This post was originally published on this site.
Masataka Yoshida has been far from the perfect player in a Boston Red Sox uniform, but he’s also found himself in an unfairly difficult situation.
With no path to playing time in the outfield, Yoshida is scrapping for designated hitter at-bats this year against whoever the extra outfielder is on a given day, plus Triston Casas when he’s healthy. Yoshida also has two years and $37 million left on his contract, and if the Red Sox could wave a magic wand and get a team to take that full deal off their hands, they’d do it in a heartbeat.
So in almost every Red Sox roster projection, we find ourselves asking the question of whether Yoshida will be traded. On Saturday, we found out the player’s thoughts on that unfortunate dynamic.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
Yoshida on being unfamiliar with trade rumors
Yoshida admitted he had heard some of the trade speculation (how could one not?), but his main reaction was unfamiliarity with the entire concept.
“That’s not what I’m thinking right now,” Yoshida said via translator, per Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald. “That’s something that I didn’t really experience back in Japan. It doesn’t really happen that much as often as here. So, something new.
“But if you trade somebody, both parties, have to agree, right? So it’s gonna be tough, and it’s part of the business, but I just want to say, it’s something that’s kind of new to me after I got here.”
It’s not entirely clear out of context whether Yoshida was talking about both teams involved having to agree to the trade, or himself and the Red Sox. Starr seemed to indicate the latter in the replies to her tweet by invoking Yoshida’s lack of no-trade clause.
Last season, Yoshida slashed .266/.307/.388 and hit just four home runs in 55 regular-season games. Yet, he was the team’s most consistent hitter down the stretch all the same, and assuming Boston can’t find a way to unload his contract, it’s going to be crucial to figure out how best to utilize him to get some production.
More MLB: Red Sox Acquired Perfect Brayan Bello Mentor in 3-Time All-Star