Alex Cora couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I went to get my energy drink when I went down to go to the dugout, and I walk into the cage and I saw it,” the Red Sox manager said. “I just closed my eyes and I was like ‘oh my god, no way.’”

Sitting in the batting cage was his team’s new home run prop, a miniature version of Wally the Green Monster’s head.

Roughly the size of a motorcycle helmet and considerably fluffier than the version worn by the club’s longtime mascot, the new Wally Head made its grand debut at Fenway Park on Friday. Trevor Story got first dibs when he took Cardinals starter Erick Fedde deep for a three-run home run in the bottom of the first, and seconds later Wilyer Abreu donned the headpiece when he homered to give Boston a quick 5-0 lead.

The Red Sox plan to wear it after every home run hit this year, which the players hope will be a regular occurrence.

“It barely fits on our head but I’ll slam it on my head no matter what,” Story said. “It’s a fun thing and hopefully we can wear it a lot this year.”

The Wally Head is the latest in a line of home run props the Red Sox have introduced in recent years, and certainly the most attention-grabbing. Two years ago the team celebrated home runs with a pair of inflatable dumbbells inspired by Masataka Yoshida. Last season players donned a Boston Athletic Association medal, first Cora’s 5K medal and later a Boston Marathon medal donated by race organizers.

This year the players decided they wanted something a little bolder.

“At first I thought we were going to use Wally’s head but there was no way we were going to be able to fit that in the dugout,” said outfielder Jarren Duran. “So I asked (assistant GM Raquel Ferreira) is there any way we could get a miniature Wally head? And she made it happen.”

“She told me don’t get my hopes up and then yesterday Wally actually presented it to me,” Duran said. “So it was kind of a cool thing to happen.”

Right as Duran spoke the NESN broadcast on the clubhouse TV to his left showed the moment he spoke of, with Wally and Tessie summoning him from the clubhouse and presenting him with the prop.

Thanks to Jarren for commissioning the home run Wally head! pic.twitter.com/JqJnQCX8eq

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 4, 2025

“This is insane,” Duran says on the video as he tries it on. “They’re going to freak out when everyone puts this on.”

Though not exactly “traditional” by normal baseball standards, home run props have grown in prominence in recent seasons around the game, with some becoming particularly iconic. The Seattle Mariners have celebrated home runs by raising a golden trident, and while Shohei Ohtani was still playing for the Angels, the team would celebrate bombs by donning a samurai helmet.

While Cora insisted he had no part in the Wally Head’s creation, he’s on board with the celebration.

“I promise you I had no idea,” Cora said. “But it’s all fun, I think we’re in the entertainment business and people like it so if they want to do it, they’ve got the green light.”

And as for whether there’s any concern about the headpiece getting nasty as the season goes on, Duran said that would be a good problem for the club to have.

“I’m sure the staff here will keep it nice and clean for us,” Duran said. “But if we’re rolling I mean, if the thing’s got to be dirty, it’s got to be dirty.”

Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet is introduced during Friday’s Opening Day festivities. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Spend now, save later

While Garrett Crochet’s six-year, $170 million contract extension represents a significant financial commitment over the next few seasons, the deal won’t have any impact on this year’s payroll. Crochet will still make $3.8 million as planned this season and when the extension takes effect next year his average annual value will rise to $28 million.

The same is not true for Kristian Campbell.

Originally slated to earn the league minimum, Campbell will now earn $1 million plus a $2 million signing bonus for 2025. But because the eight-year, $60 million extension takes effect immediately, and since Campbell’s earnings will steadily rise, the rookie will instead count for $7.5 million against the luxury tax, his average annual value over the life of the deal.

According to @RedSoxPayroll, a respected resource who has tracked the club’s payroll for over a decade, the Red Sox payroll for 2025 is now expected to be $257.65 million, the highest total in franchise history by a significant margin.

Boston’s previous high for a season came in 2019, when the team’s payroll came in at $243.69 million.

This year the Red Sox have already surpassed the first Competitive Balance Tax threshold, but they still remain $3.35 million under the second threshold and are well under the more punitive third and fourth marks, at which point the club would risk having its highest draft pick moved back 10 spots. That means the Red Sox should still have enough financial wiggle room to finalize more extensions — perhaps with top prospects Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer — or make an impactful trade prior to the July 31 trade deadline.

Getting the Crochet and Campbell deals done now will also pay dividends down the road.

While the future is never certain, there’s a good chance the Red Sox would have had to pay more for both players than they did this past week. Crochet is already among the top pitchers in baseball, and if he pitches well this season he almost certainly could have commanded at least $200 million, either from the Red Sox next winter or in free agency following 2026.

And $7.5 million in average annual value for a player like Campbell is borderline unbelievable. It’ll be a good deal even if he winds up being just an OK player. It could go down as a historic steal if he develops into an All-Star.

Those deals should look even better towards the end of the decade as league-wide player salaries and the luxury tax thresholds continue to rise. The contracts will cost the Red Sox a little up front, but the long-term rewards should be well worth it.

San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill recently signed a nine-year, 5 million extension. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Merrill gets paid

What might Campbell have cost if the Red Sox waited until next offseason to try and sign him? San Diego’s Jackson Merrill is a potentially useful comparison.

The Padres outfielder, who finished runner-up in the National League Rookie of the Year vote, recently finalized a nine-year, $135 million extension that will keep him in San Diego well into next decade. The extension reportedly also includes a club option for 2035 and could max out at $205 million if Merrill reaches certain performance benchmarks.

Despite being regarded as a team-friendly deal, those totals are still potentially twice as much as what the Red Sox are in line to pay Campbell over a similar length of time.

To be fair, Campbell and Merrill are not an apples to apples comparison. Campbell had played five MLB games at the time his deal was announced, while Merrill had played an entire big league season. Merrill is also only 21 years old, nearly a full year younger than Campbell. Those details matter.

Still, if Campbell performs as expected his price tag would have gone up. It’s a lesson the club may want to keep in mind once Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer reach the majors.

Former BC High pitcher Shea Sprague, shown here in a 2019 state tournament game, will open the season with the Red Sox Low-A affiliate. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Sprague starts in Salem

Shea Sprague, a former BC High standout from Wellesley and Boston’s 13th-round pick out of the University of North Carolina last summer, has been assigned to Low-A Salem to start his first full professional season. He’ll join an intriguing staff that also includes notable Red Sox prospects like Brandon Clarke, whose fastball hit 100 mph in spring training, and Nicholas Judice, one of the three pitchers acquired in the Alex Verdugo trade.

A handful of other locals who were drafted or signed last summer also received their assignments to start the season. Among them, Shrewsbury’s John West (Shrewsbury High/Boston College) and Leominster’s Jonathan Santucci (Phillips Andover/Duke) will start the season with the Diamondbacks’ and Mets’ High-A affiliates, respectively. North Attleboro’s Dennis Colleran (North Attleboro High/Northeastern) will start with the Royals’ Low-A club, and Halifax’s Stephen Quigley (Silver Lake High/UConn) will open at Low-A for the Reds.