The Boston Red Sox may have their future ace in Brayan Bello.
The 24-year-old right-hander has already shown flashes of ace potential in his first full MLB season. Through 15 starts this year, Bello has posted a 3.14 ERA while leading all Red Sox pitchers in WAR.
All signs point toward Bello being a player Boston builds around. The former top prospect won't hit his first arbitration year until 2027, but it still may be wise to sign him to a team-friendly contract extension sooner rather than later.
In a conversation with The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey, Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero addressed the possibility of getting such a deal done with Bello.
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“It’s all case-by-case, there’s no guidebook for it, but I think Brayan is a special case and we’ll make efforts to talk to him and his group,” Romero told McCaffrey.
“He’s basically done what he needs to do and what we would want of a young starting pitcher in this organization and he’s gone about it the right way, he’s a great teammate and he’s improved the quality of his repertoire, he’s a very hard worker, and he’s earned the respect of everybody here so he’s the kind we want to stick around obviously.”
Bello would prefer to put off extension talks until the offseason, but the Dominican Republic native is intrigued by the idea.
“I do want to stay here long-term,” Bello told McCaffrey. “This is the organization that gave me a chance to be somebody so I’d love to stay here.”
The 2023 Red Sox have benefitted from their up-and-coming players enjoying breakout seasons. In addition to Bello, rookie first baseman Triston Casas and third-year center fielder Jarren Duran have been key to Boston staying in the playoff conversation with the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline looming. All three players have made strong cases to be integral parts of the organization's long-term plans.
Bello will look to stay hot when he takes the mound in Wednesday's series finale vs. the Oakland Athletics.
