Boston Red Sox: Grading a rollercoaster of an offseason
Boston Red Sox outfield offseason
The Red Sox did add one very interesting outfielder in Masataka Yoshida from the Japanese Professional Baseball League. Yoshida is a contact hitter who hits for a high average. He’s won batting titles in Japan in two of the previous three years and finished second the other.
If you’re going to roll the dice, Yoshida is the type of player who is worth the risk. The move is liked here, but there have been misgivings expressed among some baseball observers, especially at the $100M plus cost.
Bleacherreport.com notes,
"The Boston Red Sox raised some eyebrows on Wednesday when they signed outfielder Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract, and many are still confused by the deal. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel spoke to “10 sources” who all “thought the Red Sox overpaid by a hefty margin.” One executive went as far as to say, “We thought he was worth less than half of what they paid.”"
That’s not exactly a glowing endorsement but if a team is a big-market team like Boston, this is exactly the type of move they should make as part of its offseason acquisitions.
apnews.com commented on the Red Sox clear intention to sign Yoshida,
"Although the Red Sox have signed other Japanese players — including closer Koji Uehara, who helped them win it all in 2013 — Yoshida is Boston’s highest-profile addition from Japan since Matsuzaka arrived in 2007 after a bidding war that resulted in the team paying more than $100 million in posting fees and salary. The Red Sox never let this one get to that, making an offer on the first day teams were allowed to talk to Yoshida’s agent, Scott Boras, and convincing him to cancel scheduled Zooms with other teams."
The Sox still need a big outfield power bat and the way to get one would be through a trade. Let’s see if they take the plunge. A deal to add some real power to a lineup that’s lost a good deal with the departures of Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez is essential.
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With all this in mind, the offseason grade to date in improving the outfield has to be only a C, since Yoshida is an unknown commodity. Add a big outfield bat and that grade could rise exponentially. We’ll see.
How do you think the Red Sox offseason grades thus far?