The Boston Red Sox ended up going through the trade market Wednesday instead of free agency to get the frontline starting pitcher they coveted.
And unlike the top available arms in free agency, Garrett Crochet, who the Red Sox gave up four prospects for including Kyle Teel, comes with a much cheaper price tag.
The 25-year-old star left-hander has two years left of arbitration eligibility, including in 2025. It’s expected Crochet will make around $3 million this upcoming season, a terrific bargain for someone as talented as Crochet.
But that bargain won’t last forever as Crochet will undoubtedly at some point look for the massive contract that comes to elite starting pitchers. And if the Red Sox want to prevent him from reaching free agency in 2027, they’ll have to sign him to a sizable extension.
Just how big of a contract extension could Crochet get from the Red Sox? MassLive’s Sean McAdam estimated that it would be in line with Crochet’s peers at the position.
“It’s reasonable to expect that the Sox will have to give Crochet somewhere between $25 million and $30 million in average annual value, because that’s the going rate for an ace, or a potential ace,” McAdam wrote.
Crochet’s possible contract extension feels like something the Red Sox can visit at a later date.
They will certainly first want to see how he performs in a big market after pitching for a White Sox team which lost 121 games last season. Crochet made 32 starts for the White Sox in 2024, going 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.068 WHIP. He also struck out an eye-popping 209 batters in 146 innings.
If Crochet can build off that and go on to bigger and better things, a big payday will come his way in the future. Whether that comes with the Red Sox remains to be seen.
