A wild first full week of spring training for the Boston Red Sox is somehow only halfway finished.
Things kicked off Monday when controversy erupted over the starting third base position. Rafael Devers said publicly that he doesn’t want to give up his spot for new signee Alex Bregman, who won the Gold Glove at the hot corner just last season.
Then, on Tuesday, first baseman Triston Casas got involved in the discussion, and to the dismay of some, he gave his full take on the hot-button topic.
Casas first said that he believes Devers should be the starting third baseman and Bregman should play second base. He then said that he didn’t believe any of the team’s top prospects (namely Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, or Marcelo Mayer) should make the Opening Day roster, stating that the team had “some grown men” with issues to iron out.
At the end of the day, Casas isn’t involved in roster decisions. Manager Alex Cora made that clear on Wednesday, but didn’t begrudge Casas publicly for the things he said.
“People sit here and we don’t put limits on them,” Cora said (via the team’s official account on X). “He (Casas) said what he said, but at the end of the day, we’re in the winning business. From my end, we’re going to make decisions based on competition, roster flexibility and versatility. We’re going to take our best 26 guys to Texas.”
“People will express what they feel. Some people are going to agree. Some people aren’t going to agree. Some people are gonna like it. Others aren’t gonna like it. At the end, we like the first baseman. He’s gonna play and he’s gonna hit.”
Campbell, in particular, is relevant to the third base issue because the Red Sox view him as a potential starting second baseman. That would take away Bregman’s other potential starting spot, and because Boston just paid him $40 million, the two-time All-Star will be in the lineup every single day.
If Cora’s comments Wednesday served any purpose, it was to remind us all whose opinions are most important here. There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played before Opening Day, but when the time comes, Cora and the front office will be the ones in charge of the roster and lineup card.
