The signing of Alex Bregman was supposed to help the Boston Red Sox become contenders in 2025. But so far, it’s created one of the biggest Spring Training soap operas in Major League Baseball.
The latest chapter came earlier this week when Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas made his thoughts known about the team’s roster situation. While defending Rafael Devers’ refusal to cede third base to Bregman, he also stated that top prospects Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer shouldn’t make the Opening Day roster at the expense of the established veterans.
The comments created a buzz and Red Sox Alex Cora broke his silence on the matter while speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning.
Cora on Casas' roster opinions:
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 19, 2025
"People sit here and we don’t put limits on them. He said what he said, but at the end of the day, we’re in the winning business. From my end, we’re going to make decisions based on competition, roster flexibility and versatility. We’re going to…
Alex Cora Leaves Door Open for Red Sox Top Prospects After Triston Casas’s Comments
Cora was asked about his reaction to Casas’s comments and while he didn’t condemn his young first baseman for his opinion, he gave the one that matters while leaving the door open for Boston’s top prospects to make the Opening Day roster.
“I’ve said it, people sit here and we don’t put limits on them,” Cora replied. “He said what he said, but at the end of the day, we’re in a winning business. From my end, we’re going to make decisions based on competition, roster flexibility and versatility. At the end of the day, we’re going to bring our best 26 guys to Texas.”
Casas may have been defending the players he came up with during his time in the Red Sox organization, but the reality is that Boston may need a youth movement. After winning the World Series in 2018, Boston has only made the playoffs once (2021) and finished in last place of the American League East three times in the past six seasons.
Even the addition of Bregman was made after Devers became one of the worst defensive third basemen in baseball and Casas was momentarily shopped this season as the Sox pursued Luis Castillo in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.
As top-five prospects in Baseball America’s top 100 prospects rankings, Anthony (No. 2) and Campbell (No. 4) have an excellent chance of making the roster. Mayer (No. 15) isn’t far behind and should put the feet to the fire of some of the incumbent players that haven’t won much over the past six seasons.
Casas may not like it, but that’s the way it is and Cora hopes that he can be part of the solution even if the Sox add some younger players to the mix.
“I’ve played with guys that were very thoughtful about what they wanted to say and their opinions,” Cora said via NESN’s Keagan Stiefel. “I played with Curt [Schilling] and he was very thoughtful and said his thing. I don’t know, people will express what they feel. Some people will agree. Some people won’t agree. Some will like it, some others are not going to like it. At the end of the day, we like the first baseman, he’s going to play and he’s going to hit.”