Red Sox Fans Certainly Will Love What Top Prospect Had To Say About Future In Boston
The Boston Red Sox will look a little different in 2023.
Boston has seen plenty of turnover since winning the 2018 World Series and there likely will be more shortly. Homegrown players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Christian Vázquez are no longer with the team, but the next wave is coming soon.
Top first base prospect Triston Casas is expected to play a significant role with the Red Sox in 2023 as the team's starting first baseman and there is plenty of other intriguing prospect expected to make their way to the big league club over the next few years -- including 2021 fourth overall draft pick Marcelo Mayer. The future is bright in Boston, and to make matters even better, Casas sure sounded like he wants to stay in Boston for the long term in a recent conversation with WEEI's Rob Bradford.
"I think 30 games is too small of a sample size to tell if I’m going to succeed at this level, or not. I definitely sound like I know what I’m doing, for sure," Casas said. "Whether I can back it up is going to be a different story. I haven’t thought about it. Nobody has approached me about it. And my representatives have never even mentioned it to Chaim or anyone in the front office. I’m just focused on playing this year and we’ll see where it goes. It it happens, it happens. I would love to stay in Boston the rest of my life. I love the city in the little taste I’ve got of it. I don’t know anywhere else and I don’t want to. We’ll see what happens in a couple of years. Hopefully we get something done, but if we don’t we’ll go from there."
Although no long-term extension has been discussed, it wouldn't be the biggest surprise in the world if conversations start sooner rather than later. Boston Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has shown he is willing to discuss contract extensions early with the most recent example being with right-handed pitcher Garrett Whitlock.
Casas is just 23 years old and has only 27 games of big league experience under his belt, but he is baseball's 29th-ranked prospect for a reason. The youngster showed flashes of brilliance in the minor leagues and now has an opportunity to make a name for himself with the Red Sox in 2023 with a major role.
If he's able to shine in Boston as well, an early extension may be coming his way eventually and it sounds like he'd be happy with that.
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