Red Sox’s Triston Casas Sets Record Straight Amid Extension Talks

Triston Casas and the Boston Red Sox have undergone several back-and-forth contract extension-based chats ahead of the 2024 season.

Last season, Casas emerged after an early slump of batting just .122 and striking out 27 times in Boston’s first 22 games. Those rookie woes wore off quickly and the conversation re-directed around Casas, placing the left-handed-hitting slugger into American League Rookie of the Year mix alongside Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles and Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians.

Now, at just 24 years old and with only 159 games of total MLB experience, Casas is already sending a message to Red Sox fans: he’s fully invested in Boston and intends on that being the case for the long run.

“I’m really excited to play with them hopefully in the future,” Casas said, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “It’s going to be a great 10 years, however, it shapes out, with hopefully the rest of my tenure (with the Red Sox) being filled with a lot of winnings and those young guys are going to have to step up including myself. I hope to be a part of the future for the team for a really long time. It’s to be determined still how long.”

This double play by Triston Casas 😯 pic.twitter.com/H2sYwVVYiE

— MLB (@MLB) March 24, 2024

Casas is a critical piece of Boston’s youth movement that underwent a rough campaign in 2023, finishing dead last in the AL East for the third time in four years. Pairing with Rafael Devers, Casas completes a powerful one-two punch at the center of manager Alex Cora’s starting lineup.

With last year’s go-to designated hitter Justin Turner departing from Boston this offseason, a load of power-hitting production will fall on Casas’ shoulders. He finished second for the team’s lead in home runs (24) and slugging percentage (.500) while drawing a team-leading 70 walks.

Boston’s front office has already jumped on being proactive in looking to lock Casas down to a multi-year extension, but so far, that’s come to no avail.

“There’s been offers. There was an offer made a couple of weeks ago, right around the same time that (Brayan) Bello’s was made,” Casas said, per Speier. “My team, my agency, didn’t seem to think that the dollar amount the Red Sox put forward was the value (the agents) see in me as a player. I don’t particularly know what my value is as a player, so I can’t really argue with (what) the professionals in my agency are saying.”

The Red Sox and Casas still have time to find common ground. Casas has blasted two home runs in 38 spring training at-bats and Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners is set for Thursday.