Triston Casas’ stellar 2023 season tantalized many Boston Red Sox fans into envisioning him as Boston’s first baseman of the future, but that dream has since faded. Casas sadly can’t be factored into Boston’s long-term plans until he proves he can stay healthy for an extended period, and a new Red Sox rumor serves as the latest reminder of this reality.

On November 29, The Boston Globe‘s Alex Speier linked the Red Sox to free agent infielder Jorge Polanco, who has spent the last two seasons with the Seattle Mariners. The most interesting element of Speier’s reporting on Polanco was the suggestion that the All-Star could help the Red Sox at first base.

In 12 MLB seasons (the first 10 with the Minnesota Twins), Polanco has shifted around the infield defensively, and he’s also made 131 career starts as a designated hitter. He’s never played first base (beyond filling in for Seattle for a portion of one inning in 2025), but he has expressed the willingness to do so, per Speier.

Polanco’s has the type of versatility that got Speier and MLB Trade Rumors’ Mark Polishuk thinking about what Polanco’s role in Boston could look like if Boston signed him, with Polishuk doubling down on the notion that he could play first base for the Red Sox.

Multiple MLB writers suggests that Jorge Polanco could play first base for the Red SoxEmpty heading

Polishuk envisioned multiple scenarios for the Red Sox and Polanco. In one outcome, they’ve re-signed Alex Bregman and signed first baseman Pete Alonso, making Polanco a potential fifth infielder. Polishuk also envisioned a world in which Boston signs Bregman but not Alonso, creating an even more glaring opportunity for Polanco to play first base. Polishuk also noted that a move to first would make sense for the aging Polanco, who turned 32 in July.

This is all speculation, of course, but none of it would be pleasing to the ears of Casas, who is already finding himself in plenty of trade rumors while Boston reportedly eyes Alonso.

To be clear, it’s not like this Polanco rumor is the thing pushing Casas into a new frame of mind about his future in Boston (or lack thereof). Casas is well aware that neither Boston’s CBO Craig Breslow nor manager Alex Cora have verbally committed to the idea of him being the Red Sox’s everyday first baseman in 2026.

Cora was recently asked about Casas’ role and dodged the question entirely by saying, “We gotta get him healthy man.”

You can’t blame the Red Sox with their handling of Casas, nor can you blame Casas if he’s frustrated about seeing himself replaced. At the end of the day, Boston is trying to win a World Series, and while the 2023 version of Casas could help them do that, he’s only appeared in 82 games for Boston since then in two seasons combined.

Casas is a risk the Red Sox simply don’t need to take right now. Breslow and Cora are obviously willing to do all sorts of creative things to avoid taking that risk (see: Kristian Campbell’s weird first base saga in 2025). It remains to be seen whether the Polanco idea will travel from a writer’s imagination onto an MLB diamond for the Red Sox, but it’s not difficult to imagine.