Roman Anthony, so touted as a part of the Red Sox’ future, is positioned now as a foundational piece of a very long present.
Anthony and the Red Sox agreed to an eight-year, $130 million contract that will begin in 2026, a source confirmed to the Globe on Wednesday, locking up the 21-year-old rookie through at least the 2033 season.
The deal includes escalators — based on Rookie of the Year and MVP voting, as well as All-Star appearances — that could make it worth $230 million. The Red Sox also hold a club option for 2034, at which point Anthony will be 30.
Anthony, an outfielder, joins ace pitcher Garrett Crochet (signed through at least 2030 and perhaps 2032), center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (at least 2031, with a club option for 2032), righthander Brayan Bello (at least 2029, with a club option for 2030), and rookie infielder Kristian Campbell (at least 2032, with two more club option years) as those under long-term deals. All have signed since Craig Breslow took over as chief baseball officer after the 2023 season.
Anthony has played 46 games in the majors. His new contract will cover 1,296 games.
The Red Sox called up Anthony, the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, on June 9 as a replacement for Wilyer Abreu, who headed for a brief stay on the injured list. In the almost two months since, Anthony has batted .283 with a .400 OBP, .428 slugging percentage, two home runs, and 19 RBIs, drawing consistent rave reviews from manager Alex Cora and teammates.
A testament of Cora’s faith in Anthony: He batted fifth in his debut and has never moved lower in the lineup.In recent days, Anthony has been the leadoff man against righthander pitchers and batted third against lefthanders.
Anthony’s is the second-largest financial guarantee in baseball history for a player with less than one year of service time in the majors. The Mariners committed at least $209.3 million (over 12 years) to Julio Rodriguez during his rookie season in 2022.
As is always the case with early-career contracts, there is some risk and reward for player and team.
For Anthony, it’s a nine-figure certainty at a time when he would have been several years away from earning a substantial salary (in major league terms), in exchange for giving up some potential earning power in three or maybe four free agent years. Without a long-term deal, the Sox still would have had him for at or slightly above the major league minimum of $780,000 for 2026 and 2027 (after which he would have entered the salary arbitration system).
For the Red Sox, giving that much money to such a young player — who, for as good as he is, doesn’t have much of a track record — comes with an average annual value of $16.25 million (before escalators add extra money). That could prove to be an extreme bargain, particularly in Anthony’s late 20s.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey. Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.
