Triston Casas didn’t receive an ‘enticing’ extension offer from Red Sox this offseason, but wants to remain with team ‘forever’
Casas shared that the first offer he received wasn't tough to turn down as he wants a contract that "sets me and my family up for the rest of my life."
Triston Casas wants to spend his entire career with the Red Sox, but he doesn’t want to settle on an extension offer so soon in his career.
The standout first baseman shared he had extension talks with the Red Sox following his strong rookie season. However, it doesn’t sound like an extension agreement is imminent.
“Of course we have,” Casas told reporters on Sunday on whether he’s had extension talks with the Red Sox. “Nothing enticing, though.”
Casas, who turned 24 in January, later added that he wants to be in Boston “forever,” though he replied “no” when asked if the first extension offer was tough to turn down.
“One that sets me and my family up for the rest of my life,” Casas said when asked what an enticing offer would be to him. “I don’t know what that looks like. I’m low-maintenance, I don’t need a lot. I’ve got a small family, so I don’t need much. But something I think that would suffice the work that I’ve put in throughout my whole life would be nice.”
The Red Sox technically have plenty of time to extend Casas before he becomes a free agent. He’s under team control through the end of the 2028 season, essentially giving the Red Sox five seasons to find some common ground with Casas to keep him in Boston.
However, many of the game’s top young players have signed massive extensions in recent years despite being several seasons away from hitting free agency to at least help avoid arbitration. Bobby Witt Jr. was the latest with the Royals, signing an 11-year, $288.7 contract extension that could turn into a 14-year deal earlier in February to remain in Kansas City.
The Red Sox have also been criticized in recent years for a perceived lack of urgency to extend their homegrown stars. Mookie Betts was the most notable case of that as the Red Sox traded him to the Dodgers a year before he became a free agent. It was reported prior to his departure that the Red Sox offered Betts a $300 million extension, which would have been one of the largest contracts in MLB history at the time. But Betts denied that he received such an offer when he spoke with The Boston Globe‘s Peter Abraham in August.
Boston was able to retain one of its recent homegrown stars for the long haul in the 2023 offseason, signing Rafael Devers to a 10-year, $313.5 million extension. But that came a month after longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts left the team in free agency.
Casas and Brayan Bello appear to be the next young stars in line to possibly receive long-term extensions from the Red Sox. Bello told WEEI’s Rob Bradford last July that he’d be open to an extension, while Casas doubled down on comments he made about staying in Boston for his entire career in September.
As Casas prepares for his second season in the league, Red Sox manager Alex Cora praised him for his progression through last season, noting that the offense went “M.I.A.” when he wasn’t in the lineup in the final weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury. He also tipped his cap to the young first baseman for his commitment to attend all of the possible camps over the offseason as he shared what he looks forward to seeing out of Casas in 2024.
“It was fun to have him around [at the camp in Fort Myers],” Cora told reporters Sunday. “He went to the Dominican, he went to Dallas, he visited hospitals in Boston. That’s what we want, right? A guy who that embraces this whole madness and enjoys it.
“It’ll be interesting next year when the Netflix [documentary on the team] comes out and see some of the quotes and things he did during the season. It’ll be fun.”
Casas finished his rookie season with a .263/.367/.490 slash line to go with 24 homers and 65 RBIs in 132 games. The left-handed slugger did much of his damage as the season went along, slashing .317/.417/.617 with 15 homers and 38 RBIs in 54 games over the second half of the season. He finished third in American Rookie of the Year voting as he emerged as one of the top-hitting first basemen in baseball.
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