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Red Sox Trade for Ryan Noda: What to Make of Move

Originally posted on New Baseball Media
By Chris Studley | Last updated May 23, 2025 2:58 PM ET

On May 22, the Red Sox added former Athletics first baseman Ryan Noda in a trade with the Angels. Noda, who will report to Worcester (AAA), produced in his rookie season two years ago. However, he’s yet to play at the MLB level in 2025 after a rough 2024 campaign.

A Look at Noda

In need of help at the MLB level, the Athletics took Ryan Noda from the Dodgers in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. Noda just came off a 20-20 season in Oklahoma City (AAA) in 2022, had no path to the Majors in LA, and fit the Moneyball mantra to a tee.

Now a 29-year-old, Noda walked 92 times, a hallmark of his Minor League career. That helped Noda earn his first shot at MLB action. He didn’t perform too badly in his rookie campaign, as Noda hit 16 home runs and 39 extra-base hits in 2023.

However, things went awry for Noda in 2024. He hit .125 (.440 OPS) in April, got demoted, and was pushed down the depth chart thanks to Tyler Soderstrom, who made his 2024 season debut in May.

Noda, acquired off waivers by the Angels this past November, spent 2025 before the trade with Salt Lake (AAA) in the Pacific Coast League. He didn’t hit well, as Noda slashed .148/.364/.270 (.634 OPS) over 38 games.

That .364 OBP is a perfect reason why Noda was a desirable player when the A’s picked him in the Rule 5 Draft — and why he’s still an interesting player today. He’s adept at working counts and, by proxy, walks. Noda walked 89 times over 101 games and in his rookie season with the Athletics, 77 times over 128 contests (15.6% BB% in 2023).

But despite a 19.2% Chase% in 2023, Noda had an extremely high 36.9% Whiff% and 34.3% K%. Noda whiffed on non-fastballs over 40% of the time in 2023 but managed to have decent results — 11 of his 16 home runs that season were off those pitches — thanks to cookies thrown in the zone. However, that wasn’t the case in 2025.

That, coupled with a propensity to try to get under balls at any costs — he popped up 13.6% of the time in 2024 — makes Noda an interesting, yet flawed player.

The Red Sox acquired Ryan Noda, assigned to Triple-A, from the Angels for cash, per the team. Boston transferred Masataka Yoshida to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster for Noda.

Analysis

It’s a depth move, plain and simple.

The Red Sox are trying to figure out how to fill their void at first with Triston Casas out for the rest of the season. Boston’s given Romy Gonzalez, also on the IL, and Abraham Toro looks at first. Not to mention, rookie Kristian Campbell‘s been receiving pre-game work at first.

But even when Casas was healthy, Boston had troubles getting production from the first base position. Combined, the Red Sox came into play today 26th in the Majors in OPS (.618) this season at the position (h/t Baseball-Reference).

Noda gives the Red Sox another first base option on the 40-man roster.

This article first appeared on New Baseball Media and was syndicated with permission.

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