After a sluggish 1-4 start, the Boston Red Sox have won five of their last six games and are just a game back in the loss column from the division-leading Yankees. While many players on the team have excelled, a few players may not be on the team for much longer if they don't pick up the pace.
Triston Casas - First Baseman
Before the season started, Triston Casas was involved in trade rumors when the team was looking to upgrade its starting pitching. In a previous article, I mentioned how Casas spoke on the offseason trade rumors:
"I try not to get too caught up in it… I [try] to disassociate with the emotion of the business part of baseball, 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."Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox
If his performance through the first ten games persists, Triston’s days on the team may be numbered. So far this season, Casas has six hits in 36 at-bats (.167 batting average) with one home run and two RBIs.
The only caveat to trading Casas is that the team doesn’t have another starting-caliber first baseman on the roster. Barring a Rafael Devers’ position switch from designated hitter to first base, the only other first baseman on the roster is last year’s depth piece, Romy Gonzalez.
If the team decides to part ways with Casas, his value is less than it was in the offseason. That being said, the team could still dangle him for another starting pitcher, as the back-end of the rotation has been hit with the injury bug to start the season.
I think the Red Sox should keep Casas. Triston is only 25 years old and has plenty of time to blossom into a franchise cornerstone first baseman and grow with the rest of the team’s high-level prospects and young players. However, if he doesn’t turn it on at the plate, he may find himself on the trading block.