The Boston Red Sox entered the 2025-26 offseason with a logjam in their outfield. Despite months of trade rumors, they'll enter the upcoming season with it unchanged.
Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu will battle for everyday playing time in the grass (Abreu and Rafaela's Gold Glove-winning defense keep them locked in right and center field, respectively). The logjam doesn't end there, however — Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow mentioned that Kristian Campbell may move back to the outfield permanently, which would force another player into the designated hitter spot when they can't take the field.
But the DH spot is Masataka Yoshida's domain. Boston has tried to help him improve his defense to make finding a roster spot easier, but consistent playing time has not materialized. Despite that, Alex Cora still sees value in Yoshida's skillset.
In one of his spring training press conferences, Cora referred to Yoshida as "one of the best hitters on the team," which is true when he's healthy and playing his best. But Cora preceded his statement by saying that it's too early to talk about where Yoshida will play, highlighting just how complicated Boston's outfield situation is.
Alex Cora heralds Masataka Yoshida as one of the 'best hitters' on the Red Sox, but they still don't have a place to play him
Yoshida has little business taking the field with defenders as skilled as Rafaela and Abreu manning two of the three outfield spots. Anthony flashed great defense during his short stint in MLB and Duran has performed at an elite level in 2024 when he placed eighth in American League MVP voting. All four outfielders are undeniably every day players.
Yoshida's bat is good and consistent enough to also be an everyday fixture in Boston's lineup (and he's paid well enough to play every day). The NPB veteran has batted .282/.337/.425 with a .762 OPS over his three abbreviated seasons with the Red Sox. Yoshida raked in September as the Red Sox chased a playoff spot (.333/.351/.486) and in Boston's short Wild Card appearance against the Yankees (.571 batting average, 1.143 OPS).
If the Red Sox truly consider Yoshida good enough to play every day, they should've traded an outfielder to accommodate him, preferably Duran, as his value will continue to decrease with his age. Yoshida has a history of injuries so their many outfielders make for nice depth, but they're each better than just depth players. Boston needs consistency and fewer strikeouts in its offense and incorporating Yoshida daily is an easy path toward fixing its issues, but having no place to play him isn't a problem easily solved.
Fans will have to wait and see where Yoshida factors into the Sox's lineup, if he's a factor at all. Boston could trade him before Opening Day in a Jordan Hicks-style salary dump, or he could spend more time on the bench than he does in the lineup. Either way, those are unfortunate solutions for one of the alleged "best hitters on the team."