FORT MYERS, Fla. - Monday there was Rafael Devers' proclamation that he had no intention of being anything but a third baseman. Tuesday, Triston Casas met the media and offered his take on the Red Sox' roster-construction.
Alex Bregman reacts to Rafael Devers' presser
According to Casas, he believes Devers should be the Red Sox' third baseman, Alex Bregman should be the second baseman and the highly-touted prospects who are in big league camp - Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell - should all start the year in the minors.
All of it altered added a layer of intrigue for those covering the team and observing from afar. But, according to two players who would be directly impacted if Devers' and Casas' roster construction came to fruition - Roman Anthony and Vaughn Grissom - nothing has changed in the last couple of days.
"It’s fine," said Grissom, who has been getting the majority of reps at second base with the perceived starting infielders. "When you know these guys you know what they actually mean and where their hearts are coming from. It’s not like it’s anything sour or the vibe has changed. In my opinion it’s all the same. Things get said. Some people don’t mean it. Maybe it’s their opinion or what they thought or this or that. I focus on myself and answer my questions. It’s not as chaotic as some might seem. There is no tension. I’m sure the other world, the media world, that’s different. ‘Why would you say that?’ But there are a lot of things that get said that are way worse than that. Things are fine around here.
"There’s so much time. The vibe around here is awesome. I don’t think it changes anything much. I think we all know where we stand."
While he did hear Casas' opinion, Anthony's approach and focus remains the same: Learn from this new big-league environment with the ultimate goal of making the major league roster coming out of spring training.
"For me it’s just coming in here every day and working as hard as I can to make the team. Nothing really changes for me," he told WEEI.com. "I’m just going to continue to come in here and learn from all these guys and work my ass off to break with this team.
"Finishing the year in Worcester last year, learning from those guys and then coming in here now and being surrounded by these guys it’s motivating to stay with these guys when spring training is over. I think we have a really good group. I think it’s going to be a really good team this year. A lot of positives."