Just because the Red Sox haven’t played any games since Oct. 1 doesn’t mean the organization hasn’t identified its most valuable player in recent months.
That title, according to manager Alex Cora, has gone to first baseman Triston Casas, who, after an impressive first full major league season in 2023, has made it a mission to play an active role for the organization all winter. The south Florida-based Casas has turned into a nomad since the end of the season, traveling both across and outside of the country to work with both current and future teammates.
Casas’ travels have taken him from Miami to Boston (first for a holiday caravan in December, then for the rookie development program and Winter Weekend last week), Dallas (for Trevor Story’s infield boot camp) and even the Dominican Republic, where a group of Red Sox gathered in late December). Cora believes it’s a sign that Casas, despite being only 24, is emerging as a team leader.
“From our end, all joking aside, there have been a lot of positives this offseason. But he has been our MVP this offseason,” Cora said last Friday before the team’s Winter Weekend event in Springfield. “He came here to visit hospitals and all that stuff. He went to the DR when we had the group going there… Then he went to Dallas and he’s here. He went to the rookie development program.
“I think he understands who we are and where we’re at. He’s as young as those (prospects). It’s fun for him to take that step forward. Obviously, it has been a great offseason for him physically, and mentally, understanding who he is for us. I’m very proud of him.”
Last year, with the annual rookie development program coming being held the week after Winter Weekend, Cora asked Casas if he wanted to stay in Massachusetts to work out with the team’s prospects for a week. According to the manager, Casas politely declined, choosing instead to continue his regimented offseason workout plan in south Florida. This year, things were different. After spending some time in Dallas with Story and some of the organization’s young infielders, Casas volunteered to come to Boston to work out with Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel and other top prospects.
Last Wednesday, Casas told MassLive’s Chris Smith last week that he “requested” to join the rookie program in an effort to help younger, less experienced players.
“This is a young group of talent that I’ve heard a lot about and I hadn’t gotten the chance to meet except for today when I did,” Casas said. “I’m looking forward to developing relationships with all of them in the next couple of years.
“I knew Winter Weekend was going to tough to connect with everybody so while I had a couple days to be able to, I wanted to come and get work in, go to the facility at BC, take ground balls with them and at least (begin) creating those hopefully lifelong connections.”
Casas is clearly emerging as one of the faces of the Red Sox after a rookie year during which he hit .263 with 24 homers, 65 RBIs and an .856 OPS in 132 games. He finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting behind Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee. Casas’ big personality has made him an instant fan favorite in Boston and the team’s social media accounts have featured him throughout the winter.
Talks about a long-term extension, however, have not been part of Casas’ busy winter. A source reiterated Thursday that the Red Sox had not yet approached him about a long-term deal. There doesn’t have to be a rush to get a deal done because Casas doesn’t reach arbitration until after 2025 and isn’t slated to become a free agent until after the 2028 season. However, team president Sam Kennedy said in October that the team planned to be aggressive in trying to lock up young players on pre-arbitration extensions after failing to get similar deals done with former stars like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.
“I think it’s really important,” Kennedy said on the Oct. 5 Fenway Rundown podcast. “I think the best organizations really go out of their way to try and shore up the players that they feel that they have real strong conviction in. That effort has absolutely been there. In certain instances, we haven’t yet done that. We were able to make a deal with Garrett Whitlock, for example, along those lines. And there’s been conversations with other guys.
“We should be able to determine which players would qualify for longer-term extensions, whether it’s (Brayan) Bello, whether it’s (Wilyer) Abreu, whether it’s (Jarren) Duran or Casas. These are really important decisions that our baseball operations people have to make.”
