Red Sox fast-rising prospect ‘100-percent’ open to extension with the organization
The Red Sox are exploring a long-term deal with left-hander Garrett Crochet before the beginning of the 2025 season. Outside of Crochet, Boston is reportedly looking to have conversations with some of their young prospects on extensions as well.
Boston could look to lock down extensions for Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer. Red Sox team CEO/president Sam Kennedy said on NESN on Saturday that extending the young core was a priority for the club.
“We’re set now with that group for the foreseeable future,” said Kennedy. “That was the goal: to get us into this position, where we’ve got a sustainable group that can be competitive year in and year out as we go forward,” team CEO/president Sam Kennedy said on NESN on Saturday. “There’s a plan for a lot of our guys internally to try and extend. That’s something that’s really important for great organizations.
“In our 24 years, there’s been really important internal extensions that have led to World Series championships. That is a goal and a priority with respect to [Crochet] but also to other guys in our organization.”
One member of the current “Big 3” is very open to a long-term pact with the Red Sox.
“One hundred percent,” Campbell said to the Boston Globe while at Fenway Fest last Saturday. “This is definitely an organization I would love to be with for a long period of time. It’s a conversation definitely to have, and I would definitely be open to that.”
The 22-year-old skyrocketed through the Red Sox system last season, batting 330 (142 for 430) with 32 doubles, 3 triples, 20 home runs, 94 runs, and 77 RBIs in 115 games with High-A Greenville (40 games), Double-A Portland (56 games), and Triple-A Worcester (19 games). This was en route to numerous awards and accolades, including being named the Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America.
“His rise is atypical,” Geoff Pontes wrote in Baseball America. “Since the Prospect Handbook launched in 2001, Campbell is the first Minor League POY who did not rank among his organization’s preseason Top 30. This wasn’t a misevaluation by the entire industry, but rather a testament to Campbell’s work ethic and the advances in Red Sox hitting development.”
Boston hasn’t held conversations with Campbell, Mayer, or Anthony, but two of them are open to the conversation and potentially getting something done with the team.
Campbell has yet to reach the big league level, but it’s not unprecedented for teams to approach young prospects about contract extensions with little to no Major League experience.
The Tigers’ Colt Keith, Brewers’ Jackson Chourio, and White Sox’ Luis Robert Jr. all signed contract extensions without any service time. When Eloy Jimenez was with the White Sox, also signed an extension with zero service time under his belt.
“It’s something that I think we missed on over the last five or six years if I’m being honest—maybe even going back eight years when you think about Mookie [Betts] and Xander [Bogaerts] and some of these guys that you’d like to have gotten long, long-term deals done with,” Kennedy said. “It’s not that we didn’t try. We just didn’t get there. We learned from that, because we need to have this core group of young, talented players be a part of the Red Sox for the next decade.”
Boston locked up Ceddanne Rafaela and Brayan Bello during spring training last season and is likely going to try and hammer out additional deals with players, including Crochet.
