The Boston Red Sox outfield is already crowded, and the impending arrival of Roman Anthony will only further complicate things. The Red Sox could look to trade one of their outfielders to reload on depth.
Masataka Yoshida seems to be the odd man out for the Red Sox. Last year, he was primarily a designated hitter, but that role now belongs to Rafael Devers. Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela seem to be the future of the outfield and are all better defensively than Yoshida. Newsweek’s Jon Vankin suggested the Red Sox could send Yoshida to the Kansas City Royals to reload on catcher depth.
“The solution? Use Yoshida in a trade to address another area of need,” Vankin wrote of the crowded outfield. “For the Red Sox, that is catching. After trading the organization’s prized catching prospect Kyle Teel to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason deal for lefty ace Garret Crochet, the Red Sox need to add depth at the crucial position. They could find it in Kansas City Royals prospect Blake Mitchell, the team’s 2023 first-round draft pick at eighth overall out of Sinton High School in Texas. The Royals’ No. 2 prospect and No. 45 in baseball per MLB Pipeline, Mitchell is currently sidelined with a broken bone in his hand.”
Losing Teel was not ideal for the Red Sox, but Crochet will be a part of their team for years to come. Meanwhile, Yoshida has not lived up to his five-year, $90 million deal.
He has hit just 25 home runs in two seasons with the Red Sox. He hit 20-plus home runs in four of his final five Nippon Professional Baseball seasons. He may not have a spot in the Red Sox’s outfield, but he could fit in nicely for the Royals.
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“The Royals, led by 2024 All-Star and AL MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr., won 86 games and earned a playoff berth last season, bringing postseason play to Kansas City for the first time since 2015, when the Royals won the World Series,” wrote Vankin. “But this year, Kansas City has started 8-8 and is getting dangerously little production from outfielders M.J. Melendez (.285 OPS so far), Kyle Isbel (.693) and veteran Hunter Renfroe (.363).”
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