'I love Boston': Casas taking offseason rumors in stride

BOSTON -- While statistics generally aren’t kept during the offseason, first baseman Triston Casas definitely leads the Red Sox in trade rumors over the past couple of months.

But there he was, front and center, as part of the mix as ever, as the Red Sox held their Fenway Fest event on Saturday.

With a month left until Spring Training, it seems more likely than not that Casas will be in the middle of Boston’s batting order rather than somewhere else.

Casas isn’t one of those souls who will have to get his mind right after a winter of trade rumors.

“I try not to get too caught up in it,” said Casas. “I feel like this is part of the business of baseball. Checking in on players, seeing what kind of value you could get back. And you never know what kind of haul you could get for a player, or how much another organization values somebody. So it might be in the best interest to move myself or anybody, really, if there's a good enough package.”

That said, Casas would prefer to stay with the organization that selected him out of high school in the first round of the 2018 Draft.

“I love Boston,” said Casas. “I love everything about it, and they've welcomed me with open arms since my first professional day. So it'd be great to play here as long as possible. I love the fans, and they’ve welcomed me generously all the time. So I would love to play the rest of my career here, but if it's elsewhere, I just feel like [Opening Day], no matter where it's at, I'm going to be playing a Major League game. So just focus on that.”

Casas has been assured by team officials that the rumors are just that -- rumors.

“They've told me that none of the rumors are true,” Casas said. “So maybe all that other stuff is just click bait. But for right now, they’re trying to assure me that they want me to play here for a long time. So that makes me feel good."

In 2023, Casas bounced back from a rough first half to become a force down the stretch. His improvement was so dramatic that he finished third in the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award voting.

He seemed on the way to a similar season in ’24, only to suffer torn cartilage in his right ribcage on April 20 and miss four months of the season.

Upon his return to action, Casas was in battle mode, slashing .239/.333/.433 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 153 plate appearances. Three of the homers came in one game on Sept. 22 against the Twins.

“I felt like last summer I did one of the most difficult things I'll ever have to do in my baseball career, no matter how long I play, which is having a healthy offseason, great Spring Training, off to a good start, miss four months and then get thrown right back into the fire and expect to perform at the highest level,” said Casas. “It was a lot for myself, but I felt like I handled it as best as I could. So to know that I can compete with those conditions, it makes me feel good.”

The fact that the Red Sox have such a left-handed-heavy lineup is one of the reasons Casas -- a lefty himself -- has found himself in trade rumors.

And if Boston winds up getting a right-handed-hitting third baseman like Alex Bregman (free agent) or Nolan Arenado (trade candidate), Rafael Devers could be moved across the diamond to first base, leaving Casas without a position.

But Casas has no room for that in his mind.

“No, not at all. Like I said, I tried to disassociate with the emotion of the business part of baseball," Casas said, "so I feel like it's just part of the nature to check in on guys and constantly want to bolster your roster, and sometimes it takes shaking up an organization to do so."

Casas spent his winter getting in the best shape possible in hopes of being part of a Boston team that can end a three-year postseason drought.

“I’m feeling great, yeah, the best shape I’ve been in in my career, my ribs are completely healed, and I’m fully ready to go next year,” Casas said. “I've been building the volume in the cage substantially. The swing is feeling great, the body is as well. So I'm really looking forward to a healthy ’25.”