There is no secret that the Boston Red Sox have a logjam in the outfield. At the moment, the team has four quality players to fill the three roles. Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela are all good enough to be regular starters. While having a surplus of stars is not necessarily a bad predicament to be in, Boston has been linked with offloading one of the players all winter.
Duran was perhaps the most likely candidate to be offloaded. Nevertheless, the Red Sox have opted to hold on to the star heading into the 2026 campaign. The lack of movement regarding the situation is likely due to the club’s high asking price. Boston is now expected to keep all four sluggers in the lineup, at least to start the season. Duran and Anthony will most likely split time between left field and the DH role.
While the move solves a significant problem, it does create a new issue. The Red Sox previously gave Masataka Yoshida a five-year, $90 million contract to mostly be the team’s everyday DH. The logjam, however, now squeezes Yoshida out of the job. As a result, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey is predicting that Boston will eventually trade the Japanese veteran in the coming months.
As McCaffrey points out, the Red Sox have attempted to offload Yoshida for a while now. However, the hitter’s contract has made things difficult. Despite earning a healthy salary, Yoshida only slashed .266/.307/.388 in 55 games during the 2025 season. The reporter believes that Boston will ultimately either eat most of his salary or even include a prospect in a deal to help facilitate a trade.
Masataka Yoshida’s Strong Spring Showing is Encouraging for the Boston Red Sox
GettyMasataka Yoshida played well for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic.
While Yoshida could be heading out of Boston soon, he did play well for Japan during the World Baseball Classic. The slugger picked up six hits in 16 at-bats (.375 average) and six RBIs in the tournament for his country. Due to his time with Japan, Yoshida only featured in six spring training games with the Red Sox.
After returning to his club, Yoshida claimed that his showing at the competition should give him a boost with Boston. “For me, I wanted to bring out my peak performance during the WBC. And I think it just comes down to kind of maintain that going into the season,” Yoshida stated. “I think everything’s going as planned. I’m healthy, so I think I’m ready to show what I can do.”
Yoshida’s Playing Time, Stats Have Diminished since 2023
The slugger will attempt, although in a seemingly limited role, to regain his rookie form from 2023. In his first MLB campaign, Yoshida hit .289 along with 72 RBIs, 71 runs, and 15 home runs. His impressive debut campaign earned him multiple Rookie of the Year award votes that year. Nevertheless, Yoshida’s statistics and playing time have both dwindled in the last two seasons.
ESPN has recently predicted the Red Sox to win 87 games in 2026. The club will be looking to qualify for the postseason for the second consecutive season. Boston is set to start the campaign on March 26 against the Cincinnati Reds.
Red Sox Expected to Trade Former RoY Candidate