The non-tender deadline is creeping up fast, and when November 20 arrives, clubs around MLB will start clearing space by cutting loose players they no longer want on the books. For the Cincinnati Reds, that kind of market can be useful. It’s the kind of place where a team can hunt for value and maybe find a player who fits better in a new uniform than he did in the old one.
Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas looks like one of the more obvious names headed toward that sort of move. He’s projected to make just $1.7 million in arbitration for 2027, so this isn’t a case of a salary that has spiraled out of control.
The issue is fit. Boston has too many outfielders - Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela are all under contract - and Masataka Yoshida is technically an outfielder too, even if he’s really more of a DH-only player.
That crowding pushes the DH spot into a corner, while Willson Contreras handles first base. Casas can only play first, which makes him the odd man out.
On paper, though, he’s exactly the kind of bat the Reds could be tempted by. Cincinnati could move Sal Stewart from first base to third, and a left-handed power hitter like Casas would help make that alignment work. He’d also give the Reds a chance to improve a .387 slugging percentage from left-handed hitters that ranked 23rd.
The appeal is easy to see because the best version of Casas was real. In 2023, he broke out with a .263/.367/.490 line and 24 home runs in 132 games, and he paired that power with a 13.9% walk rate. That looked like a first baseman on the rise.
But the last two seasons have turned the picture sour. In 2024, Casas hit .241/.337/.462, still productive but clearly a step back. He also missed 99 games because of a rib cage injury and played only 63 games, while his strikeout rate climbed to 31.7%.
Then came 2025, and it went off the rails quickly. Casas opened the season by hitting just .182/.277/.303 in 29 games, and those 29 games were the only ones he would play after rupturing the patellar tendon in his left knee on May 2, 2025. That ended his season.
At first, that might have looked like a brutal one-off injury. But the pattern kept getting worse.
During spring training this year, while trying to return from the knee injury, he suffered an abdominal strain. After that, he hurt his wrist and eventually needed arthroscopic surgery, which ended his 2026 campaign in August before it could even begin.
The injuries are the biggest red flag, but the production matters too. Casas was worse in 2024 than he had been in 2023, and 2025 was a disaster before the knee injury shut him down. Even if the 2023 breakout wasn’t a fluke, it’s hard to ignore how much the injuries may have taken out of him.
That’s why signing him would be such a risky play for Cincinnati. The upside is obvious if he somehow stays healthy and gets back to that 2023 level, but the odds of that are described as pitifully low. The Reds would almost certainly need a backup plan, too.
Paul Goldschmidt would make sense as a platoon partner, but at 39, he’d be stretched too thin if he had to carry the job alone. A better fallback would cost more, and once you get to that point, the case for Casas starts to collapse. If the Reds need a stronger safety net, they may as well just choose the safer player outright.
And that’s the same problem Boston is trying to solve. A first-base-only player with no everyday role is a clunky use of a roster spot, and the Reds would be smart to avoid inheriting that headache. Casas is interesting, but if he reaches the market, Cincinnati should pass.
In Other News...
Carlos Jorge Is Giving Reds Fans A Real Outfield Reason To Watch
Major League Baseballs Gold Glove announcement left the Reds empty-handed, but there was at least one defensive bright spot tied to the organization. Minor League Baseball recognized Carlos Jorge, who finished the year with Cincinnati, as one of the seasons top outfield defenders, a nod that gives the club something to point to even with the big-league awards coming up short.
Jorge has also carried that momentum into winter ball, where he has been producing at the plate in the Dominican Winter League. In one recent game, he piled up three hits, two steals, three runs scored and two RBIs, a reminder that his value is not limited to the glove and that his name is starting to pop in more than one setting. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Enter A Crucial Offseason With One Big Decision Looming
The offseason has arrived with plenty for Cincinnati to sort through, and the free-agent list is already long enough to make the next few days feel consequential. Tyler Stephenson, Brock Burke, Brady Singer, Emilio Pagn, Eugenio Surez and Pierce Johnson are among the names now on the market, giving the Reds a mix of bullpen, rotation and lineup questions to weigh as they map out the winter.
Carlos Jorge added a brighter note to the organizations end-of-year picture, earning a Minor League Gold Glove and getting a late-season look in the majors. The defense is clearly there, but his bat will need to take a step forward if he is going to stick, which leaves Cincinnati with another evaluation to make as the roster picture comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Face One Big Ian Happ Question After Cubs Decision
The Cubs decision not to extend Ian Happ a qualifying offer changes the calculus for a Reds club that has been linked to plenty of offseason possibilities. For Cincinnati, the biggest immediate takeaway is simple: if Happ ends up on the move, the Reds would not be forced to surrender draft-pick compensation to bring him in, which makes him a cleaner fit on paper than he would have been under the qualifying-offer system.
That matters because Happ has spoken favorably about the Reds organization, giving the idea at least some natural appeal from Cincinnatis side. Still, there are real questions to sort through, starting with the price tag and ending with how much confidence a team should place in a player whose recent stretch at the plate was uneven. The fit is there in theory, but the Reds would have to decide whether the market and the performance line up closely enough to make the pursuit worthwhile. [Read more 🡒]