The Boston Red Sox are in danger of missing their third consecutive postseason, as things stand they are currently 4.5 games out in the Wild Card chase due to what has been a poor second half of the season, over the last couple of weeks the teams ahead of them in the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins have been scuffling but so have the Red Sox. Following a 2-1 tenth-inning loss to the New York Yankees last night time is running out with 15 games left. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic floated the idea around last night of the Red Sox this offseason going out and adding a right-handed impact bat, the idea is to trade Triston Casas potentially to a team like the Seattle Mariners for one of their starting pitchers and then signing Alex Bregman to play third base and moving Rafael Devers to first base. The idea on paper isn’t such a bad idea but can Devers even play first? We saw the experiment of moving Kyle Schwarber to first base in 2021 and it’s no secret the Red Sox like to play guys out of position, think Hanley Ramirez when he was shifted to the outfield. The idea of adding someone like Bregman to the lineup and acquiring a top-end starter however is an idea worth thinking about let’s look at the numbers of Casas and Bregman and see the thoughts.
1B – Triston Casas
Casas is in his third big league season and it’s tough to have the thought of giving up on him, but he could bring back a haul and eleviate some of the left-handed hitting log jam in the lineup. He’s played in 207 games throughout his career hitting .250 with a .823 OPS; he has 28 doubles, two triples, 37 home runs, 97 RBI, 97 runs scored, one stolen base, and 111 walks; he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2023. This season in 48 games he’s hitting .241 with a .761 OPS; he has six doubles, eight home runs, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored, and 22 walks.
3B – Alex Bregman
Bregman is in his ninth season all with the Houston Astros. In 1098 career games he’s hitting .272 with a .847 OPS; he has 263 doubles, 18 triples, 187 home runs, 653 RBI, 687 runs scored, 42 stolen bases, and 571 walks; he’s a two-time All-Star and finished second in MVP voting in 2019. This season in 132 games he’s hitting .256 with a .753 OPS; he has 28 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs, 65 RBI, 72 runs scored, three stolen bases, and 39 walks.
Bottom Line:
Bregman will likely leave Houston as he looks to write a new chapter following the 2017 cheating scandal, former Astros such as George Springer and Carlos Correa did in as Springer went to the Toronto Blue Jays and Correa went to the Minnesota Twins. He will also be heavily sought out by another AL East rival in the New York Yankees who may look to bring in Bregman if Juan Soto signs elsewhere in the offseason so the Red Sox will be fighting that. Another option could be to bring in Bregman, trade someone like Masataka Yoshida, and move Devers to designated hitter. They will also have the log jam in the outfield to address with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Roman Anthony all as of right now with the team in 2025 meaning one of those will likely be moved this offseason as well. There are just a few weeks left in this season but the questions for the 2025 Boston Red Sox have arisen and it will be an interesting offseason even if the Red Sox do make a run and return to the postseason in 2024.
