Red Sox Could 'Significantly Alter' Outfield, Open To Trading Masataka Yoshida

Boston is considering all options

Scott Neville | Jan 5, 2024

Red Sox Could 'Significantly Alter' Outfield, Open To Trading Masataka Yoshida /

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Boston Red Sox

Would the Boston Red Sox trade one of their long-term assets under new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow?

The Red Sox reportedly are contemplating making considerable changes to their outfield, even after swapping out Alex Verdugo for Tyler O'Neill.

"Teoscar Hernández coming? Masataka Yoshida going? The turnover in the Red Sox’s outfield might not be complete," The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Jen McCaffrey reported Friday. "According to people with knowledge of their conversations, the team remains engaged in talks that could significantly alter its outfield alignment even further."

It sounds as if the Red Sox are going to make a trade involving Yoshida, it would be financially motivated, which is both stupid and depressing.

"Hernández, who would address the Red Sox’s need for power, remains a point of focus," Rosenthal and McCaffrey continued. "But according to one person with knowledge of the talks, the Red Sox prefer to tackle other areas of the roster and reduce payroll before committing to the free agent. Several teams have inquired about Yoshida, and while the Red Sox do not appear to be actively shopping him, they are open to virtually any idea as they seek to build a better roster."

Yoshida hit .289 with 51 extra-base hits including 15 home runs, 72 RBIs and a .783 OPS (109 OPS+) in 140 games last season, his first stateside.

The 30-year-old is a poor defender, there's no way around it. But he still produced plenty to warrant his $18 million average annual value. A shift to the designated hitter role with an acquisition of someone such as Hernández would further increase his production.

Trading Yoshida and filling his role with Hernández would be ludicrous. How much better does the team truly get? Hernández posted an OPS+ three points lower with average at best defense.

The moves within the margins need to stop in Boston. It's time to go get a frontline starter, notable right-handed bat and start winning again. This is Boston, not Milwaukee, there's no reason to cut costs.

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Published Jan 5, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu