clearly after his 1st 2 starts this year (and same thing last year after he started rough) If you exclude the first few starts of each season dismissed as “growing pains/adjustments” he’s got a sub 3.00 ERA pretty handedly.

    1
    Reply
  11. DBH1969

    2 years ago

    I don’t know if Bello is the next Pedro, but when Pedro said, ‘Hey kid, try this” Bello listened.
    I say extend him, just don’t go DeverTown on the money

    Reply
  12. Fuolovit1

    2 years ago

    I do appreciate and respect the passion and zeal of all RS fans.

    For those lost in their anger and missed the forest through the trees. And resorted to Gish Gallop to support their opinion that Bloom was unfit and a poor choice to carry the RS through lean times:

    Take a cue from John “ never been much of a Bloom fan before today” Tomase

    “If they do, (make the tourney) the chief baseball officer’s moves will be a large reason why. Maybe some of you knew it all along, but those of us who doubted his vision are finally starting to see where he was going.”

    sports.yahoo.com/chaim-blooms-vision-red-sox-17145…

    Plenty of room on the RS 2023-2028 bandwagon. Hop on.

    1
    Reply
    • JoeBrady

      2 years ago

      I was aying that yesterday. I’m not going to go into the Bloom/DD/Cherington thing, but this team is set up well for the next five years.

      1
      Reply
    • JoeBrady

      2 years ago

      I’ll echo what Jake Beggar said-give Bello the Strider contract ($75/6 + 1, starting in his second year). These contracts are more often a bet on character than talent. Bello seems pretty mature for his age.

      Reply
    • jmi1950

      2 years ago

      Fulo – I agree with your “Gish G” statement. That’s why I have been saying ignore the trolls. Their long tedious posts are meant to derail the discussion.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Chicago Cubs

    Latest On Rockies’ Expected Deadline Approach

    Kolby Allard Elects Free Agency

    Rangers Re-Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

    White Sox Outright Vinny Capra

    White Sox Sign Kyle Tyler To Minor League Deal

    Nationals Sign Luis Garcia

    Poll: The Yankees’ Biggest Need At The Deadline

    Yankees Place Mark Leiter Jr. On IL With Fibular Head Stress Fracture

    Rhys Hoskins Expects To Be Out Roughly Six Weeks

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version