Red Sox Ready to Dump $56 Million Slugger! MLB Reveals Shocking Trade Plans

With the 2025 regular season barely a month away, the Boston Red Sox still have plenty of unsettled roster questions.

The most high-profile debate currently surrounding the Red Sox is whether Rafael Devers will keep his third base job or cede control to free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman. And the eventual answer will have wide-ranging implications for the rest of the roster.

If Bregman takes over third base, it will create room for second baseman Kristian Campbell, a consensus top-10 prospect in all of baseball, to make the roster. It would also push Devers to designated hitter, which will leave a fan-favorite slugger without a clear path to playing time.

Masataka Yoshida, who the Red Sox signed to a five-year, $90 million contract before the 2023 season, hasn’t proven he can stick in left field on defense, and his 111 career OPS+ doesn’t quite justify leaving him as the full-time DH.

Because of his awkward position in the impending roster crunch, Yoshida was one of five players listed by Just Baseball’s Caleb Moody whose teams “would love” to trade them before Opening Day arrives.

“If Yoshida could play even passable defense in the outfield then perhaps his value to the Red Sox would keep him away from trade speculation,” Moody wrote. “An $18.6 million per year DH is less than optimal to put in nicer terms, no matter how solid the bat may be.”

“If the Red Sox were able eat some money in a trade, suddenly Yoshida’s value as a full-time DH rises and the Red Sox still save some cash to utilize as they enter their contention window, while also more importantly freeing up that valuable spot on the 26-man active roster.”

Yoshida has three years and $55.8 million remaining on his contract, and it’s hard to imagine any team, even one with the deepest of pockets, swallowing all of that money for a hitter who has only proven himself to be solid, not exceptional to this point.

The Red Sox clearly didn’t anticipate being in this position so quickly with the 31-year-old. To some degree, the fast development of prospects has also forced the issue. But soon, Yoshida will have to either slug his way back into Boston’s plans, or face a move elsewhere.