The Major League Baseball offseason hasn’t fully begun yet because of the fact that the World Series is still underway, but the Boston Red Sox’s first base situation has already gotten plenty of headlines.
In 2025, Triston Casas was expected to be the guy still, despite trade rumors before the campaign. He got hurt and missed most of the season, though. Romy González did a good job throughout the year filling in and eventually the Red Sox brought in Nathaniel Lowe to platoon with him as well and he was solid too. But, there’s a very realistic chance that the Red Sox move on from Lowe because of a high estimated arbitration salary. That’s been a topic of conversation, but that’s not all. Pete Alonso of the New York Mets has been thrown around as a potential target for Boston for weeks as well.
The Red Sox’s first base picture isn’t clear right now, but fans shouldn’t necessarily expect Boston to cut ties with Casas. In fact, The Athletic’s Red Sox insider Jen McCaffrey said she doesn’t think Casas will get traded.
“I don’t think he’ll be traded for a few reasons,” McCaffrey said. “Casas is coming off a major injury, so he has very little trade value at the moment. The Red Sox have seen his rehab up close, but other teams don’t have that luxury and likely wouldn’t offer much for him. Meanwhile, for the Red Sox, depth is key. Casas is projected to make roughly $1.7 million in arbitration and also has minor league options. If they feel he’s not ready at the start of the season to contribute in the majors, the Red Sox could option him to Triple A. He’s been a major power threat in the past, and if he can regain that form, trading him now would be a mistake.
The Red Sox shouldn’t trade Triston Casas
“There was another question posted about Casas’ timetable for return and that is a bit up in the air, but last summer he said he’s aiming to be ready to play by Opening Day. At the end of the season, Breslow refrained from definitively calling Casas his Opening Day first baseman, aware of the many checkpoints Casas has to pass to be ready for late March. It’s not unrealistic to think Casas starts the year in Triple A to build up playing time. That, of course, means the Red Sox would need a first baseman in the majors.”
This would absolutely be the right move. So much has been said about Casas and he seems to be a pretty polarizing figure. Injuries have hurt him the last two seasons, but this is still a guy who is just 25 years old and has plenty of upside.
He’s a former first-round pick and was a top prospect for Boston. If he was on another team, he would be the type of player fans would want the Red Sox to consider as a buy-low option with upside because he has years of control and immense pop. In 2023 he showed what he could do with 24 homers and 65 RBIs as a rookie in 132 games played.
The last two seasons didn’t go as planned, but if he can get healthy, he has the type of bat Boston needs at a fraction of the cost it would take to bring someone in on the open market.
