Latest bombshell Red Sox news proves Brewers made perfect Jackson Chourio decision

Throughout his minor league career, it always took Jackson Chourio roughly a month or two to acclimate to his new competition, but once he acclimated, he dominated. The same can be said for the start of Chourio's major league career. When Chourio debuted a season ago, at 20 years old, he started slow in April and May, but when the calendar flipped to June, Chourio was one of the best hitters in baseball.

That momentum has carried into the 2025 season, up until Chourio landed on the IL with a hamstring strain last week. In fact, since June 1, 2024, Chourio is slashing .289/.333/.497 for an OPS of .830 while slugging 33 HR and collecting 130 RBI during that span. With MVP votes already on his resume, it's clear that the Milwaukee Brewers have a budding superstar in their organization for at least the next eight years.

The reason that Brewers fans get to watch Chourio for eight more seasons is due to one of the best front office decisions in recent Brewers' history. However, up until the Boston Red Sox extended their rookie outfielder, Roman Anthony, on Wednesday afternoon, it may not have been clear just how good of a deal the Brewers got when they extended their top-ranked prospect, Chourio, before he even appeared in a major league game.

Roman Anthony's contract extension reveals just how good of a deal the Brewers got on Chourio's contract

Yesterday afternoon, the Red Sox announced that they had agreed to an eight-year, $130 million contract extension with their recently promoted top prospect, Roman Anthony. That's a significant increase from the eight-year, $82 million deal that Chourio signed in December of 2023.

The $48 million difference is a reward for the risk that the Brewers took on by signing Chourio prior to his MLB debut. The Red Sox waited to see Anthony play 46 games before agreeing to a contract extension, and by that time, it was clear that he was going to be a very solid major leaguer — he's slashing .276/.392/.417 through his first two months in MLB — which inevitably raises the price tag on his extension.

For the Brewers, saving nearly $50 million over the next eight years is huge. It's the difference between being able to sign someone like José Quintana every year or being able to afford the growing salaries of some of their key pieces like Sal Frelick or Brice Turang when they become arbitration eligible in the next few years.

It was certainly a risk, signing a player to an eight-year, $82 million contract before he even played in a big league game. However, those are the kinds of risks that the small-market Brewers should be taking because if it pays off, which it's looking like it will already, Chourio's value is far higher than the roughly $10 million that he will make for the next eight seasons. Having players outperform their contractual values is how the Brewers remain competitive year in and year out.

As such, the Red Sox' extension of Anthony yesterday reveals that the Brewers' front office is once again a step ahead of the rest of the league.