Boston Red Sox fans have long been wondering if Masataka Yoshida really is okay with his reduced role, but they don't have to wonder anymore.
It's now obvious that Yoshida hasn't exactly loved his experience on the Red Sox, a truth he made clear with new comments made to The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey (subscription required).
Besides admitting that his Red Sox tenure hasn't been what he expected, Yoshida also suggested that trading him will be "tough". But don't expect Boston's front office to stop trying (though we will say, Yoshida's commentary diminished whatever leverage the Red Sox might've had in any trade talks).
Red Sox almost have no choice but to trade Masataka Yoshida
Masataka Yoshida spoke about his time with the Red Sox and about whether he thought a trade would be better for him at this point:
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) February 14, 2026
“Now that I have three years under my belt, to be honest with you guys, these three years weren’t what I expected, so I’ll leave it at that”
“It’s… pic.twitter.com/QNdj5t3EpZ
Yoshida noted that he was never traded during his career in Japan before oddly reminding McCaffrey that both teams have to agree to a trade for it to happen.
The ironic thing about Yoshida's loud and clear message to the Red Sox is that Boston wouldn't be the hesitant player in any Yoshida trade. What will be "tough" for Boston is to convince another club to take on Yoshida's contract, which still represents a $37 million commitment over the next two seasons.
Yoshida is far from a non-asset, as his end-of-the-year production showed in 2025, and the Red Sox could also choose to eat a chunk of his salary as a way to convince a suitor. Even so, the fact that Yoshida hasn't been traded yet does indicate that the list of teams willing to take on his deal is not a long one.
Boston's outfield logjam that was a subject of media scrutiny in 2025 hasn't gone away in the slightest. Red Sox manager Alex Cora is facing a situation in which four starting-level outfielders will have to be scheduled for three spots across a 162-game slate.
Sure, Cora has already communicated that Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran will spend some games in 2026 as DH, but all that did was ensure that Yoshida's role must be even further reduced. And what about Triston Casas DH reps in 2026?
Yoshida's situation is just a classic case of poor time and circumstance. Boston loves what Yoshida can do in the batter's box, hence the $90 million contract he was given (even though it was from a previous regime under Chaim Bloom). But they didn't know when they signed him that Anthony would be who he's become so quickly, nor did they know for certain that Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu would turn into Gold Glove outfielders who must play every day.
There are plenty of MLB clubs who could use Yoshida, and it'll be up to Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to pull off some financial and persuasive gymnastics to get a deal done. First, Yoshida will have to prove that he can stay healthy between now and the deadline, because we're not sure who's taking this expensive logjam issue off the Red Sox's hands right now.