{"id":66889,"date":"2025-07-08T01:20:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T01:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=66889"},"modified":"2025-07-08T01:20:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T01:20:01","slug":"long-awaited-red-sox-announcement-spells-bad-news-for-3-75-million-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=66889","title":{"rendered":"Long-Awaited Red Sox Announcement Spells Bad News For $3.75 Million Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/main>he Boston Red Sox offense has been nothing if not inconsistent. At first glance, the\u00a04.92 runs per game the Red Sox\u00a0have scored places them along the\u00a0MLB\u00a0elite, ranking sixth overall.<\/p>\n

But a closer look reveals that Boston had\u00a0scored double-digit runs\u00a0in 14 of the 91 games the team has played going into Monday. In those 14 games, the Red Sox have put up a total of 164 runs. In the Red Sox’s other 77 games, Boston bats have averaged just 3.69 runs.<\/p>\n

Put it this way: In 85 percent of Red Sox games this year, they have the 25th-ranked offense in baseball. In the other 15 percent, they have been the best offense in\u00a0MLB\u00a0\u2014 by a lot.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora delivered an announcement that could represent a major step toward evening out that schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Strikeouts have also been a major Red Sox problem. Averaging 9.2 per game, the Boston hitters fan more frequently than all but two\u00a0MLB\u00a0teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers (9.8) and Colorado Rockies (9.7).<\/p>\n

But according to Cora’s announcement, on Wednesday the Red Sox will add the player who last year recorded the\u00a0eighth-lowest strikeout percentage\u00a0(12.4) of any hitter with at least 400 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

But that player, 31-year-old Masataka Yoshida, has not yet played a game this season.<\/p>\n

The third-year outfielder,\u00a0signed from the Orix Buffaloes of\u00a0Japan’s Pacific League to a five-year, $90 million contract in December 2022, underwent offseason surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder and has been recuperating ever since \u2014 though he\u00a0played 11 games in spring training, stroking 10 hits in 35 at bats.<\/p>\n

More MLB:\u00a0Exciting Yankees Announcement Quickly Darkened by Latest Bad News<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“He’ll be activated this week,” Cora said Monday,\u00a0as quoted by MassLive. “Another day of working out. Probably another one (Tuesday) and most likely Wednesday.”<\/p>\n

While the return of Yoshida,\u00a0a .775 OPS hitter\u00a0with 25 home runs in his two Red Sox seasons, should be good news for the Red Sox offense, it could spell bad news for one player \u2014 a fan favorite who last year not only earned his first All-Star appearance but won the game’s MVP award: Jarren Duran.<\/p>\n

The addition of Yoshida gives the Red Sox six outfielders who must compete for four spots \u2014 the three outfield positions plus designated hitter \u2014 in any given game. That means one of those outfielders is likely to be traded or otherwise off the team in short order.<\/p>\n

That group, in addition to Yoshida and Duran, includes 2024 Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela \u2014 a defensive prodigy who is\u00a0tied with two others\u00a0for the\u00a0MLB\u00a0lead in outfield defensive runs saved (13) \u2014 and rookie Roman Anthony, who is\u00a0rated as the No. 1 prospect\u00a0in baseball.<\/p>\n

In a reserve role, the Red Sox have Rob Refsnyder, a platoon specialist whose .948 OPS against lefty pitchers\u00a0ranks him 14th\u00a0among all\u00a0MLB\u00a0hitters \u2014 ahead of such elite sluggers as Shohei Otahni (.895), Vladimir Gurerrero Jr. (.947) and Bobby Witt Jr. (.865).<\/p>\n

More MLB:\u00a0Braves Announcement Appears to Seal Fate of Yankees Castoff Alex Verdugo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And then\u00a0there’s Duran, whose performance\u00a0has taken a dip this season with a .728 OPS compared to .834 last year and .828 in 2023.<\/p>\n

In addition, at age 28, Duran is older than any of the Boston outfielders\u00a0except for the 34-year-old\u00a0Refsnyder.<\/p>\n

Duran is currently\u00a0on a one-year, $3.75 million contract, but the team has an option that would pay him $8 million next season.<\/p>\n

Will Duran be traded? According to one American League executive quoted by The Athletic, the Corona, California, native\u00a0is indeed “the most likely”\u00a0Red Sox outfielder to be leaving the Red Sox soon.<\/p>\n

Duran was left\u00a0on the bench for Monday’s game\u00a0against the Colorado Rockies, with Refsnyder taking his usual spot in left field. But no announcement about Duran’s fate was made on Monday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Boston Red Sox will be adding a top hitter to their lineup this week after waiting months, but that means one player will have be the odd man out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":66890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nLong-Awaited Red Sox Announcement Spells Bad News For $3.75 Million Star - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=66889\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long-Awaited Red Sox Announcement Spells Bad News For $3.75 Million Star - 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