Infielder/outfielder Ryan Noda has been traded from the Angels to the Red Sox, according to announcements from both clubs. The Halos, who designated Noda for assignment a few days ago, receive cash considerations in return. The Red Sox optioned Noda to Triple-A Worcester and transferred outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.
Noda, 29, was a Rule 5 success story just over a year ago. Going into 2023, the Athletics plucked him from the Dodgers and put him at first base almost every day, in addition to occasional time in the outfield corners. He stepped to the plate 495 times that year and posted an awful 34.3% strikeout rate but he also drew walks at a 15.6% clip and hit 16 home runs. Despite all those punchouts, he was on-base enough and had enough power to produce a .229/.364/.406 line and 122 wRC+.
That was generally in line with his previous minor league performance. In Triple-A with the Dodgers the year prior, he had a 16% walk rate, 28.2% strikeout rate and 25 home runs, leading to a .259/.395/.474 line and 125 wRC+.
But Noda got out to a slow start in 2024. He had a .128/.242/.198 line on May 2nd when the A’s sent him down to the minors. From then on, he did his usual thing. He had 447 Triple-A plate appearances last year with 22 home runs, a 19.9% walk rate and a 30% strikeout rate.
The A’s put him on waivers in November and the Angels claimed him. The Halos kept him in Triple-A to start the year, where he continued in his particular fashion, though with some apparent bad luck. He has a 20.1% walk rate and 34.4% strikeout rate so far this year with four home runs but a .224 batting average on balls in play, leading to a .148/.364/.270 line and 81 wRC+.
For the Red Sox, first base is an obvious target area. Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury a few weeks ago. Designated hitter Rafael Devers was approached about trying to learn the position but he didn’t take well to that request. Second baseman/outfielder Kristian Campbell has been doing first base drills but hasn’t yet appeared there in a game. Romy González took over the position for a few days before landing on the IL with a a left quad contusion. Glove-first utility guys like Abraham Toro and Nick Sogard have been covering the position in recent weeks.
Noda is a proper first baseman with a bit of major league success and options, so he’s a logical depth add for the Sox. They can get a close-up look at him in Worcester and decide whether they want to call him up for major league at-bats at some point.
As for Yoshida, this doesn’t change anything about his timeline. He has been on the 10-day IL all season, struggling to get his shoulder healthy after last year’s surgery. His 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for activation in about a week. He has not begun a rehab assignment, so a return in the near future doesn’t seem likely. As of yesterday, manager Alex Cora said Yoshida would be restarting his throwing program after receiving a cortisone shot, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Can he play 1st base and can he at a minimum hit his weight average wise or is he a 4A depth player
He’s hitting .148 in AAA, so there’s that.
Don’t forget Casas couldn’t hit at 1B, at least not consistently. So anything is as good or an upgrade
.800 career OPS. “Can’t hit”
“anything is as good or an upgrade”
Yeah, because every player has an.8oo OPS..
Right?
This dude doesn’t understand that being 25 years old with a career OPS of .800 is good..
You’d take Lee Stephens at 1b in a pinch, no? He’s your comp
I think he is aaa depth since so many 1b capable guys have been called up…would be shocked if he ever plays over sogard,toro or romy when back
He’s Noda gonna be the new first baseman.
He’s a first baseman who had an okay rookie year in 2023, sucked in 2024 and has sucked in the minors so far this year.
The Akil Baddoo of first baseman.
He wasn’t bad for the Athletics two seasons ago and it looks like he’s played 1B before. Worth a shot I suppose…
he hit 238 his first year.
With a 122 wRC+/119 OPS+.
Currently hitting .148 in AAA, and plays in the hitter friendly PCL.
He costs nothing. Maybe a change of scenery to Worcester can help. Can’t be worse than the Angels minor league development team.
With a .364 OBP. You’ll take the Greek God of Walks, competent 1b, and power to boot, no?
Great pickup! Power and walks, you’ll love him.
The last thing this team needs is another player who strikes out in 30%+ of his at bats. The Red Sox are already in the Top 5 for most strikeouts on the season so adding Noda (even for cash) makes no sense as he requires a spot on their 40 man roster.
As long as he swings at the first pitch every time. He will fit right in.
Wow! It sounds like a former bad relief pitcher is running the team.
Didn’t Toro suck enough? Front Office buffoon strikes again.
Please stop coming to this website
You actually think this guy will see the mlb club? Dude its a aaa depth move since thier 1b are all in boston…yer the buffoon if you cant see that
@PoolHall –
The issue here is that Noda required a spot on the 40 man roster. I agree that he won’t see the majors but they did not have the room to add this guy to the 40-man. They should have waited until he cleared waivers (which he would have) and then signed him to a true, non-40 man minor league deal.
I’m guessing that as soon as they need that spot, he will be the first one to be DFA’d or straight up released.
the flaw in your logic is here: Noda has never cleared outright waivers and would’ve been kept in the LAA system if he cleared for the first time. the only way to acquire him was to pick him up and give him a 40 spot FOR NOW, and the fact that he is bad means next time you need a 40 man spot means you might get to run him through waivers yourself soon. certainly not worth getting baked up over, in fact you should be excited about the opportunity here at a free milb player
“Front Office buffoon”
Oh how clever.
Never got a chance in Oak after starting out slowly in ’24. Elite bat discipline , .364 OBP and 118 OPS+ his rookie yr. .877 OPS last year in AAA. And yes, I’m biased as he’s a backup on the taxi squad
Why lol.
At least the acquisitions last year (Smith, Cooper) had some potential. A guy who is currently.hitting .148 in the PCL is no solution to their problems.
Wow we have a low bar now when consider smith and cooper as having potential..i dont see them as any better than toro,sogard, romy or hamilton who has never played there…this is emergemcy depth move lets please stop thinking this dude will see the mlb club
Pool – Smith and Cooper were significantly better options. Potential as in they could actually potentially hold down 1B in the MLB. Smith did that, Cooper did not.
And why sign him then? Why not just go with Hickey or Grandal who are already in Worcester?
Could be wrong Its my opinion the move was for worcester because if we pull up hickey or grandal its likely because one of the mlb guys toro or sogard got hurt and worcester doesnt have anyone..yer right smith was ok at least on par with sogard better than toro..worse than romy
Romy Gonzalez had a setback. 1B was a blackhole for the Yankees last season and it was brutal to watch. Get as much as depth as possible and play the cheap hot hand until Campbell is ready.
Yankees – last year was also brutal for the Sox.
I don’t think this guy is a better minor league depth option than Grandal and Hickey.
Joe – I’d much rather give Grandal a try, not sure why they haven’t yet.
FPG….If a position is going to suck I think the team prefers youth.
bum – I would agree with that if it’s a young guy with a legit future, let him take his learning lumps in the majors.
Noda is 29 and shows no sign of a future.
What’s interesting is KC’s slump began almost exactly when Casas got injured.
Now 5-for-57 with a slash of .088/.119/.140/.259
Really seems like they pushed the envelope too far with him.
You might want to google the definition of “potential”
Decent rookie year as a rule 5 pick and nothing since. Maybe he turns things around at Worcester
Liked him as a savvy Rule 5 grab from a loaded Dodger system. Don’t understand why the As weren’t more patient with him in ’24, suffered a freak injury getting hit by the batting practice machine that threw him off all season. Angels would have kept him as depth but are desperate to address their devilish bullpen (current E.RA 6.66). Sleeper pick by the Red Sox.
He will come up big for Red Sox
“I saw the little runt sitting there on a log, I asked him his name and in a raspy voice he said, Noda….N-O-D-A, Noda…”
So they are going for back up for Sogard while Campbell learns the new position?
The Red Sox should have TOLD Devers he had to
work out at 1st.He’s will hit wherever he plays and
it would allow a rotating DH with Roman Anthony
coming up.
How many different ways does a guy have to say no?..i mean you can “TELL” him…and he will say NO..he acts like a child..but you paid him 30 mil per so ya gotta live with it..and technically he probably has a greivance case if he deems a second move is dangerous for him physically..bottom line Devers to 1b isnt happening let it go and lets deal with reality
That ship has sailed. Maybe next season for him.
Noda Trade Clause!
On another note im officially ready to say i was wrong Cora is not doing a good job this year at all.. poor pitching management (all around) as well as lineups..like move story down to the bottom bench wong. Etc
Striking out 36% of the time fits right in with Sox. So does his .228 average. Useless pickup.
We already have a couple of 4A players for first, and a guy learning first. I am assuming this is to add depth to the franchise since the Casas injury exposed we have almost no franchise depth at 1st base. Something they should have known but ignored.
This is a nothing burger unless we see him at the big league level, which would mean things really got bad.
William – They needed a 27th-man tomorrow. LOL
Yet another player who plays multiple positions, none of them particularly well…
The motto of the Breslow era
This is a shot that basically cost nothing. It’s worth a look.
Craig Breslow’s side hustle: We’re not Even Trying & It Shows LLC. My god, why? Yet another garbage trade for someone no one’s ever heard of. Fire Breslow
Quinn…So i guess that narvaez move sucked? Fitts weissert and a lottery ticket for verdugo? Terrible right? ..man that bregman guy what a waste….what in the world are we taking slaton in the rule 5 for..trash huh?..and that crochet dude and chapman both total jokes? I can keep going but if you think all breslows moves are bad you might want to rethink your statement
lol first of all Bregman isn’t a garbage player so you can remove that from your argument. Some of his moves have worked out yes. However when the team needs things there is no sense of urgency with Breslow. I’m not saying they need to go out and spend like the dodgers but he is the king of waiting. We almost didn’t get Bregman. Narvaez has been a great story and I’m impressed. Chapman is a great story yet he’s 37, so taking another chance. As for Fitts and Weissert again great stories. But The Red Sox need help in there bullpen since the starting staff other than crochet is barley giving them 5 innings. They need starting pitching other than an expensive 1 year flyer on Buehler and the ace we acquired (never said he was trash either) in Crochet. The Red Sox have a wonderful group of young talent and I don’t think Breslow has the urgency to help them get there. Our starting 1st baseman goes down for the year and his solution is Nick Sogard lmao oh and this new guy who can’t hit a beach ball in AAA. Breslow and Bloom are just not the men for the Red Sox. Again not saying they need to spend a billion dollars but this is pitiful