With the MLB season nearly 40% through, teams are going to start making calls around the league to complete trades to help them either compete now or in the future.
The Boston Red Sox are a perfectly even team with a .500 record through their first 54 games of the 2024 season. With that, many are already trying to project who will be heading out the door at this year's trade deadline.
While there have been reports that the team is willing to move on from closer Kenley Jansen, others have questioned whether or not outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida is long for Boston.
In a recent mailbag, The Athletic's Jim Bowden shared his belief that the Red Sox won't be trading Yoshida any time soon, but it's not the team's decision.
"The Red Sox have committed $90 million to Yoshida through 2027 and with that contract, he's not tradable, even if they pay a significant amount of the remaining balance," Bowden said. "He's a below-average defender with not much power or speed. His best qualities are that he makes contact, gets on base, and rarely strikes out. But he does very little offensive damage, certainly not enough for teams to want him as their full-time designated hitter. In short, I don't see him going anywhere."
Yoshida has been on the injured list since May 1 after jamming his hand in the series finale against the Chicago Cubs. While he's not having surgery on his injured thumb, he's still not doing any baseball activities, which further complicates any sort of trade discussions.
In the 24 games that he's played this season, Yoshida has hit .275 with two home runs, 11 RBIs and a .736 OPS.
