Less than 24 hours after news broke that the Red Sox had acquired Willson Contreras from the Cardinals and planned to play him at first base, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made a phone call. On Monday, Breslow touched base with Triston Casas, last season’s Opening Day first baseman who, up until the Contreras trade, projected to see the lion’s share of playing time at the position in 2026 once he fully recovered from knee surgery.

Casas, who ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee in a collision while running down the first base line on May 2, is in the later stages of his rehab process and hopeful to be ready for Opening Day. That didn’t stop the Red Sox for swinging a deal for Contreras, though, a move that unquestionably clouds Casas’ future in 2026 and beyond.

Breslow’s message to Casas on Monday was simple — and one he shared on a Zoom call with reporters hours later.

“It’s no secret that Triston has tremendous potential, but he also hasn’t been able to stay on the field the last couple of years thanks to two really unfortunate — but significant — injuries,” Breslow said.

“I had a chance to talk to Triston this morning and what I told him is exactly what I’ll share with all of you: We still have a ton of confidence and belief in Triston. What he needs to do is commit to doing everything possible to get back on the field. He’s doing that right now. He feels really good with the progress and there’s going to be an opportunity for him to impact games for us. Exactly what that looks like, we’ll figure out. He was great in our conversation and understood that this was an opportunity for the organization to take a step forward and fully supported it.”

A former first-round pick, Casas debuted late in 2022 then broke out in his first full year in 2023, slugging 24 homers with an .856 OPS and finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year race. He got off to a hot start in 23 games at the beginning of 2024 before tearing cartilage in his rib cage on a swing in late April and missing nearly two months. In total, Casas was limited to just 63 games.

In 2025, he once again started on Opening Day and struggled to a .182 average and .580 OPS in 112 plate appearances before suffering his injury early in a victory over the Twins. Because he’s under team control for three more seasons, the Red Sox contend they aren’t giving up on Casas just 251 games into his big league career. Instead, they entered the winter open-minded about upgrading first base and feel they found a good fit in Contreras, a right-handed hitter with pop.

Breslow said Contreras would primarily play first base while also mixing in as the designated hitter but made it sound unlikely the former catcher would see much time behind the plate. The addition of Contreras makes it more palatable for the Red Sox to potentially start Casas in Triple-A should he need some time to get comfortable after a long rehab from a severe injury. When he returns, Casas will also be in the mix for DH at-bats, but that’s a crowded field with Masataka Yoshida still on the roster and four starting-caliber outfielders (Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela) plus Kristian Campbell competing for at-bats. A trade of one or two of those players would make Casas’ path easier to envision.

The Red Sox have also been open to trade talks involving Casas, sources have said throughout the winter, but recognize that his value may have cratered after two injury-shortened seasons. For now, the club is taking the attitude that there are worse realities than having too many capable players on a roster.

“Those things tend to work out,” Breslow said. “(It’s an) opportunity to keep everybody fresh, to keep everybody involved and engaged at the same time. As we sit here in late December with Triston coming off of a season-ending injury, to get too far ahead of ourselves probably doesn’t make a ton of sense. To have right-handed impact, left-handed impact, both guys that can hit the ball out of the park, it’s going to make us better.”