The Red Sox Have Locked Up Roman Anthony With a Massive 8-Year, $130 Million Deal

Well I'll be. This is an unexpected surprise. 

You can count me among the vast majority of Red Sox fans who were beginning to question our loyalty and starting to count down the days until the "SELL THE TEAM" signs started appearing in the stands and trailing behind small planes in the sky over Fenway after John Henry left Rafael Devers at the end of the driveway with a "FREE CLEANUP HITTER" sign on him. There's only so much lack of commitment you can take from an ownership group that has made cheaping out on its best talent a tradition the past seven or so years. 

But this move is eight years and $130 million worth of commitment. It's vindication for ownership and the front office. But also for the people who have argued that giving Devers away for basically nothing was less about saving money, and more about trying to salvage the culture in the locker room. That it's hard to build a winning, team-first attitude when your highest paid player is refusing to put a glove on and take the field out of pure petulance. 

What securing Roman Anthony for the future like this does is signal to the rest of the roster that they don't have to play out their contracts and chase paydays elsewhere. And to the public there is at least some semblance of a plan to keep this team competitive for the long haul. One that will be built around Anthony, and everyone around him:

And to Anthony himself, it's 130 million reasons to believe they expect him to be the face of the franchise for the next generation, at least. That he can follow in the proud tradition of great outfielders with MVP potential in this town that stretches back to the turn of the previous century. Bear in mind that while he's got a small sample size, he's got .400 OBP. The only qualifying players in MLB with a higher percentage are Aaron Judge and Will Smith. And he's only 21.

Some will quibble with Anthony's business decision. He could've played this out a little bit longer, gambled on himself, and in a few years maybe gotten a deal that dwarfs this one. The way Mookie Betts did. Or back in the 2000s, Jonathan Papelbon did. Especially given that Massachusetts has that pesky state income tax and now an extra millionaire's tax that plenty of markets don't. But the guy is barely old enough to legally buy beer and he's got generational wealth. And by the middle of the next decade, will be in a position to hit the market. So it's wrong to ever begrudge a guy who does what's in his own best interest, whether he chooses to wait, or takes the money now so he can focus on his career. 

It's rare when you get a move in mid-August in which everybody wins. This is one of those moments. A pure good, which deserves to be celebrated. Nice going, Mr. & Mrs. Pizzuti.

Winslow Townson. Getty Images.