BALTIMORE (AP) — Kristian Campbell agreed to a $60 million, eight-year contract with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, less than a week after his major league debut.
Campbell agreed to the deal with just six days of major league service time. Boston struck a big-money deal with a rookie for the second straight year following a $50 million, eight-year contract last April with outfielder/infielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who started 2024 with 35 days of service.
“I know we have a really good team and a really good system," Campbell said. “It's a winning culture, a winning organization. ... Winning people, in the city of Boston. That made the decision fairly easy.”
Campbell gets a $2 million signing bonus, half payable within 60 days of the contract’s approval by Major League Baseball and half next Jan. 15. He receives salaries of $1 million this year, $2 million in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $4 million in 2028, $6 million in 2029, $9 million in 2030, $13 million in 2031 and $16 million in 2032. The deal includes a $19 million team option for 2033 with a $4 million buyout and a $21 million team option for 2034 with no buyout.
Salaries for 2031-34 can escalate based on accomplishment in the immediately preceding season: $200,000 for making the All-Star team, $2 million for winning an MVP award, $1 million for finishing second or third in the voting, $500,000 for fourth or fifth, and $250,000 for sixth through 10th.
A 22-year-old infielder and outfielder, Campbell made his big league debut March 27 as Boston's youngest opening day starter at second since Reggie Smith. He entered Wednesday hitting .375 (6 for 16) with two doubles, one homer, two RBIs and four walks.
“They developed me from day one, as soon as I got drafted. They've been working with me every day,” Campbell said. “I've learned something new every day. They've helped me become the player I am today. So it means a lot to me that I'm with the Red Sox for a long time.”
Campbell's new deal supersedes a one-year contract paying the $760,000 minimum while in the major leagues.
“I've just got to worry about baseball now. Everything that's happened is life-changing for sure," he said. “I'm looking forward to just playing baseball now, winning games.”
Campbell's contract comes the same week the Red Sox agreed to a $170 million, six-year contract with ace left-hander Garrett Crochet, whom Boston acquired in an offseason trade from the Chicago White Sox.
“We're building something really good,” Campbell said. “We have a lot of great players. ... Going in the right direction for sure.”
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Boston Red Sox's Kristian Campbell gestures as he stands on second base after he doubled during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Boston Red Sox's Kristian Campbell, left, runs the bases past third base coach Kyle Hudson (84) after his home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Boston Red Sox's Kristian Campbell slides into third, reaching on a Wilyer Abreu single in the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of Mukalla on Tuesday after a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates arrived for separatist forces in the war-torn country, and warned that it viewed Emirati actions as “extremely dangerous.”
The bombing followed tensions over the advance of Emirates-backed separatist forces known as the Southern Transitional Council. The council and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE's presence, even as others allied with Saudi Arabia demanded that Emirati forces withdraw from Yemen in 24 hours' time.
The UAE called for “restraint and wisdom” and disputed Riyadh’s allegations. But shortly after that, it said it would withdraw its remaining troops in Yemen. It remained unclear whether the separatists it backs will give up the territory they recently took.
The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen's decade-long war, with forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels possibly turning their sights on each other in the Arab world's poorest nation.
It also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. Tuesday’s airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be their most serious confrontation in decades.
“I expect a calibrated escalation from both sides. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council is likely to respond by consolidating control,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the Basha Report, a risk advisory firm.
“At the same time, the flow of weapons from the UAE to the STC is set to be curtailed following the port attack, particularly as Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.”
A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes on Mukalla, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah in the UAE.
“The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” the statement said.
“Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla,” it added.
It wasn't clear if there were any casualties.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry hours later denied it shipped weapons but acknowledged it sent the vehicles “for use by the UAE forces operating in Yemen.” It also claimed Saudi Arabia knew about the shipment ahead of time.
The ministry called for “the highest levels of coordination, restraint and wisdom, taking into account the existing security challenges and threats.”
The Emirati Defense Ministry later said it would withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen over “recent developments and their potential repercussions on the safety and effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations.” It gave no timeline for the withdrawal. The UAE broadly withdrew its forces from Yemen years earlier.
Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces not aligned with the separatists declared a state of emergency Tuesday and ended their cooperation with the UAE. They issued a 72-hour ban on border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia. It remained unclear whether that coalition, governed under the umbrella of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, would remain intact.
The Southern Transitional Council’s AIC satellite news channel aired footage of the strike's aftermath but avoided showing damage to the armored vehicles.
“This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will only strengthen popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a South Arabian state,” the channel said.
The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, urged combatants to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, like the port, saying any disruption to its operations “risks affecting the already dire humanitarian situation and humanitarian supply chains.”
Mukalla is in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, which the council seized in recent days. The port city is some 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula off East Africa, borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The war there has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.
The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, disrupting regional shipping. The U.S., which earlier praised Saudi-Emirati efforts to end the crisis over the separatists, has launched airstrikes against the rebels under both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Tuesday's strike in Mukalla comes after Saudi Arabia targeted the council in airstrikes Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra.
The council had pushed out forces there affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the anti-Houthi coalition.
Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators have been rallying to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede again.
A statement Tuesday from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry directly linked the council's advance to the Emiratis for the first time.
“The kingdom notes that the steps taken by the sisterly United Arab Emirates are extremely dangerous,” it said.
Allies of the council later issued a statement in which they showed no sign of backing down.
Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
This frame grab from video broadcast by Saudi state television on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, shows what the kingdom describes as a shipment of weapons and armored vehicles coming from the United Arab Emirates, at Mukalla, Yemen. (Saudi state television via AP)
