The Sox have made a number of additions since then Craig Breslow was hired as Chief Baseball Officer in the fall of 2023. Brayan Bello And Ceddanne Rafaela were signed for the 2024 season. A year later, Garrett hook And Kristian Campbell put pen to paper. In August 2025, Roman Anthony signed an eight-year pact. Also in August, Aroldis Chapman secured a much more modest extension, adding an extra guaranteed year before hitting free agency.
Abreu was approached around the same time as Bello and Rafaela. At that time, Abreu only had 28 games to his name. Star prospects can land huge contracts even with less than a year of service. For example, Anthony was guaranteed $130 million. Julio Rodriguez got $210 million from the Mariners. Hike Franco And Corbin Caroll also entered nine-figure territory.
But Abreu wasn’t ranked as high as those guys, so he wouldn’t have gotten an offer at that level. He probably would have been closer to Rafaela, who got $49.3 million in new money. Campbell got about $59.2 million in new money a year later. Samuel Basallo got $67MM from the Orioles and Michael Harris II $72 million from Atlanta.
It is unknown what the Sox offered. Whatever it was, Abreu decided to bet on himself instead. Since then, he has had two solid seasons under his belt. He played 247 games over the past two campaigns, hitting 37 home runs and stealing 14 bases. His combined batting line of .250/.320/.464 translated into a 113 wRC+, indicating he was 13% better than league average. Add in some strong defensive qualities and FanGraphs considered him worth 5.5 wins above replacement over those two seasons.
He has provided that value despite being primarily a strong platoon man, with a career .205/.271/.318 against lefty pitchers. The Sox have indicated they hope to give him more opportunities against lefties this year. Healey writes that Abreu has spent the offseason working on getting better against lefties, in addition to getting into the best shape of his life. Time will tell if Abreu can unlock new gear, but he has already proven to be valuable.
This has not yet led to major profits. His service time is just over two years, meaning he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 season. He is scheduled for three ARB seasons and is headed to free agency after 2029. As players approach the open market, they generally gain more earning power, and that could be extra true for Abreu if he takes his performance to another level. The two sides could restart talks on expansion, but there doesn’t seem to be much smoke. “I can listen,” Abreu said of the prospect of the Sox trying again, “but I haven’t talked to them.”
Another guy the Sox tried to extend a few years ago was a first baseman Triston Casasalthough nothing was done then either. Since then, he has essentially followed the opposite trajectory of Abreu, which he has struggled with in recent years. In 2023, he seemed to establish himself as a legitimate threat, hitting 24 home runs and slashing .263/.367/.490 for a 131 wRC+. Torn cartilage in his rib cage limited him to 63 games in 2024. He got off to a poor start in 2025, hitting .182/.277/.303 before tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee in May. He was on the injured list for the rest of the year and is still not 100%.
Casas has spoken Chris Cotillo of MassLive about the past expansion talks, where he clearly focused on the future. “I don’t regret the way I handled the situation,” Casas said. “In the moments where I didn’t agree with anything in the long run, I felt like I could step on the field and roll out of bed with an .850 OPS. I was just as confident, and I still think I’m that type of player. I didn’t think ’23 reflected my best baseball, and it was still great. Now I feel like my best baseball is still ahead of me.”
Despite his talents, the Sox clearly felt they couldn’t rely on Casas after a few injury-marred years and with his status still in question through 2026. Willson Contreras this winter to cover first base.
That now puts Casas in a tough situation, as he is getting healthy but may be out of position when he is ready. He’s still not playing any games, but tells Cotillo he could do so on opening day “for some affiliate club,” which seems to indicate he could get a minor league rehab assignment when the rest of the team starts the regular season. The designated hitter spot is quite congested at the moment, with the Red Sox having to find playing time for their outfield group, which consists of Abreu, Anthony, Rafaela, Jarren Duran And Masataka Yoshida.
Casas does have options and could be kept in the minors after his rehab, although that would arguably be a waste of his talents considering he has already shown the ability to be a middle hitter in the major leagues. A trade would make sense, but the Sox may not want to sell low on Casas. A few injuries could change the calculus, but it will be interesting to see how the Sox navigate the apparent impasse in the coming weeks and months.
Infielder Brendan Rodgers is in camp on a minor league deal and looking to earn a roster spot, but he left today’s game with right shoulder soreness. “It’s pretty painful right now,” Rodgers said Christopher Smith from MassLive. “All the (strength) tests were actually promising. … So I’m just trying to be optimistic and see how we feel tomorrow.” Rodgers says he won’t undergo any imaging tonight. He underwent surgery on that shoulder in 2019. In 2023 he dislocated his left shoulder.
Rodgers is a good candidate for an infielder job. He has been an undersized hitter his entire career. He has often been given strong defensive qualities, but hasn’t played any position other than second base since 2021. Teams generally need their bench infielders to provide more versatility than that. Even with the Romy González injury, the Sox have Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler, Nate Eaton, Nick Sogard And Tsung Che Cheng as healthy infielders on the roster.
Photo courtesy of Raymond Carlin III, Imagn Images
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