Contract For Impactful Red Sox Rookie Already Looking Like ‘Steal’

Sox Talk with Will Middlebrooks is a recurring content series on NESN.com. Middlebrooks, a former Red Sox player and current NESN analyst, gives his insight and opinion on pertinent Red Sox storylines throughout the season. You can read the latest stories from the series here.

Just 10 games into his first full season in the big leagues, the Boston Red Sox handed Ceddanne Rafaela an eight-year, $50 million contract extension.

And it didn't take long for Rafaela to reward the Red Sox for their faith in the 23-year-old.

The athletic shortstop and center fielder made an immediate impact both at the plate and in the field this season to put himself squarely in the American League Rookie of the Year conversation.

It might have seemed in the moment that the Red Sox pulled the trigger too early on locking an unproven rookie into their future when they gave Rafaela the extension. But now, it's not only looking like a cost-effective move, but a very shrewd one, too.

"I'm starting to think maybe this front office knew what they were doing when they signed this guy," former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks told NESN.com. "Because maybe we look back in two or three years and go, 'Oof, that was a steal,' like some of the guys in Atlanta did. He's coming into his own."

Rafaela, who dazzled in the minors as a prospect and got a taste of the big leagues last year as an end-of-season call up, shrugged off a slow start -- he batted .186 in the first month of the campaign -- before finding his stride. He batted .315 in June and kept it rolling at the start of July by smacking a pair of home runs in last weekend's series against the New York Yankees.

Rafaela wasn't fazed by that moment and it's clear Red Sox manager Alex Cora trusts him. Rafaela entered Friday playing in 90 of a possible 92 games while shouldering the responsibility of manning two of the most important defensive positions on the diamond.

Cora recently backed Rafaela as a Rookie of the Year candidate and he certainly can make a compelling case. The Curacao native is among the leaders for rookies in several offensive categories. He's tied for first in RBIs (56), third in hits (99), third in home runs (13), third in doubles (21) and fourth in stolen bases (14).

DraftKings Sportsbook currently has Rafaela with the fourth-best odds at +800 to claim the rookie hardware behind Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford, Yankees pitcher Luis Gil and Baltimore Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser.

"That's got to matter. He's ranking against all the guys that he's competing against for that," Middlebrooks said. "Yeah, there's pitchers in there. There's the Mason Millers and guys like that who have slowed down a bit. But if he continues this pace, you got to think he's going to be at least a finalist at the end of this year because of the way he's able to impact the team, especially if this team is a playoff team. That's going to matter, too."

Rafaela has gone through the growing pains all rookies must endure. He had difficulty with chasing pitches but improved his plate discipline. He still has trouble with fastballs at the top of the zone and will need to work on catching up to those pitches to take another jump in the batter's box.

He's learning as he goes and the Red Sox have to be thrilled with the contributions of Rafaela while also thinking about what he can do in the future as a critical piece of their core.

"This kid is the real deal," Middlebrooks said. "Does he have adjustments to make? Absolutely. He's also a kid in his first year in the big leagues. And he's developing at the big league level yet impacting the game and being a productive player. So, he's special. Like I said, we're going to look back on this contract and be like, 'That was a very team-friendly deal."