Each and every day, it feels like the first baseman is going to be on the move
The Triston Casas experience is always a weird one.
And on Monday, we got yet another nugget on the mercurial Red Sox first baseman - this time from Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe:
“It felt like the Sox had started to sour on Triston Casas in October when Breslow wouldn’t commit to his being the first baseman next season. Now it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be on the roster come spring training.
“Other teams have gotten the impression that the Sox would move Casas in a trade. His value has never been lower after playing only 92 games the last two seasons because of significant injuries.
“But Casas is projected to receive only $1.7 million via arbitration. That could be enticing for teams looking at add power at a low cost.”
For more context - here’s video of Breslow’s non-committal to Casas that I shot from his end of season press conference at Fenway in early October:
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Breslow was asked if the team feels confident in Triston Casas returning as their starting first baseman in 2026, or if they intend to look elsewhere:
“…I don’t think it makes a ton of sense on October 6th to say someone is or isn’t our first baseman…”
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After finishing as a finalist for 2023 AL Rookie of the Year, Casas followed up that campaign with a disappointing 2024 season.
Torn cartilage in his right rib cage forced the first baseman to miss 99 games. And as a result, he was unable to get back into a rhythm at the plate as a reliable power hitter. His WAR dropped year-over-year from 2.2 to 0.6, as he batted .241 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI. He struck out 77 times in 243 plate appearances.
2025 had to be a bounce back season for the 25-year-old.
Unfortunately for both him and Boston, that didn’t happen.
In the 29 games Casas appeared in before suffering a season-ending injury to his left patellar tendon on May 2, he was a -0.9 WAR player, striking out 27 times and batting just .182. His on base was .277 and he slugged just .303, good for an OPS of .580. His OPS+ dropped year-over-year from 124 to 62. He was good for just 3 home runs and 11 RBI.
To be fair to Casas, he didn’t have the opportunity to come out of his slow start the way Trevor Story did starting in late May/early June. After just 243 plate appearances, his season was over.
But after a bad 2024 and a bad start to 2025, Red Sox fans and media are generally down on Casas moving forward. He’s being viewed as a player that was already trending in the wrong direction, now having to get his bat right while rehabbing from major leg surgery. It’s a really bad combination.
Fast forward to that aforementioned Breslow end of season presser, and it doesn’t sound like the organization is all that high on him either.
Does this lack of enthusiasm for Casas’ future at first base have anything to do with his cryptic Instagram caption from earlier this month?
For those who missed it:
“If we’re gonna have any chance at something decent it’s stuff like this that needs to be addressed , I’m going to try to be as transparent as possible… within reason . No delusion , just normalizing the tough conversation.”
Without a picture for context, this caption doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But even with it, it’s still hard to tell what he’s trying to say:
To call Casas eccentric would be an understatement. All of this could be much to do about nothing. And to be frank, the best thing that can happen for the Red Sox at first base is Casas regaining his 2023 form. Sure, signing Pete Alonso wouldn’t hurt. And they should do that, too.
But Casas returning to form, whether it’s as an every day player, a DH, or a depth piece, is exactly what Boston should hope for this offseason.
Playing on a one-year, pre-arbitration deal worth $1.5 million in 2026, it behooves Boston to get the most out of Casas, painted nails and all.
If he becomes an overqualified bench bat, use him as a trade chip. If that doesn’t work out, you have him for valuable depth down the stretch as injuries inevitably occur.
The Triston Casas experience will continue to be one of the most fascinating sagas to follow this offseason.
Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.