Garrett Crochet is still owed the full remaining balance of his six-year, $170 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, guaranteed money that keeps accruing whether he pitches or not, as the ace lefty admits he isn’t certain he’ll throw another pitch in 2026.
Crochet approached Boston’s training staff July 21 with an unusual request. Build him a plan working backward from the finish line â a playoff start.
“We’re trying to kind of, I suppose, reverse-engineer it,” Crochet said, referencing the practice of setting an end date first and filling in the schedule from there, Boston Globe reporter Tim Healey reported.
Three months into a left shoulder capsule saga that began with Crochet dismissing his injury as “just some fatigue,” the left-hander has watched a projected two-week absence balloon into what is now becoming a lost season. The setback pushed him to stop plyometric throwing drills in early July, shifting the focus to strengthening the rotator cuff that supports the injured capsule.
“I’m a goal-driven guy. If I see a deadline, I’m going to meet it,” Crochet said. “It is tough to operate like that, especially after the setback that has already occurred. So there is, I guess, trepidation there.”
What Boston Still Owes Garrett Crochet
Crochet’s deal, signed as a six-year extension in April 2025, guarantees him a $4 million signing bonus already paid, a $24 million salary this season, $28 million annually from 2027 through 2030 and $30 million in 2031. That’s $170 million total, none of it contingent on innings pitched, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ breakdown of the extension.
Missed time on the injured list doesn’t touch that number. Crochet has earned roughly 60% to 65% of his 2026 salary so far, an estimated $14.4 million to $15.6 million, with the rest due before the season ends regardless of whether he throws another pitch, according to Spotrac’s database.
What the injury affects is a clause that voids Crochet’s opt-out after the 2030 season and replaces it with a $15 million club option for 2032 if he reaches 120 consecutive days on the injured list for an arm problem. Crochet hits that threshold Aug. 23. That option only becomes real money if Boston exercises the option, which would bring the total owed to Crochet to $185 million.
“It sucks, but I mean, what’s the worst thing that happens? I’m in Boston for another year? Which is pretty good. This is a place that I wanted to be,” Crochet told the Boston Globe.
Crochet’s Return Path Runs Through September
Once cleared to throw, not an imminent step, Crochet estimated he would need something close to a six-week build-up, mirroring spring training. Starting that process today points to an early September return at the earliest, with the postseason the only real justification for pushing through it.
“Worst-case scenario, I’m not ready. Second-worst-case scenario is I’m throwing, but it’s rough, like it was earlier this year. I don’t want to be out there to be a warm body,” he said.
Crochet led all of Major League Baseball in strikeouts in 2025, his first full season as a Red Sox starter, posting a 2.59 ERA across 205.1 innings and finishing high in American League Cy Young voting. Whether Boston sees any of that this year is, by his own account, out of his hands.
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