Report: Red Sox in ‘advanced talks’ with Brayan Bello on long-term extension

"We still think that his best years are ahead of him."

Brayan Bello might be sticking around in Boston beyond the 2028 season. Barry Chin / The Boston Globe

March 6, 2024

1 minute to read

The current state of the Red Sox’ rotation might be in rough shape, but Boston is reportedly in the process of signing one of their most promising starters for the long haul.

Citing industry sources, Julian McWilliams and Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported on Wednesday that the Red Sox are in “advanced talks” with righty Brayan Bello on a long-term extension.

According to McWilliams and Speier, the new deal would keep Bello in Boston beyond the 2028 season — when he would first be eligible to hit free agency. Terms of the deal are currently not known.

“He’s an exciting, young starting pitcher that was acquired and developed internally. I think he embodies exactly what we’re trying to do,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said of Bello on Wednesday. “We still think that his best years are ahead of him. We recognize some opportunities to further optimize the repertoire and we’re super excited about having him.”

One of the few bright spots on a pitching staff that has labored over the last few seasons, Bello went 12-11 and posted a 4.24 ERA last year over 157 innings of work. Bello was arguably Boston’s most consistent starter in 2023, but ran out of gas down the stretch.

He entered September with a very respectable 3.57 ERA, but then relinquished 22 earned runs over 26 innings that final month. Considering that Bello is still just 24 years old and 2023 marked his first full season in the big leagues, there’s still plenty of room to grow for the young right-hander.

“You look at certain organizations, and that’s what they have been able to do the last few years,” manager Alex Cora said of Bello. “It sets up not only the player but the organization to be able to be flexible and aggressive as far as signing guys and using the money for free agents. Brayan, he’s a homegrown talent, he’s a really good one. I know we’ve been working hard over the last two years to make sure this kid is a Red Sox for life. We’ll see what the future holds.”