The baseball offseason is in full swing, and spring training is months away, but that didn’t stop people from flocking to Polar Park on Saturday night. The Worcester Red Sox held their third annual WooSox Foundation Honors Gala, and current Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas made a special guest appearance.

Casas returned to Worcester, a place he once called home before he was promoted to the big league club. The young slugger spent the majority of last season on the injured list, dealing with a rib injury—but he was able to share an optimistic outlook for the upcoming 2025 season.

“Had a lot of things to work on after this year, and I feel like I’ve been hitting them wholeheartedly,” said Casas to reporters from inside the WooSox clubhouse. “Just working out a lot, taking a lot of swings, trying to build that volume up again, but I like where I’m at, for sure, physically.”

Casas spent a little over two weeks with the WooSox last season in August rehabbing his torn rib cartilage injury. The 24-year-old now says he’s fully healthy and is ready for next season.

“I feel like it’s completely behind me,” Casas said. “It’s weird to say because I went through so much pain this summer, but I feel like I’ve been working really hard on it. A lot of abdominal work and stretching and molding them back to normal, but feels great.”

Casas has been the subject of trade rumors, with his name being thrown around as a potential trade chip to bring back much-needed high-end pitching to the Red Sox.

According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the Red Sox “have been open” to trading Casas and right fielder Wilyer Abreu to acquire pitching help this winter.

“The Red Sox have been open to using Casas as a trade chip for pitching help,” wrote Speier. “An executive for one American League club said the Sox offered Casas as a headliner in talks about one of that team’s arms, withholding Wilyer Abreu and the elite prospect group (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer) from the proposal.”

Casas isn’t worried about the trade rumors.

“I haven’t given it much thought at all. I’m getting ready to take my at-bat to whatever state or city it may be in,” said Casas. “Hopefully it’s for the Boston Red Sox, but if not, I feel like I can bring value to any team that would need a first baseman. I want to stay in Boston for a really long time. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, but wherever it may be, I’ll fit in just fine.”