The eyes of the baseball world are squarely on the World Baseball Classic, which has gotten underway with a bang in Tokyo this week. Defending champions Japan have won each of their first two games in pool play, largely thanks to an offense which has banged out 21 runs across 18 innings against Chinese Taipei and Korea. Shohei Ohtani has been the tip of the spear, to no one's surprise. But he's gotten plenty of help from teammate Masataka Yoshida, who's gone 4-for-7 with a double, a homer and a walk without striking out.
He's looked an awful lot like the guy the Boston Red Sox thought they were getting when they lured him away from the NPB with a five-year, $90 million deal after the 2022 season. Rather than solidfying his place in a crowded Red Sox lineup, however, Yoshida balling out on the world stage might actually help push him out of Boston for good.
Masataka Yoshida's WBC heater is a golden opportunity for the Red Sox
Despite Craig Breslow's protestations to the contrary, Boston sure seems like it's staring down a roster logjam that needs fixing before Opening Day rolls around. With Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Roman Anthony in the outfield and Yoshida at DH, the team has five bats for four spots — and that's before we even consider Triston Casas' eventual return from a knee injury, plus the occasional day at DH for the aging Willson Contreras.
Something has to give here; it's simply poor roster management to keep all of these guys on the roster when you can't play them all regularly, especially considering the needs Boston still has in the field and the bullpen. And Yoshida would seem to be the preferred trade candidate, considering the two years and $37 million-plus he has remaining on his contract. That's a lot of money to pay to a guy who's yet to prove he can stay healthy and play defense consistently at the MLB level.
All of which makes this the perfect opportunity for the Red Sox front office. Despite what Boston fans may want to admit over what's been a frustrating career, Yoshida has proven to be a very solid hitter when he's healthy. And raking during the WBC is an excellent showcase for the fact that he's feeling good and can still be a difference-maker with the bat — one who would be awfully valuable to a number of teams.
Potential Masataka Yoshida landing spots
Houston Astros
The Red Sox and Astros have been dancing around each other in trade talks for seemingly the entire offseason. And it's not hard to figure why: Boston is full up on left-handed outfielders, which the Astros could desperately use, while Houston has a surplus of righty infielders that would make sense for the Sox.
Most of the chatter has focused on Duran or Abreu, but why not Yoshida? Sure, the price tag might be a bit more than Jim Crane is looking to stomach. That said, if Duran and Abreu are off the table (understandable, given how hard it is to make the value work in a trade), Yoshida is an above-average lefty bat that would lengthen Houston's lineup and survive well enough in the tiny left-field confines of Daikin Park.
New York Mets
The Mets don't currently have a compelling answer either in right field or at DH, and with all due respect to Brett Baty, I'm not sure he's the answer at either spot. Yoshida could toggle between both and raise the floor of the bottom of a New York lineup that threatens to get pretty top-heavy. It's unclear whether the Sox have any interest in Vientos at this point, but a move to Fenway Park might be exactly what he needs to revive a once-promising career.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners went a long way toward solving their infield problem by landing Brendan Donovan, but I'm still not fully sold on the quality of this lineup in comparison to the AL's other heavyweights. Both DH and the third outfield spot alongside Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena could use some work, with some combination of Luke Raley, Victor Robles, Dominic Canzone and Rob Refsnyder currently slated to form a platoon depending on the day's pitching matchup.
But none of those names (save for maybe Canzone) inspires a ton of confidence, and Yoshida would add another professional hitter to an offense that could very much use it.
A Masataka Yoshida trade Boston would have to accept
This has felt inevitable for months now, and maybe Yoshida catching fire in Tokyo is finally enough to get it over the finish line. Paredes might have a path to playing time now that Jeremy Pena has been sidelined by a fractured finger, but that doesn't seem like it'll hold him out too long, and when he returns, Houston will be once again stuck with too many right-handed hitters and too many infielders/DH types to play at one time. His swing and approach are tailor-made for Fenway, and he can toggle through a number of different lineup spots even if Durbin makes third base his own.
Yoshida, on the other hand, would be exactly what the Astros need, an everyday left fielder who can provide lineup balance with a 115 wRC+ or so (maybe even higher if he's finally ready to put it all together). And Witherspoon provides Houston with some much-needed farm depth while helping to even out the value here a bit. There are reasons for each team to say no, but both are in a position to feel like they need to do something more to put themselves in position to contend with Opening Day around the corner.