Just three short years ago, power-hitting first baseman Triston Casas was among the best prospects in baseball and was seen as the future at first base for the Boston Red Sox. Now, after injuries have limited him to just 92 games since 2024, could the 26-year-old be a non-tender candidate? 

Casas made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2022, hitting .197/.358/.408/.766 with five home runs in 27 games. He followed up a solid showing at the end of 2022 with what looked to be a breakout season in 2023, where the then-23-year-old hit .263/.367/.490/.857 with 24 home runs, 21 doubles, driving in 65 runs in 132 games. 

However, since that breakout season, Casas has been limited to just 92 games thanks to a litany of injuries. In 2024, he tore cartilage in his rib, causing pain that he likened to being stabbed, and it caused him to miss 99 regular-season games. In 2025, after getting off to a rough start, he suffered a gruesome leg injury, tearing his left patellar tendon while running out a ground ball, ending his season. 

After spending the offseason recovering from the knee injury, Casas suffered multiple setbacks in 2026. As the 26-year-old worked his way back to the field in April, an intercostal strain shut him down from swinging. He finally resumed hitting activity on June 21, but just two weeks after beginning a hitting progression, he was again shut down thanks to a wrist injury that required season-ending surgery. 

In the 92 games Casas has played since 2024, he's been largely ineffective, hitting just .222/.318/.412/.730 with 16 home runs and 11 doubles. 

Now in his second year of arbitration, Casas is expected to earn $1.7 million. With a 40-man roster crunch looming as the 60-day injured list expires at the end of the World Series, Boston could at least consider non-tendering the 26-year-old. However, the team would likely designate or non-tender several other players before Casas, so the decision may come closer to the Nov. 20 non-tender deadline as it clears space for roster additions. That said, moving on from Casas, once viewed as a Freddie Freeman-type player, would be an incredibly risky move for the Red Sox.

The team enters the offseason with a massive need for power after finishing the 2026 season in the bottom 15 in baseball in runs (689, 23rd), home runs (163, 26th), OPS (.717, 19th), and wRC+ (99, 17th). While Casas certainly cannot be relied on as a major piece of the puzzle heading into 2027, he's shown massive power potential in his only fully healthy season at the major league level and could still be a piece of the puzzle moving forward as depth in Triple-A or as a bench bat, filling in for Willson Contreras at first base, or spelling whoever the team tabs as the designated hitter. 

With Casas expected to make just $1.7 million in 2027, the savings don't outweigh the risk of him signing elsewhere as a 26-year-old unrestricted free agent, returning to full health, and becoming the player he showed flashes of being early in his career.

At this point, you've ridden things out with Casas' injuries for three years; there's really no point in giving up now, especially not to save just under $2 million. 

Looking for more on the Red Sox needs heading into the offseason? Zach Coe and David Azer are back on the 'Entering Kenmore' Podcast discussing how close Boston is to winning a World Series, whether the 2026 season was a success, and whether fans should have faith in Craig Breslow's ability to build a World Series contender. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts, or in the YouTube player below: