‘I Have No Words’: Red Sox Staring Down $124 Million Nightmare With Story Yoshida…
The Boston Red Sox have a combined remaining financial obligation of $124 million for Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida over the 2025–2027 seasons. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe opined Sunday that the club will likely have to eat the majority of that salary to entice other teams to take the two players in a trade.
In his Sunday Baseball Notes, Abraham writes, “A backup left-handed-hitting DH [Masataka Yoshida] is not what the Sox need. Or another left-handed hitter, period. It may not be in Boston, but Yoshida can help somebody as a hitter.”
“At some point the Sox may have to admit defeat and pick up a big chunk of his remaining salary to trade Yoshida,” he continues. “That also could happen with Story eventually, as Marcelo Mayer bangs on the door in Triple A.”
Mayer has compiled a .267 batting average (8-for-30), with 2 home runs and 9 RBIs in his first 11 Triple-A games of the season.
‘I Have No Words’
Both Yoshida and Story were signed by former Red Sox general manager Chaim Bloom. Story signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the team in March 2022. Yoshida inked a five-year, $90 million contract with the team in December of that year. Both players have faced repeated injury challenges that have severely hampered their availability and performance.
The Athletic ranked Story’s contract as the fifth-worst in Major League Baseball last December.
Yoshida’s signing was panned by MLB execs speaking in anonymity at the time he signed the deal with Boston, with one famously stating to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, “I have no words,” when asked why the Red Sox would sign the outfielder to such a lucrative deal.
This winter, Boston tried to include Yoshida in a trade package that included first baseman Triston Casas to the Seattle Mariners this offseason but was turned down.
I Have No Words’
Both Yoshida and Story were signed by former Red Sox general manager Chaim Bloom. Story signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the team in March 2022. Yoshida inked a five-year, $90 million contract with the team in December of that year. Both players have faced repeated injury challenges that have severely hampered their availability and performance.
The Athletic ranked Story’s contract as the fifth-worst in Major League Baseball last December.
Yoshida’s signing was panned by MLB execs speaking in anonymity at the time he signed the deal with Boston, with one famously stating to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, “I have no words,” when asked why the Red Sox would sign the outfielder to such a lucrative deal.
This winter, Boston tried to include Yoshida in a trade package that included first baseman Triston Casas to the Seattle Mariners this offseason but was turned down.