Triston Casas has captured his fair share of headlines in the early days of Boston Red Sox spring training, as he tends to do with seemingly every interview.
Reporters have taken to asking Casas hard questions since he’ll almost always answer. The first baseman shared that he believes Rafael Devers should remain the Red Sox’s third baseman over newcomer and 2024 Gold Glover Alex Bregman, and that their top prospects should spend more time in Triple-A before their big league debuts. Some Boston fans haven’t taken his responses well, and plenty of others don’t really seem to care.
The former crowd is vocal about their disdain for Casas. He made waves in MLB with his pregame grounding routine, painted nails and openness on the mic and he has plenty of detractors for it, and his recent comments don’t help. Some say (no reliable sources) that the Red Sox sought to trade Casas this winter because his actions cause a stir in the clubhouse. Scott Zolak and Marc Bertrand shared their thoughts on the failed Casas deals on their show, “Zolak & Bertrand” on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
“I’d lose the deal on him,” Bertrand said. Zolak later agreed. The two hosts also threw Casas’ work ethic into question, suggesting he doesn’t care, while show associate producer Tyler Milliken explained that there is only evidence to the contrary.
Boston radio show shares shortsighted take on potential Red Sox-Triston Casas trade
Regardless of his shenanigans on the mic, Casas’ actual job is to play baseball, and the Red Sox haven’t seen enough of such a young, promising player with years of team control to take a loss on trading him. Casas has played 222 games in the big leagues since his debut in 2022, and he missed almost four months of 2024 with a ribcage injury. In the 63 games he was able to play, the lefty slashed .241/.337/.462 with a .800 OPS and 13 homers, which comes out to a 32-homer pace over 162 games. Casas probably won’t play a full slate in 2025, but it’s hard to argue he’s missed expectations in the power department.
Not only is trading a capable, controllable player just for the sake of getting rid of him foolish, but his opinions on the roster — or any other team decisions — don’t matter. Casas isn’t the manager and he definitely should’ve deferred to the men in charge with his answer, but he has no influence on lineups, and other players realize that. He was asked a question and he answered it. He could’ve, and should’ve, kept his opinion to himself, but neither Devers nor Alex Cora handled questions about Devers’ potential position change well, either.
If Casas’ biggest sin is not talking to media like a robot, he’s doing fine. He just needs to back his attitude up by posting his best season yet in 2025.