Red Sox are favorites at yesterday’s Fenway Day fan event Roman Anthony and Christine Campbell Said that so far they have received no news from the club’s top brass about the possibility of signing a long-term contract extension in Boston. Today, a report from Alex Spear of the Boston Globe states that while the Red Sox have not yet begun extension discussions, the team is still interested in exploring the possibility with its top prospects.
That said, Speyer lists Anthony, Campbell and top infield prospects Marcelo Maier The club hopes to enter into contract renewal negotiations with all young players. Campbell made it particularly clear that he would be interested in negotiating if the Red Sox approached him. Spear noted that the club’s 2023 fourth-rounder told reporters last season that he was “100 percent” willing to sign a long-term deal with Boston, and reported that Anthony was “at least willing to listen” if the Red Sox agreed to reach out to him. Sign a long-term contract extension.
All three young birds have significant promising bloodlines. According to Baseball America, Anthony is the top prospect in all of baseball, with Mayer close behind at No. 10 and Campbell at No. 24. Meanwhile, MLB Pipeline has three youngsters in the top 10: Anthony is No. 3 overall Dylan Cruise national and Walker Jenkins Among the twins, Mayer ranked seventh and Campbell ranked 10th. The trio’s on-court performances also generally support these rankings. Campbell made the leap to the minors across three levels in 2024, slashing .330/.439/.558 along the way, while Anthony hit .291/.396/.498 at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last year. Mayer only appeared in 77 Double-A games last year due to injuries, but he hit .307/.370/.480 in his age-21 season.
It’s somewhat rare for a player with this level of prospect pedigree to get an extension before debuting, but it did happen once last winter between the Brewers and an outfielder Jackson JolioAt the time of the deal, he was rated the second-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. Jolio eventually signed an eight-year contract extension last offseason that guaranteed him $820,000 with club options and incentives, making the deal the highest in a decade. up to $1.425 million. Given their similar prospect rankings and Anthony’s status as a similar five-tool outfielder, who is expected to land in the majors at cornerback, Jorio’s extension would be a plus if Anthony ends up signing a deal before making his major league debut. About seems like a sensible benchmark for Anthony.
Campbell and Mayer, on the other hand, may not be able to reach that level of payday. tigers infielder Colt Keith When he signed a six-year deal last winter, he was on the other end of the pre-arbitration extension spectrum. The contract guarantees Keys an annual salary of just $28.6425, with a maximum salary of $82 over nine years if the Tigers choose the three club options they hold on the youngster’s services. Keys was a consensus top-30 player in the game heading into the 2024 season, but wasn’t ranked in the top-20 with any major services. This limits Keith’s usefulness as a comparison point for Campbell and Mayer, as both are rated as top-10 prospects by at least one major prospect.
Keith also performed worse defensively than Campbell, especially Mayer. He was limited to second and third base throughout his time in the minor leagues, while the Red Sox’s two infielders spent most of their time in the minors at shortstop. While Campbell mixed work at second base, outfield and manager Alex Cora It was suggested to reporters yesterday (including MassLive’s Christopher Smith) that the club plans to have Mayer start at second and third base in addition to shortstop this year, and the ability to play shortstop and a stronger prospect pedigree seems likely to make the Red Sox Their asking prices for the team’s two infielders were significantly higher than Keith’s deal.
Of course, it’s also possible that the Red Sox wait until they’ve already made their major league debuts before agreeing to an extension with one or more of the trio. Speyer pointed out that the club extended the utility man Saidan Rafaela He signed an eight-year, $50MM contract back in April and has appeared in just over 100 games in his major league career. The deal is worth up to $62MM over nine years, but it’s among the lowest contracts players have signed at this stage of their careers in recent years; the only one Aaron AshbyThe $20.5MM guaranteed extension with the Brewers has decreased over the past five years. MLBTR’s contract tracker shows that once players earn major league service time, their asking prices skyrocket. Julio RodriguezStill, the $210MM guaranteed with the Mariners is the most lucrative of the series Strolling Franco, Corbin Carrolland Ronald Acuña Jr. It’s the other extension signed with less than a year of major league service, and one that exceeds the $82MM in guaranteed money Jolio received from the Brewers last offseason.
Considering that extension prices can quickly rise once a young star starts to establish himself at the major league level, it’s easy to imagine the Red Sox being particularly motivated to see if a deal can be worked out between the two sides in the coming months. Having said that, the club has also shown a willingness to extend players into the later stages of their careers. Boston brass is understood to have begun discussions with the lefty Garrett Crochet On the subject of a possible extension with two years left on free agency, the club has already done so before Sander Bogaerts and Raphael Devers They signed nine-figure contracts before their final season before free agency.
