Oft-injured Boston Red Sox slugger named one of worst contracts in Major League Baseball originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox have made several massive financial commitments in recent years, but one analyst believes one deal stands out as the worst on the roster.
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According to Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report, Masataka Yoshida’s contract currently ranks as the team’s worst.
Yoshida originally signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston after making the jump from Japan to Major League Baseball. While the move seemed to be a smart one at that time, he hasn’t swung the bat or been on the field enough to justify paying him what they do.
“While Masataka Yoshida has gotten strong results in the World Baseball Classic for Japan, it’s fair to say that he’s been a bust to this point in his MLB career,” Kelly wrote.
“Over his first three MLB seasons, Yoshida has been worth just 1.5 WAR total, per FanGraphs.”
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Another issue has been Yoshida’s defensive problems. Even if we look at the player he’s been when he’s healthy, it probably isn’t someone who deserves to be paid $90 million.
“Since posting minus-four defensive runs saved and minus-eight outs above average in left field during his rookie season, the Red Sox have treated Yoshida like a DH, as he’s played just 45 innings in the outfield over the last two seasons.
“Yoshida is an obvious change-of-scenery candidate for a Red Sox team that has a surplus of outfielders, and will likely use Jarren Duran as their primary DH to open the season.”
If Boston ultimately decides to move Yoshida, it could be an attempt to reset the roster and better allocate resources more than anything else.
