Ever since they swung a deal with the White Sox to land prized southpaw Garrett Crochet back in December, extending the southpaw’s stay in Boston beyond his final two years of team control has appeared to be a top priority for the Red Sox. The club reportedly approached Crochet about the possibility in early January, and at that point Crochet expressed interest in getting a deal done. With that being said, however, Crochet has seemed to be more interested in betting on himself of late. The latest news regarding the state of talks comes from a recent interview Crochet sat down for with Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, where he revealed he was not interested in continuing extension discussions into the regular season when it begins on March 27.
“For me personally, once the season starts, I would like for whatever conversations are currently being had to be placed on the back burner until the following offseason,” said Crochet, as relayed by Speier. Crochet went on to note that he doesn’t want the possibility of an extension to serve as a distraction for either himself or his teammates once the regular season gets underway.
Between the newly imposed deadline and comments Crochet made to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo last month where he expressed interest in playing out the 2025 season before signing a long-term deal, it’s perhaps not a shock that more than 65% of respondents to a recent MLBTR Poll suggested that they expect Crochet to enter the 2025 season without an extension in place. With that being said, it’s possible that Crochet’s disinterest in negotiating beyond Opening Day convinces the sides to work more aggressively towards a deal in the final weeks of Spring Training. For his part, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow expressed to Speier both his interest in getting Crochet locked up long-term and confidence that the front office would have the financial support of ownership when it comes to getting a deal done.
“When there is an opportunity that makes sense for the Red Sox, we have the support of ownership,” Breslow said, as relayed by Speier. “…I think if there are opportunities to keep players that we identify as cornerstones of a run of success in a Red Sox uniform, that will be greeted with the same enthusiasm.”
That Crochet is the sort of player Red Sox brass—and ownership—might be willing to extend themselves in order to add is hardly a surprise. After all, the club gave up a massive prospect package headlined by top-100 talents Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery in order to acquire Crochet during this offseason’s Winter Meetings, and Crochet’s talent speaks for itself after he posted a 3.58 ERA and 2.69 FIP in 32 starts for the White Sox last year in his first season as a big league starting pitcher.
The raw ability Crochet flashed during the 2024 campaign combined with the 25-year-old’s youth should be enough to earn the southpaw a hefty contract in free agency, so long as he stays healthy and effective over the next two seasons. That qualifier is necessary for virtually any pitcher in an age where season-ending surgeries with rehab timelines of a year or longer becoming increasingly commonplace, but it’s especially true for Crochet. After all, the lefty’s 146 innings of work last year were nearly triple what he’d ever done in the majors prior to this year, and well above the 65 innings Crochet maxed out at even during his college days.
Injuries cost Crochet almost the entirety of the first stage of his career, and it would hardly be surprising if the Red Sox had some trepidation about offering the lefty a massive extension given his injury history. With that being said, it’s difficult to argue that the Red Sox couldn’t afford to pay Crochet a hefty sum. After all, the club’s projected payroll for 2025 according to RosterResource is just $210MM even after signing Alex Bregman to a massive three-year guarantee last month. While that’s a bump up from recent years, it’s lower than even the club’s 2022 payroll, to say nothing of the $242MM the club spent in 2019.
Perhaps, then, the best thing for both sides could be waiting until after the 2025 campaign to get a deal done. If Crochet puts up a strong season this year, that could give the lefty a more credible claim to the sort of huge extension he’s surely hoping to land while also affording the Red Sox an up-close look at him over the course of the 2025 season, which could give them more confidence in locking up the southpaw on a deal that could reasonably stretch into his mid-to-late 30s.
