Red Sox prospect Tristan Casas’s debut
Years of trading prospects to support a win-now major league team has turned the Red Sox farm system into one of the worst in all of baseball. Since dealer Dave Dombrowski took over as the team’s president of baseball operations, the Red Sox have produced just one homegrown, above-average regular: Rafael Devers.
Yet there are signs that the Red Sox farm system is on the rebound. Years of smart drafting and savvy trades has improved the team’s minor league rankings from 30th to the middle of the pack.
At the head of that comeback is Triston Casas, a hulking first baseman who is not just the best prospect in the system but also the one that is closest to the majors. Casas impressed last year during his stints in both Double-A and the U.S Olympic team and earned a promotion to Triple-A after slashing .284/.395/.484.
The question is not if Casas will make his major league debut this year, but when. It has been nearly half a decade since the Red Sox have a prospect of Casas’ caliber, and his arrival will be a major topic of discussions in Boston media this summer.