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The Red Sox and outfielder Wilyer Abreu had some extension talks a couple of years ago, reports Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “It wasn’t the right moment to do it,” Abreu told the Globe. “So I just wanted to play and see what happened in the future.”
The Sox have done a number of extensions since Craig Breslow was hired as chief baseball officer in the fall of 2023. Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela were signed going into the 2024 season. One year later, Garrett Crochet and Kristian Campbell put pen to paper. In August of 2025, Roman Anthony inked an eight-year pact. Also in August, Aroldis Chapman secured a much more modest extension, adding an extra guaranteed year before he hit free agency.
Abreu was approached around the same time as Bello and Rafaela. At that time, Abreu had just 28 games under his belt. Star prospects can get huge contracts even with less than a year of service time. Anthony got a $130MM guarantee, for instance. Julio Rodríguez got $210MM from the Mariners. Wander Franco and Corbin Carroll also got into nine-figure territory.
But Abreu wasn’t quite ranked as high as those guys, so he wouldn’t have received an offer in that tier. He probably would have been closer to Rafaela, who got $49.3MM in new money. Campbell got about $59.2MM in new money a year later. Samuel Basallo got $67MM from the Orioles and Michael Harris II $72MM from Atlanta.
It’s unknown what the Sox offered. Whatever it was, Abreu decided to bet on himself instead. Since then, he has put together two solid seasons. He got into 247 games over the past two campaigns, hitting 37 home runs and stealing 14 bases. His combined .250/.320/.464 batting line translated to a 113 wRC+, indicating he was 13% better than league average. Add in some strong defensive grades and FanGraphs considered him to be worth 5.5 wins above replacement over those two seasons.
He has provided that value despite being mostly a strong-side platoon guy, with a career .205/.271/.318 line against lefty pitchers. The Sox have indicated they hope to give him more run against southpaws this year. Healey writes that Abreu 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 a new gear but he’s already proven to be valuable.
That hasn’t led to big earnings yet. His service time is just a bit north of two years, meaning he won’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2026 season. He’ll be slated for three arb seasons and is on pace for 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 reignite extension talks but there doesn’t seem to be much smoke there. “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 couple of years ago was first baseman Triston Casas, though nothing got done at that time either. Since then, he has effectively been on the opposite trajectory to Abreu, as he has struggled greatly in the past few years. Back in 2023, he seemed to establish himself as a legit threat, hitting 24 home runs and slashing .263/.367/.490 for a 131 wRC+. Torn cartilage in his ribcage limited him to 63 games in 2024. He got out to an awful start in 2025, hitting .182/.277/.303, before rupturing the patellar tendon in his left knee in May. He was on the injured list for the rest of the year and still isn’t 100%.
Casas spoke to Chris Cotillo of MassLive about the past extension talks, clearly putting his focus on the future. “I don’t have any regrets about the way that I handled the situation,” Casas said. “In the moments that I was not agreeing to anything long-term, I felt like I could take the field and post an .850 OPS rolling out of bed. I was just that confident, and I still think I am that type of player. I didn’t think that ’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 couple of injury-marred years and with his status still questionable going into 2026. They acquired Willson Contreras this winter to cover first base.
That leaves Casas in a bit of an awkward spot now, as he’s getting healthy but may not have a spot when he’s ready. He’s still not playing in games but tells Cotillo he could be doing so by Opening Day “for some affiliate,” seemingly suggesting he could be on a minor league rehab assignment when the rest of the team starts the regular season. The designated hitter spot is pretty clogged 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 is done, though that would arguably be a waste of his talents, considering how he has already shown himself capable of being a middle-of-the-order hitter in the big leagues. A trade would make some sense but perhaps the Sox don’t 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 logjam 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 departed today’s game with right shoulder pain. “It’s pretty sore right now,” Rodgers said to Christopher Smith of MassLive. “All the (strength) tests were actually promising. … So just trying to be optimistic and, see how we feel tomorrow.” Rodgers says he’s not scheduled to go for any imaging tonight. He underwent surgery on that shoulder back in 2019. He dislocated his left shoulder in 2023.
Rodgers is a tough fit for a bench infielder job. He’s been a subpar hitter throughout his career. He has often received strong defensive grades but hasn’t played a 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
