Report: Red Sox sign Brayan Bello to six-year, $55 million extension
Well, it may not be completely doom and gloom for the Boston Red Sox this 2024 MLB offseason.
The organization has reportedly agreed to a six-year, $55 million extension with right-handed starting pitcher Brayan Bello, Alex Speier and Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe reported Thursday.
This came roughly 24 hours after it was reported that they were in “advanced talks” with Bello.
“He’s an exciting, young starting pitcher that was acquired and developed internally. I think he embodies exactly what we’re trying to do,” Craig Breslow, the team’s chief baseball officer, told the Boston Globe earlier this week. “We still think that his best years are ahead of him. We recognize some opportunities to further optimize the repertoire and we’re super excited about having him.”
According to MassLive‘s Chris Cotillo, his contract will be back-loaded, beginning with making $1 million in 2024 to $19 million in 2029, the final year of his deal. He will have a $21 million club option in 2030 with a $1 million buyout in 2024.
Bello, 24, is viewed as one of the best young arms in baseball. In his first full MLB season in 2023, he pitched to a 4.24 ERA with a 4.54 WHIP and 132 strikeouts in 152 innings. The end to his year ended poorly, sporting a 5.49 ERA in the second half of the season with a 7.62 ERA across five starts in September/October.
It’s not unusual for starters to falter down the stretch in their first full season. That shouldn’t take away from Bello’s potential, where he features a five-pitch mix, including an excellent changeup that netted an opposing slugging percentage of .291 last year. Plus, he graded in the 70th percentile or better in fastball velocity (95.2), walk rate (76th) and ground-ball rate (92nd), according to Statcast.
We’re not long removed from first baseman Triston Casas voicing that he wants to remain in Boston long-term. It’s been a disastrous offseason for the Red Sox from a personnel and PR perspective, failing to fully address their needs around the diamond, especially starting pitching.
The one arm they did add to eat innings–Lucas Giolito–could miss the entire 2024 season and they don’t currently have the depth to compensate for it.
Regardless of the swirling chaos surrounding the Red Sox and their short- and long-term future, Bello’s is bright. He’s shown the ability to keep the ball on the ground when contact’s made and has promising off-speed stuff to pair with his sinker.
Now, he will be with the club long-term, which is the best sign for the Red Sox. Next up on the extension list: Casas?
“You look at certain organizations, and that’s what they have been able to do the last few years,” Alex Cora, Red Sox manager, said earlier this week. “It sets up not only the player but the organization to be able to be flexible and aggressive as far as signing guys and using the money for free agents. Brayan, he’s a homegrown talent, he’s a really good one. I know we’ve been working hard over the last two years to make sure this kid is a Red Sox for life. We’ll see what the future holds.”
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