Red Sox $90 Million Man Is Odd-Man Out In Boston

The Boston Red Sox have a lot of talent, but there are areas of the roster that need to be flushed out a bit.

For example, right now second base and third base are up in the air. Marcelo Mayer very likely will man one of the spots, but who knows who will take the other. If the Red Sox don't add another piece, Boston could roll with a tandem of Romy González and David Hamilton at second base and Mayer at third base. Boston moved on from Vaughn Grissom this offseason, but if the club had known how the offseason was going to go with the loss of Alex Bregman, he actually would've been an intriguing fit at second base with Mayer at third. But hindsight is 20-20.

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The Red Sox don't have enough infield offense but the club is borderline too deep in the outfield. Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu are all big-time talents. Keeping all four will make it tough to get playing time for everyone, unless they occupy the DH spot. If that's the case, then the team's fifth outfielder Masataka Yoshida -- who actually was one of the team's most consistent hitters down the stretch -- doesn't have a good pathway to playing. Also, what about Kristian Campbell who got an extension last season and has been working in the outfield?

The Red Sox need to figure something out offensively

From a roster-building standpoint, something needs to be done. Yoshida, for example, is someone who could help the team offensively, but there isn't a pathway for him right now. The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey noted that the team would "love" to trade him.

"The Red Sox had talked much of the offseason about rotating playing time for the four outfielders, with one of them serving as designated hitter, but that doesn’t account for Yoshida’s playing time," McCaffrey wrote. "The Red Sox would love to find a trade partner for Yoshida (and offload his contract), but they’re likely to get more of an impact bat in trading Duran, Wilyer Abreu or Ceddanne Rafaela along with Tolle or Early.

"The Arizona Diamondbacks had taken second baseman Ketel Marte off the trade market last week, per Rosenthal, but that was before the Red Sox signed Suárez and now have more flexibility to trade a starter. The Red Sox could entice Arizona with a bigger trade package (Arizona is known to covet Duran and Tolle or Early)."

This was a topic last offseason as well. He has two seasons left on a five-year, $90 million deal and doesn't have a pathway to consistent playing time right now. The thing that's tough about that is again, he was one of the team's best offensive players down the stretch in 2025. Boston needs offense. He could help there. But, the roster is built in a way that makes that difficult. Now, if the Red Sox traded Duran or Abreu in a package for an infielder, things would be different. If something like that came together, then Yoshida could slide into DH and be the team's fourth outfielder while hopefully bringing another bat into the mix for the infield.

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