According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow has stated that the team and pitcher Garrett Crochet are going to “table talks” on an extension past today. Reading between the lines, Crochet doesn’t want to cause any drama or tension in the locker room by negotiating with the Red Sox front office during the season. This means that Boston fans will have to wait, possibly until the end of the 2024 season, and see how everything pans out first. This is happening much to the dismay of Red Sox fans everywhere. Let’s go over the situation as a whole.
Report: Garrett Crochet Extension Talks Tabled
Crochet is already becoming one of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball, alongside Tarik Skubal, Chris Sale, Shota Imanaga, and Blake Snell. But the way he bullies hitters with his fastball is unique. Last year, he was arguably the only bright spot on a 121-loss Chicago White Sox team. His value is sky-high, and it may get even higher as the season goes on. He wants a big contract, but the Red Sox are holding out on it for a bit. Still, it may be a smart idea in the long run.
Red Sox Being Careful with Contracts
The Red Sox organization has been afraid to give out big contracts due to the botched (so far) Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida deals. They’re trying to undo the damage of former GM Chaim Bloom, who signed them to those deals in the first place. While he built up the farm system to become one of the best in baseball, his major league operations were very questionable. These two aforementioned signings take the cake here. While Yoshida can live up to his contract hitting-wise, Story can’t stay healthy, having injury-riddled seasons for the past three years. Since then, they’ve been a little smarter with their money, investing in their young talents. A big example of that is locking up Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela to long-term deals. The difference is that Crochet is neither an aging veteran nor an upcoming prospect. He’s 25 years old and a hot commodity.
One possibility why the Red Sox haven’t given him an extension yet and have been far from reaching an agreement is that they are questioning his one red flag. That being the fact that he’s a bullpen convert, only becoming a full-time starter in 2024. In a way, it’s smart for them not to jump the gun immediately, and he’s also got another year of arbitration before becoming eligible for free agency. The Red Sox, given their recent actions, will want to keep it that way until the 2025 offseason, where he’s got one more left. This is similar to the Rafael Devers situation, where fans had to wait until the offseason before the team extended him long-term. If Crochet does amazingly well, like he’s expected to, the ball is in FSG’s court.
