The Boston Red Sox are one of several teams related to Nolan Arenado. They need a right-handed bat, which Arenado can supply, even though he struggles against left-handed pitching. While he’s coming off a bad year, there’s reason to assume that playing half of his time at Fenway Park and surrounded by superior players will allow him to rebound in 2025 for a Red Sox team looking to compete.
While the Arenado match makes sense on paper, a major oversight dating back to former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom makes him difficult to fit in.
In the offseason of 2022, Bloom signed Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract. That decision was not as catastrophic as the Mookie Betts catastrophe, but Yoshida’s first two years in Boston have made the contract look like a burden.
Everything about that blunder might make an Arenado deal impossible for Craig Breslow and company.
Masataka Yoshida’s contract and presence make Red Sox trading for Nolan Arenado hard to pull off
Yoshida hasn’t been terrible offensively during his two seasons in Boston, but his.775 OPS is especially disappointing given that his outfield defense caused the organization to relegate him to DH duties. His lack of defense and slightly subpar bat make his contract unappealing, especially given his $18.6 million salary through the 2027 season.
That deal alone is difficult to trade without adding another player, and it will be even more difficult to move knowing that he may not be able to play on Opening Day while he recovers from right shoulder surgery.
Assuming they can’t move Yoshida without attaching a prospect to him, the question becomes: if the Red Sox acquire Arenado, where does everyone slot in? Arenado would most likely play third base, shifting Rafael Devers across the field to first base, which Triston Casas now occupies, or to designated hitter.
Regardless matter where Devers plays, Yoshida will be the odd man out owing to his inability to play outfield on a consistent basis. Do the Red Sox really want to bench him when he makes so much money? Is Arenado a significant enough upgrade to justify benching him?
Red Sox fans want the team to sign Alex Bregman not just because he is a better player than Arenado, but also because he is more eager to play second base. If the Red Sox are able to trade Yoshida, Arenado makes sense. If not, that is more difficult to justify.
