Tweet here. This is just some interesting info that I think might shine light on how the initial roster shakes out for 2026. I'm Triston Casas apologist numero uno around here, but this honestly settles it in my mind -- he's starting the season in the minors unless he looks like Barry Bonds in ST. And it might be good for him too. Admittedly, he didn't look good before the injury in 2025.
Do we even know he will be active for opening day let alone for ST? Patellar tendon rupture is devastating.
Craig was saying they expect him to be on schedule, but who knows how much stock to put in that.
Is the schedule to be ready for ST though? The schedule might be to be ready for August.
Nobody knows but it’s not like he’s still in crutches, he’s at least swinging a bat now
Physically or mentally swinging a bat?
hurr hurr hurr hurr mental swings hurr hurr hurr - this sub
It’s January, let me have a lil leeway
Since you asked nicely, ok
In your defense, that’s the first thing I thought when I saw the comment.
"Full throttle swings" would be right there and the doomers wouldn't even manage a foul tip.
He would need to be optioned specifically to not get MLB service, being on the MLB IL and on a rehab assignment in the minors he would still get MLB service time.
Didn’t know this, but great post! Agreed! The Sox will absolutely have him in Worcester to start the year
As he should. The guy is a slow starter, he’s been hurt for 2 solid years, it makes tons of sense as the best path for success.
I also highly doubt he'll be at 100% for opening day either. Just let him rest up and get back into it in Worcester. Call him back when he's good to go.
Which is an entirely different argument from “option him for seven weeks to gain the extra year of control”.
He could be tearing the cover off the ball and those cheap bastards wont call him up til memorial day
Right?!?!? It’s horrible how we have ownership that charges among the highest prices in the league and yet won’t spend money and also manipulates their players this way
And alleged “fans” encouraging them to do so.
Hopefully the whole year
In an ideal world, Contreras at 1B in the near term, Casas rehab to full recovery and minors at least first half, give healthy Yoshida time to accrue a modicum of value, flip Yoshida at the deadline to offense starved team, call up Casas to finish the year at DH, see if he can improve his 1B defense with Contreras still on the team. In an ideal, frictionless world.
This.
Yeah, give the kid a legit chance for success. And keep your fingers crossed.
I honestly think the over obsession with a 29 game sample size is one of the craziest things about this sub, because 30/30 MLB front offices would consider a sample size that small meaningless, especially when the player has almost 1000 MLB ABs.
I don’t enjoy service time manipulation and I don’t understand why other fans do. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
A not-insignificant chunk of this fanbase obsesses over small sample sizes good and bad. Villainizing players who had a poor three-game series and praising a hot 10-game stretch.
My point about it being irrelevant to front offices is exactly that, guys go through tough times at the plate for various reasons (playing hurt, mechanics off) all the time. We actually know what was up with Casas because Cora was bragging about forcing him to swing at shit and then bradfo posted that his mechanics were changed which sorted a lot of his issues out towards the end of April. But people are just in love with this argument for someone who has managed to be an above average hitter pretty much his whole time in the league.
29 Awful games followed by a devastating lower body injury. He needs to get healthy and play his way back out of AAA. I'd be surprised if he even sees any live game reps before June.
Bleating about the same small sample size, just don’t bother replying next time lmao
You didn't just ignore the devastating lower body injury part, did you?
Almost as though I pointed out the small sample size as irrelevant? I’m pretty sure everyone knows it was a devastating injury.
Well whether you think those 29 games are overstated or not is a matter of opinion, but you can't just pretend they never happened. It certainly wasn't encouraging. You can defend him all you like but it doesn't change reality.
I mean stick to one argument. Literally most of the league has a shit stretch of games like that in them. For some reason, people don’t pretend that’s all they are!
Nobody knows if it will be just a "shit stretch" going forward after his injury. But I'm looking at the whole picture whereas you just want to ramble on about 29 fucking games that happened - before his fucking leg exploded.
His whole picture shows that the 29 game stretch is significantly below his career averages. Edwin Diaz also came back from the exact same injury at several years older. You just want to hammer the guy, idk and idc.
Damn bro you are really mad up in here. Go get some fresh air lol
I totally agree with the first part-- like I said, #1 Casas Stan here. 112 PAs with a < .600 OPS is bad but not worth fretting over when it comes on the heels of 800 PAs > .800 OPS.
As for the second part, Casas is definitely part of a roster logjam right now with 1B and DH both occupied and I think the service time manipulation is just smart from a business standpoint, which like it or not, is part of the game now.
I mean you’re arguing him to be in Worcester for seven weeks, but if he’s healthy and raking in triple A he’s wasted down there because they refuse to get Yoshida off the damn roster.
That's a significant "if" and even granting that, we're talking about 7 weeks of Casas while he's get his feet back under him in exchange for a whole season of Casas further down the line.
If he’s healthy and raking he shouldn’t spend a second long in Worcester than he needs to. I don’t care if it gives them an extra year of control.
Idk what to tell you man, it's a year for 7 weeks. And as of now the Red Sox have a 1B and more DH options than they know what to do with. At the very least he'll need some of those 7 weeks to prove he's a better DH option than whoever we start with.
I mean he’s literally already got a career OPS+ 10 points higher than Masa while being younger, cheaper, and far more of a power hitter.
Younger and cheaper aren't really relevant considerations when they've already made their financial commitment to Masa. As for the higher career ops+, I totally agree Casas can be better but it wouldn't hurt to make him prove he can get back there, especially if it means getting another year of control.
Yes. Masa got buried in the depth chart spending more time than needed in the minors when Devers was the full time DH. His injury did not prevent him from DH duty but he was never going to play over Devers. Casas injury much worse and more challenging to predict future health. Frame it as Service time manipulation or not it’s just smart business to forgo and trade the first unpredictable 7 weeks of a player coming off significant injury for an entire extra year of control when they hopefully are at full strength again. Smart team building short and long term.
It’s not “framing it” as service time manipulation. That’s literally what it is and it’s an insane thing to suggest doing to a player with three years service time. It’s poverty franchise stuff, as someone said upthread.
I refer you to my initial comment about what I think about service time manipulation and draw the line there. Will never excuse it.
Okay but it doesn't change the fact that it's smart strategically
He had an .856 ops in 2023 in 502 PA. That is why, it has just been injuries since. They could trade him but would get next to nothing in return. The talent is there so they might as well give him one more chance to see if he can stay healthy and reach his potential.
Also, a career .800 ops in 1000 PAs is very solid, especially considering how bad he was last season and even 2024. I’m not saying the Red Sox should be relying on him in 2026, but he could still be good.
They wouldn’t get “next to nothing” in return. Teams would be trying to buy low opportunistically. You know who you get “next to nothing” in return for? Yoshida. Hicks. Arenado. There are always teams willing to trade for upside, especially when the upside is a power hitter with plate discipline who gets paid nothing.
Also, 124 OPS+ in 2024 was not bad, you people are fucking insane
Now that I look at it, 2024 wasn’t bad at all. I guess I just remember it being a bit of a disappointment compared to 2023. And yes, they would get nothing in return compared to what he could be because of the injuries. Yoshida and Hicks are worth less than nothing because of their contracts They would be lucky to get a prospect inside a decent systems top 15 for Casas. They would have to eat money and/or give up prospects to trade yoshida or hicks
Red Sox already tried to trade him, and couldn't find a deal even before the latest patellar tear. An oft injured one tool first baseman is not worth what you think he is.
You keep posting stuff like this and you keep being wrong.
30/30 teams didn’t value him all that highly before the slump. It’s not like when Story slumps and he still runs and plays shortstop and is a leader or when Devers slumps and you know he’s still one of the best hitters in the game.
What are you basing that on?
Play him. I can’t take it anymore.
Imagine Patella tendon injuries are a bit tricky. Wouldnt hurt to see him get it going in AAA (since he notoriously is already a slow starter) before he gets regular PT in Boston.
Start the year with Yoshida at DH, let Casas get it going in triple a, and then hopefully he pushes his way into the DH role at the major league level
Let him cook in the minors and get his confidence back
I think it’s silly to mess around with service time with a guy who’s been in the majors as long as him (I mean it’s lame to do service time manipulation at all but I guess we’ve all made our peace with it happening for rookies). If he gets optioned and needs extended minor league time to get his feet under him whatever, but if he’s tearing the cover off the ball in Worcester nobody should give a shit about the extra year of control. If he can make an impact in the big leagues that’s where we need him.
Exactly. They don’t have any other power hitters in the system with anything close to his impact. I do not get encouraging this outcome. If he’s rusty as fuck after ST and needs a rehab assignment and AAA reps, fine. If he is healthy and raking, he shouldn’t spend a single day in Worcester because Breslow can’t manage a roster.
Nothing here changes the fact that it's 1 year for 7 weeks, in your scenario where he's "tearing the cover off the ball" he likely needs some of those 7 weeks to prove that. And this also presumes he's decisively outperforming whoever the DH is at the time.
The whole reason the extra year of time is so enticing to you is because you think he can be an impact big leaguer. If he’s showing he can do that early in the season, he should be given the opportunity. Leaving a guy with almost 1000 PAs in MLB at Triple A unnecessarily because you want to scrape more surplus value from him is poverty franchise shit and I think it sucks. It’s also a great way to piss off the player, especially an outspoken guy like Casas. He will absolutely know what’s going on and make a stink. Might even file a grievance.
Okay you think it sucks but strategically it's the smart move
Again, that would likely require at least a chunk of that seven weeks, and then he would need to be outperforming whoever is DH'ing.
You’re actually allowed to care about things other than bottom line efficiency. You don’t need to explain how it’s “strategic” to me again I got it when I read the post. I’m sharing an opinion. You also keep bringing up “he’ll need some of the time anyways” I think it’s completely intellectually dishonest. Guys getting back up to speed after an injury go on rehab assignments and those guys accrue service time, in part to prevent the exact kind of fuckery you want. You are obviously advocating for sticking him in the minors for the time it takes to get the year of control come hell or high water. Doesn’t matter what he looks like or what the big league lineup looks like. Just admit that.
Insane people genuinely making this argument
Alright, and I'm sharing an opinion that one year of Casas is worth more than 7 weeks of Casas.
No, Casas is obviously questionable for the everyday starting lineup to start the season, especially before Duran gets traded. You keep glossing over that.
With apologists like you, who needs enemies?
Spring training is two months. A rehab assignment is 20 days. You’re advocating for service time manipulation for an extra seven weeks on top of that. Have some fucking shame.
Agreed, This is the shrewd forward thinking move. Even if healthy in spring training let him get his reps in the minors and earn his call up as early as June 1. He’s typically a very slow starter even when healthy. Red Sox would be smart gaining the extra year of team control while letting him find his timing and enhance his conditioning.
Real idk how he bounces back from that so I feel ya on this one
There was never any chance he would open with team coming off that injury. This aint anything like an ACL. Few are productive after patellar blowouts, almost no one ever gets back close to what they were. Best case scenario is he shows power this year in AAA and they can get good reliever or something for him at deadline. He won't fetch much with that risk regardless.
Bruh what? He’s a baseball player. Guys come back from having their ankles exploded (Posey) the exact same injury (Edwin Diaz) and ACL tears (Acuña Jr). He isn’t a basketball player who needs the knee to jump. It’s not remotely the same impact, especially when he was slow before. Diaz in fact was an All Star this year.
With Contreras, dont see a role.
I think it partially depends on what happens with DH, Duran, Yoshida, etc., etc. But on the other hand, the Red Sox have carried two 1B-only players before -- on the 2018 squad, no less. And Casas/Contreras fit the same lefty/righty scheme. If Casas rakes in AAA a possible route is to use him to give old man Contreras more rest.
Yeah guy who’s 34 next year is the face of the future for sure
Did I say that, I like Casas, but as roster is constructed , with Yoshida being basically DH only, where is Casas going to play?
Obviously if trades happen it changes.
Yoshida has needed to be off this roster for at least three seasons now.