Red Sox $90 Million Hitter Labeled ‘Untradeable’ by Ex-MLB GM

Getty Red Sox DH Masataka Yoshida

It’s rare that a free-agent move in MLB—in any sport, really—can be widely panned at the time of its execution and then, two years later, can somehow be even more widely panned. That’s just not how things usually work. Often, MLB transactions lambasted by media and execs prove to be more worthwhile than expected. Not so for the Red Sox and outfielder Masataka Yoshida.

There was ample scorn for the Red Sox when they first handed $90 million over five years to Yoshida in the 2022-23 offseason. There was some belief, at least on Lansdowne Street, that Yoshida had special potential with the bat, after he hit .327 with a .429 on-base rate and a .539 slugging percentage in his Japanese career.

Turns out, he is not a terrible hitter. But he is limited elsewhere on the field, and certainly not a $90 million man.

This year, he has also been dealing with an injured thumb. Oh, and he has been made redundant with the emergence of Jarren Duren, Wilyer Abreu and the newly acquired Tyler O’Neill.

With the MLB trade season just getting underway, there has been speculation (or, at least hope) that the Red Sox can dump Yoshida. But according to one former MLB GM, that is not happening.

Red Sox Could Not Make a Trade if They Wanted To

The GM is Jim Bowden, in a mailbag article for the column he writes in The Athletic. Bowden was asked about Yoshida, and his answer was disheartening, surely, for the Red Sox faithful.

Wrote Bowden: “The Red Sox have committed $90 million to Yoshida through 2027 and with that contract, he’s not tradable, even if they pay a significant amount of the remaining balance. He’s a below-average defender with not much power or speed. His best qualities are that he makes contact, gets on base and rarely strikes out.

“But he does very little offensive damage, certainly not enough for teams to want him as their full-time designated hitter. In short, I don’t see him going anywhere.”

Yoshida had a decent rookie season, but is batting .275 here in his second MLB season with little power. He has 22 hits in 2024, but just five of them—two homers and three doubles—went for extra bases.

Masataka Yoshida Was Not a Hot Commodity

All of that fits with the floor value on Yoshida many gave at the time of his signing. The problem is, there are plenty of DHs the Red Sox could get for a lot cheaper than Yoshida.

What remains eye-opening about the Red Sox-Yoshida link is that they had plenty of warning this was going to happen. Yoshida had been in the Japanese League for seven seasons, and no one else was falling over  themselves to bring him to the U.S.

ESPN reporter Kiley McDaniel reported that around MLB responses from front-office types went like this:

“Nothing,” replied one international scouting director.

“Overpay for me … too rich imo,” from another scouting director.

A third exec: “I have no idea.”

A fourth: “Nothing … I wish they and him luck.”

A fifth: “We thought he was worth less than half of what they paid.”

And a sixth added, “I have no words.”

Harsh. Yoshida has not been that bad. But no one was eager to sign him in the winter of 2022, and they’re not eager to trade for him now.