Red Sox sign Garrett Crochet to long-term extension
Craig Breslow and the Red Sox began the season with an admission that an extension with new starting pitcher Garrett Crochet was unlikely to come once the season started.
That ‘unlikelihood’ lasted all of five games for Crochet and the Sox, as Monday night came with a nine-figure extension reached between the parties, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The pact between Crochet and the Sox is worth $170 million over six years (a $28.3 million average annual value), according to Passan. The extension, which begins in the 2026 season, also includes an opt-out after the 2030 season.
The 25-year-old Crochet’s extension with Boston comes after just one start with the club (Opening Day in Texas last week), but also after the club paid a hefty price to acquire him from Chicago this past offseason, and with a definite long-term need at the front of their rotation.
While it was not enough to get the victory, Crochet looked solid in his Sox debut last week, with four strikeouts over five innings of work. He also possesses some downright nasty stuff in his arsenal, headlined by a cutter that can absolutely baffle hitters with its drop.
In 2024, Crochet put forth a campaign that included a 6-12 record (which meant very little on a team as bad as the historically bad White Sox) and 3.58 ERA, and was Chicago’s lone rep at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game. The 6-foot-6 Crochet was lethal when it came to punchouts, though, with 209 strikeouts in just 146 innings for the White Sox last season. And Crochet’s 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings would’ve been tops in all of baseball had he pitched enough innings to qualify among starters.
