Trio of Boston Red Sox Named Top 40 Trade Candidates By MLBTR

[Matthew Lenz]

Every year, MLB Trade Rumors releases a list of the most likely trade candidates for the offseason. In this season's edition, they named a total of 40 players, including three Boston Red Sox in the top 24.

Outfielders Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, as well as first baseman Triston Casas, were named the 12th, 13th, and 24th most likely trade candidates, respectively.

Duran, who has an $8 million club option in 2026 and is controllable through 2028, has been a polarizing figure throughout his career. From multiple controversial comments to up-and-down performances, the 29-year-old has been the subject of trade rumors in the past, which will likely continue this offseason. In 2025, he carried an OPS of .774 with 16 home runs and 24 stolen bases across 696 plate appearances.

Abreu, controllable through 2029, had a productive sophomore season that was limited due to injury. Playing in only 115 games, the 26-year-old still mashed 22 home runs to go along with six stolen bases. The Red Sox are fairly well stocked in the outfield, so dealing one, or even both, of these controllable outfielders to strengthen other position groups could make sense.

Casas, who suffered a gruesome season-ending knee injury, is projected for a very team-friendly $1.7 million salary in his first year of arbitration. The soon-to-be 26-year-old has been the subject of trade talks in the past, and while the Red Sox don't have a solid contingency plan at first, we can expect more of the same this offseason. There have been rumors that if they don't re-sign Alex Bregman, who is expected to opt out, they could pursue Pete Alonso.

Do you think the Red Sox should trade any of these players? Let us know in the comments!

View full rumor

[notin]

Someone would trade for Casas?

The other two have been thrown around since July.

And I think Bello is a trade candidate. Just watch.

 

Also - no Hunter Greene, but Brady Singer did make the list…

[moonslav59]

I think many teams would take Casas, but they won't give up hardly anything, until his health is better known. Since we won't get much for him, we might as well roll the dice on his health. His arb cost will not be a hinderance.

Hold onto Casas. We need a power bat. We need an upgrade at DH and 1B.

I'm a firm believer the Sox have realized they should have traded Duran (or Abreu) last winter and will not repeat that mistake again.

I would not be shocked if both get traded, and we bring Refsnyder back- flipping the 3 LHB + 2 RHB (1 w a reverse split) OF to a 1 LHB + 4 RHB OF. This would be very balzy, for sure.

LF: Refsnyder (DH platoon possible)/Campbell/Garcia

CF: Rafaela (Garcia)

RF: Anthony (Garcia)

I take that back: I would be shocked.

[Behindenemylines]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I think many teams would take Casas, but they won't give up hardly anything, until his health is better known. Since we won't get much for him, we might as well roll the dice on his health. His arb cost will not be a hinderance.

Hold onto Casas. We need a power bat. We need an upgrade at DH and 1B.

I'm a firm believer the Sox have realized they should have traded Duran (or Abreu) last winter and will not repeat that mistake again.

I would not be shocked if both get traded, and we bring Refsnyder back- flipping the 3 LHB + 2 RHB (1 w a reverse split) OF to a 1 LHB + 4 RHB OF. This would be very balzy, for sure.

LF: Refsnyder (DH platoon possible)/Campbell/Garcia

CF: Rafaela (Garcia)

RF: Anthony (Garcia)

I take that back: I would be shocked.

I would hold on to Casas as well. His power is a big need for the Sox and trading him would be going against the needs. 

[BaseballGuru]

You keep both GG's in Duran & Abreu.  Trade chips are Garcia, Bleis, Yoshida, Hamilton, Eaton, Gonzales, Romero, Arias not bringing back Refsnyder for any reason.   Keep Casas‼️💯, I love persuing Bo Bichette as priority#1 for SS, and shifting Story to 2b just from an arm strength and accuracy perspective but keeping the range and athletic instincts on the right side.  I like an extension for Bregman but if not Mayer takes hold there.  If Bregman signs, put Marcelo as the UT/Inf to rest any of 1b, 2b, 3b, SS.  Extend Romy Gonzales for 1b platoon with Casas or just to Spell rest at 1b, 2b or 3b.  Bo is the key signing posotion player wise however.  I am lookong for 3 to 7 arms materialize from the Fitts, Dobbins, Tolle, Early, Sandlin, Perales, Clarke, Witherspoon, & Song.

I think you'll see an effort to trade for, then sign Joe Ryan to a long term deal.  IMO Pete Alonzo is not a good fit.  Casas and Gonzales should hold down this corner.  Twins can get a solid package back for Ryan Using the players above and maybe a 1 from a Crawford, Houck, Bello group, and another young arm, plus both an inf and outfield stud.

[notin]

11 minutes ago, BaseballGuru said:

You keep both GG's in Duran & Abreu.  Trade chips are Garcia, Bleis, Yoshida, Hamilton, Eaton, Gonzales, Romero, Arias not bringing back Refsnyder for any reason.   Keep Casas‼️💯, I love persuing Bo Bichette as priority#1 for SS, and shifting Story to 2b just from an arm strength and accuracy perspective but keeping the range and athletic instincts on the right side.  I like an extension for Bregman but if not Mayer takes hold there.  If Bregman signs, put Marcelo as the UT/Inf to rest any of 1b, 2b, 3b, SS.  Extend Romy Gonzales for 1b platoon with Casas or just to Spell rest at 1b, 2b or 3b.  Bo is the key signing posotion player wise however.  I am lookong for 3 to 7 arms materialize from the Fitts, Dobbins, Tolle, Early, Sandlin, Perales, Clarke, Witherspoon, & Song.

I think you'll see an effort to trade for, then sign Joe Ryan to a long term deal.  IMO Pete Alonzo is not a good fit.  Casas and Gonzales should hold down this corner.  Twins can get a solid package back for Ryan Using the players above and maybe a 1 from a Crawford, Houck, Bello group, and another young arm, plus both an inf and outfield stud.

Duran doesn’t have a Gold Glove.  Did you mean Rafaela?

[notin]

16 hours ago, Behindenemylines said:

I would hold on to Casas as well. His power is a big need for the Sox and trading him would be going against the needs. 

Casas was really good back in 2023 before the injuries kicking in…

[mvp 78]

21 hours ago, notin said:

Someone would trade for Casas?

The other two have been thrown around since July.

And I think Bello is a trade candidate. Just watch.

 

Also - no Hunter Greene, but Brady Singer did make the list…

If I'm an opposing GM, I'd consider trading for Casas, but am only giving up a very low leverage relief arm (Zack Kelly-type). There's just no value there right now after the past two years. 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Casas was really good back in 2023 before the injuries kicking in…

He had some injury concerns prior to '23 as well. 

[Duran Is The Man]

21 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If I'm an opposing GM, I'd consider trading for Casas, but am only giving up a very low leverage relief arm (Zack Kelly-type). There's just no value there right now after the past two years. 

i wouldn't give up Casas for nothing, unless he is needed to get us "over the top" for a TOTR pitcher. i know he has little to no value, but he is cheap and i can just see him bouncing back the same way Chris Sale did after going to Atlanta.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i wouldn't give up Casas for nothing, unless he is needed to get us "over the top" for a TOTR pitcher. i know he has little to no value, but he is cheap and i can just see him bouncing back the same way Chris Sale did after going to Atlanta.

That's why a deal may not make sense for the Sox. If I'm Brezzz, I look at the lack of a pipeline in my org and probably decide just to hold onto Casas because I need bats, he has options, he is cheap and he could potentially still have a high ceiling. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

If I'm an opposing GM, I'd consider trading for Casas, but am only giving up a very low leverage relief arm (Zack Kelly-type). There's just no value there right now after the past two years. 

At that point, all Boston is doing is opening a 40 man roster spot. Casas’ projected arb salary isn’t so prohibitive that the Sox cannot gamble holding on to him and using him in a 1b/DH role when he is finally healthy…

[moonslav59]

We don't have a 40 man roster crunch or Rule 5 crunch. I wouldn't even be crushed, if we lost Sandlin to Rule 5, but I think we can easily add him to our 40 and still keep guys like Casas, DHam, Moran, Wink, Murphy, Kelly and Sogard- maybe even Eaton & Guerrero.

We won't get anything useful for Casas, and we greatly need what his potential is: a big bopper bat with a decent OBP.

[Maxbialystock]

Not a Casas fan at all because of his injuries and weak defense, but he has a good bat and eye for balls and strikes.  A healthy Casas, which I think is unlikely, is the best Sox option at 1b.  Keep him.  

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

Not a Casas fan at all because of his injuries and weak defense, but he has a good bat and eye for balls and strikes.  A healthy Casas, which I think is unlikely, is the best Sox option at 1b.  Keep him.  

He's better as a DH, but w e have $18M tied into that slot already.

[JoeBrady]

All of Casas' value will be based on health.  You have a lot of mid-tier teams like Pitt, Miami, Texas, Mil, AZ, and maybe 1-2 more teams that will be looking for minimum-salary equivalents at 1B, and maybe more looking for cheap DHs.  Of course they will be looking at his injury history, but every single one of them will also be thinking about his 126  OPS+ from 2022-2024, with three control years left.

If we get into a Duran/Campbell, etc. for #1/#2 SP situation, for example, and the other team wants more, Casas will add real value.  But mostly if he looks like he's coming back sometime in April.

[moonslav59]

28 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

All of Casas' value will be based on health.  You have a lot of mid-tier teams like Pitt, Miami, Texas, Mil, AZ, and maybe 1-2 more teams that will be looking for minimum-salary equivalents at 1B, and maybe more looking for cheap DHs.  Of course they will be looking at his injury history, but every single one of them will also be thinking about his 126  OPS+ from 2022-2024, with three control years left.

If we get into a Duran/Campbell, etc. for #1/#2 SP situation, for example, and the other team wants more, Casas will add real value.  But mostly if he looks like he's coming back sometime in April.

I do think all those team might want Casas, but none would give up good talent to get him. Maybe an DSL/FCL promising prospect.

[Jasonbay44]

Trading Casas makes no sense to me. His value around the league get be high and the odds of getting anything valuable is so low that you might as well just keep him at this point and hope he bounces back. It’s not like it’s hurt the team financially to hold onto him 

[moonslav59]

Casas might be the 38th to 40th on the trade list.