What Garrett Crochet said about deadline for signing extension with Red Sox
"It’s one of those things where I feel like it kind of takes focus away from being where your feet are."
The Red Sox finally added their ace this offseason in southpaw Garrett Crochet.
Now the next order of business for Boston is ensuring that the 25-year-old lefty remains with the team for the foreseeable future.
Crochet is not expected to hit free agency until the end of the 2026 season — giving the Red Sox a top-of-the-rotation arm for the next two seasons at a seemingly affordable price tag.
But ideally, both Boston and Crochet can bridge the gap on a long-term extension that both provides security for Crochet and gives the Red Sox some much-needed stability in their rotation.
So far, a deal has yet to be struck between Crochet and Boston’s top brass during spring training.
And based on Crochet’s latest comments to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, it looks as though the star pitcher is ready to set a deadline as to when he plans to table contract talks.
“The conversation we’ve had is just Opening Day,” Crochet told Bradford of any sort of deadline, adding: “I would rather not (talk contract during regular-season play). I feel like it could be a distraction for myself and I don’t exactly want to be in the clubhouse talking about it with my teammates around me.
“It’s one of those things where I feel like it kind of takes focus away from being where your feet are. Whether it’s halfway through the year, first month of the year, or let’s say we’re fighting for a playoff spot and I’m over here talking about me. I just don’t want to take away from what the team’s doing.”
Speaking on WEEI Wednesday, Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy acknowledged that Boston would like to get Crochet to sign on the dotted line sooner rather than later.
“He and his family need to decide is Boston where they want to be, and as the three of us know it’s not for everybody,” Kennedy said. “But I think given his mindset and makeup he’ll have a lot of success here if that’s what he chooses.
“We are making it a priority to try and extend a lot of our own players that are currently under control and he would fit into that category. Excited about conversations there but we don’t want to push too hard and rush it if it’s not the right time for him.”
Crochet has seemingly made an extension a priority at this stage of his career. The lefty reportedly made it known that he was not open to pitching in the postseason this past October (in the even he was traded by the White Sox) unless he first received a long-term extension with his new team.
But based on Crochet’s comments earlier in spring training, it looks as though the starter is also willing to bet on himself if he’s looking to command a higher payday.
“There’s always pros and cons to everything,” Crochet told reports in Fort Myers in February. “I think that long-term security is definitely something attractive. As players, we like to look out for our family first. But with last year being my first taste of starting, part of me also wants to see what I could do with the full season of innings workload.
“(I) was on a short leash. Part of me wants to see what I could do in a full season before, I suppose, locking myself into a certain bracket of player.”
There are some questions over what type of contract Crochet warrants at this stage of his career — given his unproven workload as a big-league starter.
Initially a reliever, Crochet missed the entire 2022 season and a majority of the 2023 season after undergoing elbow surgery. He impressed as a starter with Chicago in 2024 (3.58 ERA, 1.068 WHIP, 209 strikeouts over 146 innings). But his results did tail off as the season went on.
He recorded six innings or more 11 times over his first 18 starts of the 2024 season. But the White Sox limited his reps in the second half in order to preserve his arm, with Crochet not throwing for more than four innings in a start after June.
Crochet has been very impressive so far this spring with Boston, sporting a 0.87 ERA over four outings with 21 strikeouts in just 10.1 innings of work.
Given his high ceiling, the Red Sox might have to pay Crochet more on potential — rather than tangible results — if they want him to sign before regular-season play begins.
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