We are officially five days away from Opening Day and one of the bigger sequence of events does not involve a roster spot. In fact, it involves locking up one of their pitchers. The ace of the rotation in Garrett Crochet made it clear that he would negotiate until Opening Day and would not have it linger into the season. He does not want it to be a distraction and I can get that. But his agent will likely continue negotiating during the season still, but as of now, no extension is in place.

Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the Red Sox and Crochet are unlikely to reach an extension. Given that the Red Sox paid quite the premium to land the caliber ace, locking him should be the top priority and meeting his price point is a must.

Crochet Dominated the 2024 Season 

Crochet has every tool in his arsenal and checks off all the boxes for the Red Sox as to why they coveted him. Not only is a he a left handed pitcher, but he brings a lot of velocity with his pitches, but also is very prone to generating the swing and miss. He is also a true ace and is a player that the Red Sox badly needed.

In his first true season as a starter, he delivered for the White Sox. This was a pitcher that finished with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Everything under the hood though, was even better.

Crochet finished in the 93rd percentile for chase rate and whiff rate. In addition, he finished in the 98th percentile for strikeout rate and was also good at limiting his walks. His fastball velocity was averaging 97 MPH and if his 2024 season was not enough, his Spring Training is showing what’s to come.

In five games, Crochet finished with a 0.57 ERA, with 30 strikeouts and a 1.34 WHIP. He was dominant and he’s ready for Opening Day. If this is an indicator as to what’s to come, the price tag is going to sky rocket. If you are the Red Sox they need to get ahead of it.

Red Sox Need to Get Ahead of It

It seems like the Red Sox are far apart with Crochet and that’s not a good sign. The front office is probably having flashbacks from their previous pitching signings, but that should not come into play. They signed David Price to the long term contract, and also the Chris Sale extension, which we all know how that worked out. The common denominator between those two deals is that they were at the age of 30 when they were given out. If you are John Henry, yes be cautiously optimistic because of the way pitcher injuries are happening. But at the same time, this is a pitcher that is a different story entirely.

Crochet is 25 years old and is in the prime of his career. A deal for Crochet is different and he fits the window right now for this team to compete. It remains to be seen what Crochet’s camp wants and what the Red Sox are offering, but meeting his price point is super important.

Crochet could go out and replicate his 2024 season or even perform better in 2025 and the price sky rockets. He could also do it again in 2026, and the Red Sox price just went further to the moon. The Red Sox should meet his price now and not wait until next year.

Crochet is under team control for two seasons, but the Red Sox need to extend him sooner rather than later.