After a breakout campaign at just 23 years old in 2023, Triston Casas looked to be a future cornerstone for the Boston Red Sox. Even after a rib cartilage injury derailed his 2024 season, 13 homers and a 120 wRC+ seemed to solidify his standing as a future solution, as long as he could stay healthy.
But s`evere struggles over the first several weeks of 2025 ensued, followed by a devastating injury when a ruptured patellar tendon prematurely ended another campaign. It seemed that Casas was skating on thin ice once the winter began. The notion that he might not be ready to return to action at the start of spring training didn't help, but that alone shouldn't have been the death knell to his Red Sox career.
However, it seemed as if the club was looking for more certainty than what Casas could provide. The Pete Alonso rumors were persistent to begin the offseason, though the Red Sox's showing in that sweepstakes was embarrassing. Nonetheless, Boston's desire for veteran consistency at first base ultimately won out, and the acquisition of Willson Contreras seemed to be the sound of the other shoe dropping for Casas.
Craig Breslow, never known for his tact, spoke out on several factors that impact Casas, and while he tried his best to be diplomatic, it's not hard to read between the lines and find the real meaning in his doublespeak.
Craig Breslow's comments don't bode well for Triston Casas' future with the Red Sox
The undeniable fact is that the Red Sox have a bottleneck on their roster. Their current situation includes too many outfielders for the available roles, and that spills over into other areas. Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Jarren Duran make for four viable starting options for just three spots, and the presence of all four makes it impossible for Masataka Yoshida to be anything other than a DH. Add Contreras to the mix, and the question becomes, where does Casas play?
“We see him primarily at first base, maybe some DH opportunities. But the more that we can get his bat in the lineup, the better off we’re going to be,” Breslow said regarding Contreras, taking any notion of him logging time behind the plate off the table.
The Red Sox chief baseball officer would added on his thoughts about Casas' position, saying:
"We still have a ton of confidence and belief in Triston. What he needs to do is commit to doing everything possible to get back on the field. He’s doing that right now.”
That would seem to bode well for Casas, except it becomes very clear that it is nothing more than GM-speak once Breslow gives his thoughts on the rest of the roster.
For example, Boston still has a hole at second base, and if the club were willing to play the versatile Cedanne Rafaela there, it would help alleviate the outfield logjam, thus freeing up DH reps for Casas. However, Breslow poured cold water on that idea, stating, "We’re a better team with Ceddanne in center field, and we’ll try to keep (him) there.”
If anything, the Red Sox are looking to make the logjam worse and not better, given their links to Ketel Marte and now the news coming out that trade talks are heating up yet again between them and the Cardinals, this time for second baseman and left fielder Brendan Donovan.
A move for Marte or Donovan would neutralize the impact that any subsequent trade to rid themselves of an outfielder would have on the playing time crunch.
With all that in mind, it seems pretty clear that the positivity in Breslow's statements regarding Casas serves a different purpose than expressing optimism for his chances to succeed with the Red Sox in 2026, and instead is a ploy to raise his trade value as the Red Sox clearly look to move on without Casas in their vision of the future.