Red Sox and Garrett Crochet agree to 6-year contract extension
After tabling contract talks with the Red Sox on the eve of Opening Day, the Red Sox and Garrett Crochet have agreed to a six-year, $170 million extension, according ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The deal will cover from 2026-2031 seasons and will also include an opt-out after 2030. It gives the Red Sox control over one the game’s best young left-handed starters for at least five years, beginning after this season. Crochet’s new deal will pay him an average annual value of $28.33 million.
Crochet’s new deal is the largest contract for a pitcher with four to five years of service time in the league. It passes Jacob deGrom’s five-year, $137.5 million deal with the Mets back in 2019.
Crochet is coming off a relatively dominant year for the White Sox last season, striking out 209 batters while posting a 3.58 ERA over 146 innings.
Earlier in the week, he indicated that he didn’t expect a deal to be completed, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said prior to the season opener that the club would respect their ace’s wishes and table contract talks.
“Right now Garrett is getting ready to throw the first pitch of the 2025 season, and I think he’s been outspoken about wanting to table conversations and be able to focus on the season,” Breslow said. “We absolutely want to respect that, and we’re super excited about what he’s going to do for us.”
A week before the season opener, it was looking as if the Sox and Crochet were far apart and the two sides would enter the regular season without a deal. While on the “Play Tessie” podcast, Crochet said he didn’t think “there’s much possibility” of getting a deal with Boston done.
“Before opening day, I'm not really thinking that there's much possibility right now,” Crochet said. “I'm more so focused on just playing out the season. But, just like the prospect of being here long-term is incredibly exciting. We just talked about the rivalry [with the Yankees]. It's just such a storied franchise, but with, like you said too, a lot of star power here. So, it's a team that I think is built to win, and it's filled with youth, so it's got the capability to win for a long time, which is very exciting. Yeah, a lot of pros, for sure.”
Crochet, who will turn 26 in June, will earn $3.8 million this season, a deal he agreed to in January to avoid arbitration. His new deal will buyout one year of arbitration (2026 season) and four to five years of his potential free agency seasons, depending on whether he opts out.
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