Red Sox Fan-Favorite Among Top Trade Deadline Candidates

The Boston Red Sox are going to be one of the most interesting teams to follow as the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline approaches.

Whether that means the team buys, sells, or somewhere in between remains to be seen. There is plenty of time left, but things aren't trending in the right direction for Boston. It's going to be interesting to see what the team decides to do, but MLB.com's Mark Feinsand listed Masataka Yoshida on his list of eight "change of scenery" candidates.

"Masataka Yoshida, DH/OF, Red Sox," Feinsand said. "The Red Sox don’t appear to have a spot for Yoshida, who has been out all year following last October’s shoulder surgery. The 31-year-old had 35 at-bats during Spring Training, but with Rafael Devers moving to the designated hitter role, Boston needed Yoshida to get work in the outfield, where he played only one inning in 2024... Yoshida has shown the ability to hit big league pitching during his first two seasons, slashing .285/.343/.433 with 25 home runs, 128 RBIs and a 111 OPS+ in 248 games.

"He’s been quite effective against righties, hitting .300 with an .810 OPS in 749 plate appearances. In 2024, he ranked in the top 5 percent of the league in both whiff percentage (14.6 percent) and strikeout percentage (12.4 percent). Yoshida is earning $18.6 million annually between now and 2027, so the Red Sox would likely have to eat a large portion of the contract in order to move him, but for a player with no obvious role in Boston, any type of salary relief makes sense; for Yoshida, getting an opportunity to play even semi-regularly would be welcome."

Yoshida has developed into a fan-favorite in Boston, but will he end up elsewhere before the deadline passes?