Garrett Crochet turns up heat on Red Sox in more than one way with extension deadline

The Boston Red Sox can be viewed as huge winners of the MLB offseason. With there not being much movement in the American League, the Red Sox capitalized by adding three huge names, one of them being starting pitcher Garrett Crochet. The Red Sox agreed to terms with the Chicago White Sox to acquire Crochet in exchange for four of their top prospects.

The reason for the high-asking price was due to Crochet impressing in his first year as a starter last season, and he is under team control through the 2026 season. So, the Red Sox have some time to get a deal done, but the team would undoubtedly try to get it done sooner rather than later.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe mentions in a new article that Crochet is open to signing a contract extension this spring. But once the regular season begins, and there's no deal, Crochet will not negotiate.

“For me personally, once the season starts, I would like for whatever conversations are currently being had to be placed on the back-burner until the following offseason,” said Crochet, h/t the Boston Globe. “We have a big season ahead of us and we’re trying to do a lot of special things. I don’t want to be a distraction for the team in any way and I myself don’t want to be distracted by having to answer these kinds of questions in the media.”

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Red Sox have until end of spring training to negotiate Garrett Crochet contract extension

Crochet is far from the first player to have a negotiations cut-off before the start of the regular season. Notably, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge did that before the 2022 season, his contract year, and went on to break the American League's single-season home run record and win the AL MVP, before landing a nine-year, $360 million contract.

While the Red Sox still have a matter of weeks to negotiate a contract extension, Crochet is turning up the heat through each spring training appearance.

On Feb. 23, Crochet struck out four Toronto Blue Jays batters in 1.2 shutout innings, while allowing three hits. On Feb. 28 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Crochet recorded three strikeouts and three walks and allowed just one hit in 1.2 innings of work.

But Crochet's latest start on March 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays really showed what he can bring. In three complete innings, Crochet struck out seven batters and allowed zero runs on just one hit. That's some solid work from Crochet. Oh, and Crochet hit 101 mph on the radar.

Yes, it is just spring training, and Crochet only has one full season as a starting pitcher on his resume. But if the Red Sox can't reach an agreement for the start of the 2025 season, and Crochet continues to impress, his price tag is only going to increase.

So, Red Sox, the clock is ticking.