Will the Red Sox Move On from $90M Yoshida Contract as Rehab Setbacks Mount?
Masataka Yoshida’s return to the Red Sox is not only delayed — it’s potentially in jeopardy.
The 31-year-old outfielder continues to battle lingering shoulder soreness, casting further doubt on his recovery from offseason labral surgery. Manager Alex Cora told reporters before Tuesday’s game in Toronto that Yoshida could soon leave the team’s rehab site in Fort Myers to be re-evaluated in Boston.
“The throwing didn’t go well this week,” Cora said at Rogers Centre, according to MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “So once we get back, he may be there [in Boston].”
Yoshida has been rehabbing at JetBlue Park, but isn’t anywhere close to beginning a rehab assignment. Cora added that head athletic trainer Brandon Henry wants to assess him in person due to the lack of recent progress. “This week hasn’t been good,” he admitted.
This setback adds to an already rocky stint in Boston for Yoshida. After hitting .286 with a homer in just 11 spring training games, he was sidelined — and with Rafael Devers now entrenched as the team’s designated hitter, Yoshida’s only potential path back to consistent playing time is in the outfield. With a bad shoulder, that road seems increasingly unlikely.
A Costly Dilemma with No Clear Solution
Even if Yoshida were fully healthy, his role with the team would remain uncertain. As Boston Globe columnist Peter Abraham recently noted, the Red Sox don’t need “a backup left-handed DH — or another left-handed hitter, period.” Though the team’s social media highlighted Yoshida alongside fellow outfielders Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder this spring, the fanfare now feels hollow.
Yoshida and infielder Trevor Story are owed a combined $124 million through 2027. While Story has responded well to early pressure from rising prospect Marcelo Mayer, Yoshida’s outlook has only grown murkier.
“At some point, the Sox may have to cut their losses and eat a large chunk of Yoshida’s remaining contract in a trade,” Abraham wrote. He noted the same could happen to Story if Mayer continues to shine at Triple-A.
Yoshida’s five-year, $90 million deal — one of former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s most controversial moves — was widely criticized from the start. One anonymous MLB executive told ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, “I have no words.”
That skepticism has proven valid. Yoshida was reportedly dangled in offseason trade talks, with Boston trying to package him with Triston Casas in a deal with Seattle. The Mariners declined.
Now, the Red Sox are left with more than just an expensive underperformer — they may have a player with no clear place on the roster. If his shoulder doesn’t respond soon and he can’t resume playing outfield, the team won’t just be stuck with a bloated contract. They’ll be stuck with a player they can’t even use.