This Red Sox-Guardians trade turns Masataka Yoshida into some needed pitching depth

Two years ago, the Boston Red Sox brought in Japanese star Masataka Yoshida on a five-year, $90 million deal. In two years with Boston, Yoshida’s talent for finding his way on-base has been a definite plus for the Red Sox lineup, but his defense has made him a target of scrutiny amongst the Fenway faithful. During the 2023 season, Yoshida posted a dismal -8 Outs Above Average in left field, and he was relegated to DH duties last season before injury problems only turned the screws tighter on his future in Boston.

Since the offseason began, the Red Sox have been actively shopping him in attempts to offload his contract. Now, that motivation has grown stronger, as Yoshida stands in the way of promoting top infielder prospect Kristian Campbell with Rafael Devers locked at third and Alex Bregman at second.

Yoshida doesn’t offer much power potential, hitting 25 home runs in 915 career at-bats. However, he carries some valuable upsides. His strikeout and whiff rates are at elite-low levels, resulting in a career batting average of .285 and an on-base percentage of .343. When thinking of teams that could use a bat like Yoshida’s, there are several that come to mind, but there are few that make more sense than the Cleveland Guardians.

Josh Naylor is off to Arizona, and after trading for Spencer Horwitz earlier this offseason, Cleveland turned around and swapped him for a windfall of three pitchers from the Pirates, thereby opening a hole at first base. The Guardians remain very short on offense beyond Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez, and perhaps one their new arms could land them a solid bat on the trade market.

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Swapping Luis Ortiz for Masataka Yoshida

Luis Ortiz was the headliner in the Horwitz trade. Debuting in 2022, the righty had very little success on the mound in his first two seasons. But after lowering his arm angle, his results were impressive: In 2024, Ortiz threw to a 3.32 ERA spanning 135.2 innings, his once-lackluster fastball becoming a valuable weapon in his arsenal.

As of today, the Red Sox are projected to enter the year with six starting options: Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Bryan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolto. It’s essential to note that the last four of these names carry considerable risk, and Crawford and Bello have already suffered injury setbacks in spring camp.

On the Guardians’ side, Cleveland has plenty of starters with Tanner Bibee, Ben Lively, Gavin Williams, Triston Mckenzie, Logan Allen and Shane Bieber making his return in addition to Ortiz. Bringing in a quality hitter would round out a solid lineup.

It’s important to remember there isn’t much of a market for a player that can’t field a position or hit for power. Especially given Boston’s situation with Yoshida’s contract and without a place for him in the lineup, Ortiz might be a fantastic return here. But it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Red Sox walking away with a prospect as well.