There has been a lot of extension speculation surrounding Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony but he tells Rob Bradford of WEEI that no real progress has been made on that front. “There hasn’t even been a single peep about it since I’ve been here,” Anthony said. He also said “both sides have handled that well in terms of just letting me go and play.”
The Sox came into the year with three top prospects in Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell. There were extension rumors surrounding all three in the winter and Campbell eventually did put pen to paper, signing an eight-year, $60MM deal in early April.
A deal for Anthony might be a bit trickier than one for Campbell, as he is two years younger and was more of a highly-touted prospect on his way up the ladder. Anthony is currently only 21 years old. If he stays up in the minor leagues for good, he’s slated for free agency after the 2031 season, which will be his age-27 campaign.
That gives him a tremendous amount of earning power down the line, if he is able to develop as hoped. He has only hit .219/.345/.356 so far, but in a tiny sample of 87 plate appearances. If the Sox have faith in his ability to hit his ceiling, they will be motivated to lock him down as soon as possible. Otherwise, his earning power will only increase as he gets more established and closer to arbitration and free agency.
Though from the perspective of Anthony and his representatives, they surely see a path to a healthy free agent market a few years down the line and would need strong motivation to give up on that. For now, based on Anthony’s comments, it seems he’s primarily focused on his gameplay. Perhaps there will be more of a focus on contract talks in the offseason.
Elsewhere in news surrounding the Red Sox, Masataka Yoshida started a rehab assignment yesterday as he looks to finally return from ongoing shoulder problems. Part of that rehab appears to be some first base drills, though manager Álex Cora downplayed the significance of that work.
Per Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Cora framed the work as mostly Yoshida preparing for an emergency. “I don’t anticipate him starting at first base,” said Cora, “but if something crazy happens, at least he can catch throws and knock down a ground ball.”
Yoshida has only played the outfield in his career, both in North America and in Japan. However, the Sox currently have a fairly crowded mix on the grass consisting of Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder. Meanwhile, the club has been trying all sorts of things at first base since the Triston Casas injury. Rafael Devers didn’t want to play there, which led to his trade to San Francisco. Utility players Abraham Toro and Romy González have been splitting the time at first lately.
That gives some logic to having Yoshida get some work there. It also aligns with his injury, as he has largely been able to hit this year, but throwing has been the problem. With Devers having been in the designated hitter spot for much of the year, the inability to throw essentially made Yoshida unrosterable. Now that Devers is gone and Yoshida is getting healthy, he’s not quite as blocked from playing time as before, but adding first base to his repertoire still makes sense.
Speaking of roster shuffling, third baseman Alex Bregman could be back from the injured list soon. Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Cora hopes Bregman can return in the club’s homestand prior to the All-Star break, which goes from this Monday to next Sunday. Mayer has largely been covering that spot recently, so he could get moved to second base when Bregman returns. Campbell has been optioned to the minors, leaving David Hamilton at the keystone most nights. Hamilton is hitting just .174/.215/.278 this year, so he should get bumped to the bench or the minors.
Bregman was having a great season before a quad strain sent him to the IL, having hit .299/.385/.553 for a wRC+ of 158. That made him very likely to trigger his opt-out at the end of this season and return to free agency. If he can pick up where he left off, he would provide a big boost to the Boston lineup and also get back on track for triggering that opt out.
His contract situation has led to recent speculation in two different directions. With his looming potential return to free agency, there has been a bit of smoke on the trade front, while it also seems possible that the Sox could use some of the money saved in the Devers trade to lock up Bregman for the long term. They are currently 44-45 and 2.5 games back of a playoff spot.
Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images
This team will do ANYTHING to keep from having to obtain an actual first baseman
Torro and Gonzalez have been fine
Toro is hitting .294, Gonzo .304.
Agree 100% with Ace
Who is the “actual” 1B that they are supposed to obtain?
Toro and Gonzalez have combined to give us a 126 OPS+. What 1B that is on the trading block has been better than they have?
Darragh, don’t you mean if Anthony stays up in the MAJOR leagues? Proofread!
what’s the rush to pay these guys? at least wait until they have 2 years under they’re belts.
The less of a track record the player has, the less leverage he has in negotiations, and the more likely he is to be enticed by the idea of making bank before he’s eligible for arbitration, let alone free agency.
You’re talking about a $70-$100M difference in waiting two years, that’s the rush. The Cubs were close to signing PCA in spring training at $75M (would’ve bought two years FA). Now you’re talking $150M and it’s been 4 months. That’s the rush. If they perform close to their potential the cost literally skyrockets and after two years if they’re super two eligible they won’t sign b/c they’ll make Juan Soto arbitration money going year to year. Now, significant risk if they’re super two don’t pan out and you’ve committed that much future money.
Do you really not understand why there’s a rush? Yeah, maybe the Braves should have waited a couple more years before extending Acuna. Perhaps the D-Backs should just now be contemplating a long-term deal for Corbin Carroll.
Quoting the article above…
“There hasn’t even been a single peep about it since I’ve been here,” Anthony said. He also said “both sides have handled that well in terms of just letting me go and play.”
I read that to say, “Ummm, no. Ima gonna make bank’
The rush is the difference between giving out an Acuna contract and a Soto contract.
They don’t miss the cancer (Devers)
They definitely miss his bat. Just not his attitude.
He’s going to miss Fenway Park, the longer he has to hit in whatever they’re calling the Giants’ park these days.
Maybe once he shows he could hit more than .200 in the majors!
He has been vastly improved over the last couple weeks, just looking at his overall numbers does not tell you the whole story. He js going to be just fine.
This. He’s hitting. 258 since being moved to the 2nd spot in the order and i could see him getting better pitches to hit when Bregman returns to the lineup in the 3rd spot
He is hitting .379 the past 7 games.
What is with all the hate for the kids?
Amazing that Refsnyder is only 30. He’s been around so long, I thought he was maybe 36 or 37.
He’s 34…
Correct. My error.
They should legitimately give Yoshida some in-game reps at First Base during his rehab to help stretch the lineup that much more. When he and Bregman come back two players need to go. Eaton is likely one and either Anthony or Hamilton is the other, unless Duran is traded by the time Yoshida is ready
I would think Refsnyder would go. Why keep him over a young guy on a non-contending team?
Because Anthony/Duran/Abreu/Yoshida are all LH hitters and Refsnyder hammers LH pitching
But why keep him at all if they decide to sell and look toward next year?
He’s been so good for them as a platoon outfielder the past couple of years that they may want to make an effort to retain him.