Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida Breaks the Ice on Constant Trade Rumors

Will Masa stick around all season?

Sep 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Masataka Yoshida has been far from the perfect player in a Boston Red Sox uniform, but he's also found himself in an unfairly difficult situation.

With no path to playing time in the outfield, Yoshida is scrapping for designated hitter at-bats this year against whoever the extra outfielder is on a given day, plus Triston Casas when he's healthy. Yoshida also has two years and $37 million left on his contract, and if the Red Sox could wave a magic wand and get a team to take that full deal off their hands, they'd do it in a heartbeat.

So in almost every Red Sox roster projection, we find ourselves asking the question of whether Yoshida will be traded. On Saturday, we found out the player's thoughts on that unfortunate dynamic.

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Yoshida on being unfamiliar with trade rumors

Sep 23, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Red Sox designated hitter Masataka Yoshida (7) hits a double against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Yoshida admitted he had heard some of the trade speculation (how could one not?), but his main reaction was unfamiliarity with the entire concept.

“That’s not what I'm thinking right now," Yoshida said via translator, per Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald. "That’s something that I didn't really experience back in Japan. It doesn't really happen that much as often as here. So, something new.

"But if you trade somebody, both parties, have to agree, right? So it's gonna be tough, and it's part of the business, but I just want to say, it's something that's kind of new to me after I got here.”

It's not entirely clear out of context whether Yoshida was talking about both teams involved having to agree to the trade, or himself and the Red Sox. Starr seemed to indicate the latter in the replies to her tweet by invoking Yoshida's lack of no-trade clause.

Last season, Yoshida slashed .266/.307/.388 and hit just four home runs in 55 regular-season games. Yet, he was the team's most consistent hitter down the stretch all the same, and assuming Boston can't find a way to unload his contract, it's going to be crucial to figure out how best to utilize him to get some production.

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