Projecting Kristian Campbell's Extension With Red Sox

This may seem premature, but Boston is following a league-wide trend of locking up young studs before they become too expensive. Look what happened when it had Mookie Betts. By the time he had developed into a generational player, it was too late to secure his future with the club.

Now, the Red Sox will try to avoid a similar mistake and solidify their second baseman of the future in Campbell.

The 22-year-old has gotten off to a fast start in his debut campaign, notching six hits over 16 at-bats (.375 batting average) with a home run, two doubles, and a four-to-five walk-to-strikeout ratio. Campbell also has an impressive 1.188 OPS and has all the tools to become a standout defender.

Yes, it’s early, but he is also the No. 7 prospect in all of baseball, and even if he does not maintain these stellar numbers, he has proven that he can handle big-league pitching.

So, what could Campbell’s contract look like?

The Tampa Bay Rays signed their young star, Wander Franco, to an 11-year, $182-million tag in November of 2021 after just 70 games in the MLB for the now disgraced shortstop.

The Atlanta Braves are perhaps the poster child for this philosophy, having signed Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Michael Harris to multi-year extensions while they were still young bucks. Acuña Jr. and Albies are particularly strong examples, as they signed for annual averages of $12.5 million and $5 million, respectively, back in 2019.

Those were risky deals at the time, but even with injury concerns, those were steals for the organization.

Boston should hope to replicate that Atlanta formula and secure Campbell long-term without shelling out the big bucks. Something in the 8-year, $120 million range would certainly scare some pessimistic fans but could be an absolute bargain for nearly a decade.

In hindsight, the Franco deal was always too expensive, but that range feels unlikely for Campbell. The Red Sox should take more time to see how Campbell does in the show, but they should not wait too long to extend him.

This deal would also allow Boston to absorb some of the losses of a potential, yet seemingly impossible, Campbell collapse.

It's a risky play to project superstardom. However, if anyone is deserving of that risk, it is Campbell.