Red Sox 25-Year-Old Slugger's Days In Boston May Be Numbered: Insider

Will a move happen in the offseason?

Feb 18, 2019; Lee County, FL, USA; A general view of a Boston Red Sox helmet as Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (19) walks on the field during a spring training workout at Jet Blue Park at Fenway South. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox's 40-man roster is turning into a list of players who could be traded at any moment.

Trade rumors have plagued the Red Sox outfield (top prospect Jhostynxon Garcia was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday) and young pitchers as well. But first baseman Triston Casas is in a class of his own at the moment, and not a fun one.

Last offseason, Casas was swept up in trade rumors that suggested he could be a big part of a package to land an impact player. This year, after he went down for the season with a torn patellar tendon on May 2, he'd be a buy-low bounceback candidate for the 29 other teams.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Will Triston Casas be traded?

Still, because the Red Sox are sniffing around first basemen Pete Alonso and Kazuma Okamoto in free agency, it would be naive to think Casas couldn't get dealt this winter, even with his diminished trade value.

On Friday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post ranked the Top 30 trade candidates around Major League Baseball this winter, and he had Casas' odds of being traded at 50%, which was the third-highest of anyone he put on the list, behind National League East veterans Jeff McNeil and Nick Castellanos.

"The Red Sox are trying to sign a replacement," wrote Heyman."Trade chances: 50 percent."

Red Sox fans know the story with Casas at this point. He's still only 25 years old (26 in January) and has immense power and a great feel for the strike zone. He was one of the best hitters in all of baseball in the second half of 2023 and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

However, he's only appeared in 91 games in the past two years, and his OPS in those games was only .730. Time is definitely running low on Casas to prove that he can be the long-term first baseman in Boston, if that clock hasn't already expired.

All Casas can do at this point is wait, because if Alonso or Okamoto signs in Boston, it's hard to envision him sticking around. If the Red Sox strike out, though, it could be to the young slugger's benefit.

More MLB: Red Sox's Roman Anthony Has Perfect Reaction To Sonny Gray's Yankees Diss