The Boston Red Sox dropped a bombshell on the baseball world on Wednesday afternoon, agreeing to a long-term extension with star rookie Roman Anthony worth $130 million (at least) over eight years.
Given the hype Anthony accumulated while tearing up the Minors, and just how good he's looked from pretty much the moment he step foot on a Major League field, you'd think that every fan in New England would be thrilled. Boston bought out four years of his free agency, ensuring he'll be with the team through his age-31 season, and they did so at a price that could very well turn into a bargain if he comes anywhere close to the player he seems like right now.
But of course, you can't forget the cardinal rule of American sports: No mattter the subject, local talk radio will always, always find a way to deliver the hottest take imaginable. Which is how you get this segment, from Boston's 98.5 The Sports Hub:
INSTANT REACTION: Roman Anthony and the Red Sox agree to an eight-year, $130 million contract extension that could reach up to $230 million, per Jeff Passan.@ZoandBertrand break it all down:@scottzolak @Tim_McKone @TMorgan985 @tylermilliken_ @_JakeSeymour pic.twitter.com/g3dYAMUxWR
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) August 6, 2025
Somehow, Jake Seymour found a way to roast the Red Sox for [checks notes] paying up to ensure that a budding homegrown star is around for the long haul at a below-market price.
"What's he done so far?" Seymour began, before completely going off the rails. "How long has he been a Major League player? He hasn't even been a Major League player for two months. So based on seven weeks of being in the Major Leagues, the Red Sox needed to sign him to a deal that buys out three or four years of free agency? That just tells you what they are. John Henry doesn't want to invest in real players, he's afraid of Roman Anthony turning into the player that a lot of people believe he will be and then having to pay him, the same way he was afraid of continuing to pay Raffy Devers for his bat."
Well, those certainly are some words. Unfortunately for Seymour, they're incorrect in just about every way.
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Red Sox fans have zero reason to worry about paying Roman Anthony
"Zero reason to worry" is not the same thing as "zero risk". Yes, Anthony has only 190 MLB plate appeareances under his belt. But he's excelled beyond years over that span, and when you combine that with what he did in the Minors (and what every scout has said about him from pretty much the moment he was drafted back in 2022), you get a player that is absolutely worth believing in.
And that presents the Red Sox with a choice. If they were actually as cheap and small-market as Seymour wants to believe they are, they could sit tight, thrilled to get several years of Anthony in the middle of the lineup for pennies on the dollar, before either trying to sign him to a massive extension ahead of his free agency or letting him walk (or, as in the case of Mookie Betts, trading him somewhere else). Or they could do what they actually did, which is spend significant money up-front in order to ensure that they could nearly all of Anthony's prime, all while making it less likely he ever wears another uniform.
Sure, it would be nice if the Red Sox just spent as much as fans wanted and never risked losing a player they wanted. And you certainly won't catch me arguing that Henry and Craig Breslow haven't been a little too risk-averse at times, especially where money is concerned. But the whole point is that signing Anthony now at this price, while a risk, allows you to reallocate that money elsewhere; Anthony still isn't breaking the bank (relatively speaking) right now, and his age-28 season will now cost substantially less than it otherwise would, giving you a ton of flexibility for the future.
Maybe Boston will botch that flexibility, and maybe we can all get off our full-throttle jokes like old times. But this time is among the hottest in baseball right now, and they just ensured that one of the sport's brighest young talents isn't going anywhere. You'd think that would leave fans pretty content, but unfortunately, contentment doesn't make good radio.