3 Young Red Sox That Should Receive Contract Extensions This Offseason
By Tyler Maher
After finishing in last place for the third time in four seasons, the Red Sox have a busy offseason ahead of them if they want to get back to contention. They'll need to address some holes through trades and free agency, of course, but it would also behoove them to lock up some of their young talent for a change.
Boston has largely shied away from giving young players contract extensions even though it's worked wonderfully for other teams, namely the Atlanta Braves. The Red Sox haven't had much good young talent worth signing the last couple of years, anyways, but now they do that their farm system is starting to bear fruit.
If the Red Sox want to avoid similar situations to what they just went through with Mookie Betts (traded), Xander Bogaerts (left in free agency) and Rafael Devers (not extended until final arbitration year), then they should lock up some of their young stars early before they become too expensive.
Here are 3 Boston players who deserve a contract extension this offseason.
3 Red Sox Players Who Should Be Extended
1. Triston Casas
This one is a no-brainer. Casas has shown tremendous growth over the past year since arriving in the big leagues in Sept. 2022, emerging as one of the best hitters in baseball during that time.
That's not a surprise, either, as Casas was regarded as one of the organization's top prospects before debuting. He was a first-round draft pick in 2018 and turned heads in the minors with his tremendous power and advanced plate disipline.
Sure enough, those skills have been on display during his relatively brief time in the majors. He got off to a slow start this year but fought through the adversity and quickly adjusted. Over his final three months of the season from June 13 - Sept. 14, he slashed .313/.405/.581 with 17 homers and 46 RBIs in 73 games, playing at an All-Star level.
Casas is still only 23, too, so he could still be getting better. He only has one full year of MLB experience and has room for improvement now that he's more comfortable in the majors, especially if he can cut down on his strikeout rate (25.1%) a bit and get better defensively.
Regardless, Casas looks like the first baseman of the future for Boston. He's also expressed interest in signing a contract extension, so the front office needs to make it happen ASAP.