Aside from their heavy pursuit of superstar outfielder Juan Soto, the Boston Red Sox are prioritizing pitching. They did meet with Blake Snell before he inevitably signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since then, they’ve been linked to Max Fried and Corbin Burnes, while also making a push to sign Shane Bieber (who stayed in Cleveland). It is not for a lack of effort or trying and now it seems they will turn to the trade market for pitching help.

Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox are open to trading first baseman Triston Casas in order to land pitching help. Also, Speier said than an AL team (not named) had the Red Sox make an offer with Casas being the centerpiece of the deal. Back in August, Ken Rosenthal also had that Casas could be on the trade block, so where there is smoke there is fire.

Casas is young and is an intriguing piece to any team’s puzzle. You’d think the way the Red Sox are building that they’d want to keep him in the fold. However, you do have to give to get in this league and if the Red Sox do want a front line starter, this could be the piece to land them one.

What Casas Brings to the Table

It was a strong rookie year for Casas, especially in the second half. He finally found his groove and he went on to be one of the best hitters after the All-Star break. Casas went on to slash .317/.417/.617 (211 plate appearances) after the break and finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He put himself on the map and you saw the true potential in the young player and the power in his bat. It’s power that the team was missing.

Fast forward to 2024 and Casas replicated that same slash line. In 243 plate appearances, Casas went on to slash .241/.337/.462. One of the biggest elements to his game was his 130 wRC+ in 2023 and it was still good in 2024 with 119. Also, he has finished with an OPS of .800 or above the last two years, so he is a player you do want at the plate. His true impacts at the plate are well noted. This is a player that the Red Sox believe can be a 30-40 home run hitter in a single season. He is only 24 and there is so much upside to his game. However, there are concerns.

Not only did he come off that tough oblique injury that kept him out for most of the season, but he strikes out quite a bit. Now let’s not just pin this on Casas, the Red Sox as a roster had a strikeout problem, but Casas struck out 31.7% of the time. In 2023, it was 25.1% of the time.

Casas has a good approach at the plate and can work a count. He finished in the 93rd percentile for walks percentage and if qualified would’ve done the same thing. The strikeout rate was high, but he walked 12.3% of the time, so there is that element to it. Needless to say, Casas is a player any team should covet and is under team control. He is arbitration eligible in 2026 and not a free agent until 2029.

So what teams could be a happy marriage for Casas and the Red Sox?

Teams That Fit the Bill

Seattle Mariners

Pinch me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Red Sox and Mariners make a ton of sense. The Mariners have a plethora of pitching and almost every arm they have could be a front line starter on most teams. The Mariners have the best rotation in baseball, so dealing from a position of strength to fit a need makes sense from a baseball perspective. It has been reported that the Mariners do not want to deal a starter, but that could change.

The Mariners had the second worst batting average in the league (.263) and struck out the second most in terms of percentage. They need hitting and in the worst way possible. Relying on Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh is not sustainable and the rotation needs a jolt. Add Casas to the mix and they get a legitimate hitter AND someone who can play first base, which they also need.

Logan Gilbert is coming off a strong CY Young type of season and George Kirby would also be an attractive piece, as he is one of the best command pitchers in baseball. It could take a bit more than Casas to land a starter from the Mariners, but they have the pieces. The Mariners need hitters and the Red Sox need pitchers. A perfect marriage.

Garrett Crochet

Now I don’t see the White Sox acquiring Casas given the state of the franchise and them wanting to rebuild. They’d essentially be wasting five of Casas’ good years and that doesn’t sound like good business for them. For the Red Sox, they’ve been in the Garrett Crochet sweepstakes for quite some time now.

Crochet is the type of pitcher they are coveting. He finished in the 98th percentile for strikeout percentage (35.1) and is also prone to getting the swing and miss. He finished with a 33.1 whiff percentage and also a 33.5 chase percentage. Crochet punched out 209 batters this season, in what was his heaviest workload.

Would I trade Casas for Crochet? Personally, no and I’d like to think the Red Sox can get that done without having to trade Casas. The other thing is the workload. For the Red Sox you are banking on what he did this season and will continue to do.

Crochet pitched more innings this year than the last two seasons combined and legitimately put himself on the map. It was his breakout season and he’s now a highly coveted front line starter. There are numerous teams in the mix, so the Red Sox would need to put their best foot forward to making this happen.

Dark Horse Candidates

Dangling a player like Triston Casas isn’t an easy thing to do, so trading him for the right player makes the most sense. What about the Pittsburgh Pirates involving Jared Jones? The Pirates need a first baseman and Jones is an attractive young pitcher. Although, they do have a nice front line rotation with Paul Skenes, Jones, and Keller.

Another out of the box option is what about the Houston Astros? Framber Valdez eventually needs a new contract, which may price himself out of John Henry’s pockets, but they do need a first baseman. The Astros have been linked to Christian Walker, so adding a younger player like Casas could be enticing.

There’s no reports to this, these are just thoughts, but they are dark horse thoughts.

Seeing if Triston Casas truly is on the move will be something to monitor. With the team talking about moving Devers to first baseman, this seems to validate that. It’s going to be a wild winter, so get the popcorn ready.