The Boston Red Sox have more outfielders than they know what to do with, especially after they promoted Roman Anthony on June 9. Their logjam is even deeper than it currently seems.
Masataka Yoshida has been on the shelf all season as he rehabs from offseason labrum surgery. The Red Sox's most recent update on his recovery came on June 10 — he's throwing out to 105 feet and expects to be sent on a rehab assignment in late June or early July. Where he'll play is another story.
MLB insider Mark Feinsand listed Yoshida in his June 7 article about MLB players who could benefit from a change of scenery. He cites Boston's outfield traffic as one of the main reasons for a potential trade, but also mentions that it will most likely need to eat a large sum of his contract in any deal.
While it's true that the Red Sox's outfield is packed, Yoshida meets many of the team's offensive needs. He's batting .285/.343/.433 over his first 248 games with Boston, and he ranked in the 97th percentile in strikeout rate in 2025, only striking out 12.5% of the time. The Red Sox are desperate for that kind of length in their lineup after striking out a league-leading 195 times with runners in scoring position through 70 games.
MLB insider Mark Feinsand proposes highly unlikely change-of-scenery trade for Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida
Masataka Yoshida getting some hacks in pregame 👀 pic.twitter.com/3pXDvKUI7V
— NESN (@NESN) June 11, 2025
Yoshida is owed well over $40 million for the rest of his contract, which runs through the 2027 season. It makes no sense for the Red Sox to pay another club to take him on when his bat would address so many of their own issues. Yoshida also has negligible trade value in the eyes of other teams — he's played 140 and 108 games in his first two seasons in the big leagues, he's a slow starter who hasn't seen game action for eight months, and he's not a good defender in the outfield. Boston would have to eat quite a bit of contract money to make up for these deficiencies compared to his salary.
Day 79 of telling the @RedSox that they are making a mistake by keeping their best hitter off the roster
— Yoshida Enjoyer (@MasatakaEnjoyer) June 13, 2025
Yoshida has also developed something of a cult following among Red Sox fans. He briefly appeared in one of the promotion videos the Red Sox posted of Roman Anthony, and the comments flooded with mentions of the former designated hitter. There are entire Twitter accounts dedicated to petitioning the Sox to add Yoshida back to the lineup.
Yoshida seems like one of the least likely trade candidates in Boston's outfield. His trade value is limited, while his contract is quite the opposite. Yoshida is well-suited to the Red Sox's offense and could help fix its issues, and fans love him for his clutch moments and consistency.