Red Sox First-Time All-Star Could Earn $70 Million Extension, Says Insider

Should Boston lock this righty up long-term?

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

As the Boston Red Sox struggle to find much-needed free-agent acquisitions at the tail end of the offseason, extensions must also be on their mind.

Having star players is great, but it feels even better when you know they'll be around for the peaks of their careers. Red Sox fans won't soon forget the club's failure to lock up Mookie Betts early enough to keep him from a trade and a $365 million contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The most obvious extension candidate on the Red Sox is the newly-acquired Garrett Crochet, thanks to his prodigious strikeout numbers and the fact that he is still 25 years old. But the Red Sox have two 2024 All-Star starting pitchers on their team: Crochet and Tanner Houck.

Houck is a bit older at 28, and he's under team control for three more years, whereas Crochet is locked in for just two. Should the Red Sox prioritize extending Houck anytime soon?

It might help to know what it would cost, and one insider has an estimate. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic recently projected Houck for a five-year, $70 million extension that would tack two years onto his deal for an estimated $18 million each.

"A five-year deal would take (Houck) into his age-33 season," McCaffrey wrote. "If he made between $8-15 million in arbitration the next three years, totaling about $30 million, a five-year, $70 million deal would give him about $18 million in each of his last two seasons of the deal."

"The Red Sox would have to determine if they think Houck will be the same pitcher at 33 that he is now."

Houck's breakout 2024 season was a tale of two halves: a 2.54 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in the first half and a 4.23 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in the second. Any team would extend that first-half pitcher; the Red Sox have to feel comfortable that he's not going to revert to the pitcher he was in the second.

It's not necessarily a decision that has to be made now, but the Red Sox can be assured that if Houck builds on his strong year with another big season in 2025, that $70 million price tag will no longer be available.

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