The Red Sox have one of the most crowded outfield mixes in all of baseball. Jarren Duran is an All-Star who has averaged more than 5.0 WAR per season over the last two years. Wilyer Abreu has two Gold Glove awards on his mantle and a career 116 wRC+. Ceddanne Rafaela is the best defensive outfielder in the American League. Roman Anthony has a career .401 on-base percentage just 73 games into his major league career. A crowd of outfielders that impressive leaves little room for veteran DH Masataka Yoshida to fight his way into the starting lineup, and manager Alex Core spoke to reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic) about the outfield situation yesterday.
“We’ll see how it plays out,” Cora said, as relayed by McCaffrey. “JD is gonna play center soon, the day Ceddanne doesn’t play, and we got Thursday off. It’s not easy. Whoever thinks this is easy to move them around, they’re wrong… It’s not easy, but I’ll make it work.”
Cora went on to note that Yoshida figures to play three of the club’s next five games, as the team feels comfortable having Yoshida play left field in Houston’s Daikin Park. Cora noted that while the club will “need” Yoshida to play some outfield in order to get him into the lineup, the team’s other defensive outfielders (Rafaela, Duran, Anthony, and Abreu) are all a cut above Yoshida defensively. That would seemingly indicate he’ll get most of his time at DH, though Cora did express concerns about taking one of the other four outfielders out of the lineup. From Cora’s comments, it seems as though Duran is least likely to sit on any given day this year. Cora indicated that getting each of Anthony, Abreu, and Rafaela days off could be beneficial, but made no such pronouncement about Duran.
It’s not especially hard to see why Duran would be the least likely to sit on any given day. Abreu and Anthony both suffered from injuries last year that limited their playing time, while Duran has appeared in 317 of Boston’s 324 regular season games over the past two years. Rafaela, meanwhile, is by far the least accomplished hitter in the team’s outfield mix, and Duran is the next-best option in center defensively. With the Red Sox likely looking to avoid injury for Abreu and Anthony and Duran being needed to cover center on any day’s Rafaela is out of the lineup (or, perhaps, covering the infield), Duran once again figures to be part of the lineup on almost an everyday basis to start the year.
Of course, those plans could change in a hurry depending on performance. Anthony looks to be one of the brightest young stars in the game, and there may come a point where his value is simply too high to ever sit when he’s healthy. Abreu is the only one of the team’s four primary outfielders who can’t play center, but he also showed more ability to hit left-handed pitching than Duran has to this point in 2025 and could be a preferable choice against lefties if that trend continues in 2026. Even Rafaela has shown the ability to be a well-above average hitter when he gets hot, and at just 25 years old could certainly take his game to another level this year.
Cora’s public acknowledgment of the difficulties that come with having more outfielders than he can play on a regular basis is sure to keep conversations about the Red Sox potentially trading from their outfield glut in the rumor mill. The club has been heavily rumored to be considering doing so for years now, but they’ve yet to pull that trigger. Perhaps that could change when the right offer comes along, but with the season now underway it would be a surprise if that happened until closer to this year’s trade deadline.
If the team’s outfield logjam reaches a breaking point without a trade taking place, that could spell the end of Yoshida’s time on the roster. Cutting ties with the veteran DH is another move that’s been long speculated about for the Red Sox. While 47% of MLBTR readers believed Yoshida would not make the club’s Opening Day roster in a poll conducted when camp opened up back in February, he was able to earn a spot on the team’s roster to begin the year.
Still, his hold on a roster spot could prove tenuous if he doesn’t perform in his current part-time role. Yoshida is limited to DH and left field defensively, and his bat doesn’t compare to that of Anthony, Abreu, or Duran even when at his best. Last season he was a below-average offensive player in 55 games, and if he can’t turn things around this season it might be tempting for the Red Sox to carry a younger, more versatile player like Kristian Campbell on the roster instead. Even someone like Triston Casas, who is currently on the injured list but could pitch in at first base and offers intriguing power off the bench, could be a viable alternative if Yoshida struggles this year.
This article said nothing that we didn’t already know.
It was a good summary for someone who doesn’t follow the Red Sox D2D.
Are you ok?
I’m fine. Are you? That was weird…
Not really.
So the high effort 5 WAR OF who was at the center of trade rumors is a pretty valuable asset after all.
Thats why the asking price was someone like cole ragens and the sox pretty much didnt even consider duran for paredes
Paredes is not worth giving up Duran. Paredes plus tw0 top pitching prospects is not worth it.
My – He’s been involved in trade rumors for years. Some fans don’t like him and the team doesn’t value him because of his age. It’s a damn shame, I love the guy and hope he plays as much as possible.
The team doesn’t value him???
Because he’s in trade rumors???
Which are total horse crap???
hayzee – Come on now, I LITERALLY wrote why they don’t value him and you still come up with something different?
They tried to trade him before the 2024 season.
They tried to trade him before Abreu got hurt last year.
They extended longterm Roman (promoted last year) and Rafaela (promoted 2023) and they made a longterm offer to Abreu (promoted 2023) but they haven’t made a multi-year offer to the guy who was promoted in 2021. Sheesh.
Fpg how do you know they tried to trade him? I haven’t read anyplace where the sox actively shopped him aside from talks for cole ragens which it seems more like kc called boston..the way your comment reads its like they were trying to deal him for 30 cents on the dollar..can you name one credible source?
I don’t think it’s that they don’t value him, it’s that they know his profile won’t age well and he’s already under contract for what they project as his productive years. There’s no need to extend him, and they’d only trade him for a huge return
sox – You literally explained why they don’t value him.
Looks like they value Duran for his remaining years of control which is short-term, but do not value him long-term.
Duran isnt an FA until 2029. 3 more full seasons (counting this one) still to come in Boston. Thats “short-term”?
??? Did they make it sound he wasn’t??? I missed that. There was an early rumor the dodgers were interested before Tucker. I’d have preferred Duran by lots.
Shocked that he’s not considered an all around star player league wide.
Weasel – Only because some people are infatuated with the younger Roman, Abreu and Rafaela.
It was good to see Rafaela benched today, hopefully it happens more often. Red Sox Nation knows today’s OF/DH was the best possible against RHP.
“Red Sox Nation”
You shouldnt talk for everyone.
“OF/DH was the best possible against RHP”
Any situation that has Yoshida in LF, is not the best possible. Clearly, you have very little appreciation for defense.
Breslow Pitching Factory
1 day ago
“Red Sox Nation”
You shouldnt talk for everyone.
________________________
You understand that the FPG has delusions of grandeur, right?
Anyone who disagrees with his opinion and has their own view of how events are unfolding is immediately blocked by him.
I saw them play yesterday and can confirm they do have an outfield according to plan.
They need Yoshida to come out hitting just to get any kind of trade value going. It’s going to be difficult to take any of the other 4 out of the lineup on most days and Rafaela seems like the most likely to sit
They could move rafaela to 2b on occasion if the goal is to play them all
Rafaela is a gold glove centerfielder. Leave him there and let M. Mayer play 2B. He is so smooth. Yoshida can ride the pine and pinch hit when needed. I’d rather the Sox keep him than pay some other team to play him.
Rsox – I figured it would be Rafaela sitting today since it’s against a RHP and he had a brutal game yesterday. But unfortunately I think it will be Duran who gets the most DH/bench time (not including Yoshida).
They need everyone to come out hitting. The Sox should not have lost 2 of 3 to the Reds. I think Weissert needs a bit of rest, maybe used too much during the WBC. He had been dependable last year and if I remember correctly his numbers were good in the WBC. Disappointing Gray could not get through 5 innings, we don’t need to be overusing the bullpen already. Once the bats heat up we have more leeway in pitchers not dominating.
Sorry, being a typical Red Sox fan complaining when we have only played three games and the two we lost were so close.
Also the reds are alot better than given credit for plus they have a hof manager
I think I am overly focused on how the Reds have been ranked as compared to the Sox. I was assuming they would be easy wins. I think you are correct in them being underrated, they did what they needed to win the games. I agree you need to give Francona credit.
Anything can happen in baseball.
Goal for 2026 Red Sox beat the Dodgers in the World Series. Setting myself up to be disappointed, but I really want to see this team perform well. They have huge potential. I think some of the players like Durbin are probably feeling the pressure and need to start gaining confidence as they find success.
Screw the outfield, who cares.
How about better umpiring?
Huh?
Umpiring at the major league is incredibly hard, I get that. If a team has a few crappy players, that’s ok, they can still win. But a crappy umpire quite simply ruins the game and therefore the sport. So if you can utilize technology to improve the accuracy of umpiring why the heck not? If anything, it protects the crappy umpires from ruining the game and therefore the sport. This challenge crap is just for show and is really stupid. Get the damn calls right from the get go. Come on.
Whz
Imagine if ‘Cowboy’ Joe West was still umping today !!! He would get crucified… And rightly so. C.B. Bucknor was horrific yesterday. An embarrassing display of the strike zone … ABS should improve the umpiring,these guys must be better …. It will be tough at the end of games with called 3rd strikes and it lets get the calls correct..
cdc – hi!
Remember last week I said I would be really sad if Eugenio hits a big HR against the Sox :’O(
They should have released Yoshida.
👎
Unless you’re Schwarber or Ohtani (or Alvarez) – no one values DH bats at $18m/year. Since they’ve spent the $, he’s still worth more to them than any offer that might be out there. He could probably get like $4m for one year on open market. He at least has been diplomatic in his stance on PT; if he was an anti-team guy, he’d be released by now.
He could be traded for another contract. And he could still play the outfield. Like today.
And the boy can hit.
Triston Casas could push Yoshida off the roster at some point, but Casas has options available so he’ll probably start at Worcester when he’s ready.
Signing Yoshida over Schwarber – that was the mistake from day one.
They signed Yoshida over JD, Schwarber was already gone a for a year.
Schwarber was a rental and the Red Sox never even made him an offer. He was already a poor leftfielder even with the Green Monster. JDM was under contract for ’22 as DH.
We can also talk about Babe Ruth too…
… Yankees fans never talk of the past – good point.
AC That’s fine…BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HIT ANTHONY 3RD‼️ 2nd if you have too 1st is dumb. When you have Duran & Durbin this is dumb. Duran, Story, Anthony, Contreras, Abreu, Durbin, Mayer, Rafaela, Narvaez. You’re welcome…maximize your RBIs and let your speed breathe…
guru – Swap Contreras & Story, and swap Rafaela & Narvaez, and you have my lineup.
Story should NOT be in the 2-hole with a .301 OBP since 2022 when you’ve got Contreras with a .356 OBP during the same period.
And I like the speed of Rafaela right in front of Duran …. when Rafaela gets on base of course, which I know is not often.
FPG
Did Yoshida misplay a ball in the 1st inning yesterday? I missed it ,if it happened…
cdc – hi!
I was listening so didn’t see the play, but according to Flemming the ball dove on Yoshida and probably wouldn’t have been caught by Roman or Duran.
Fever- What is your take on the slow start? With the exception of Crochet and Early, neither the pitching nor the offense have appeared very good. None of the new arms have impressed and Suarez is picking up where he left off with his poor spring training performance. Each game I get a bit more concerned that this is not going to be the successful season I expected. Hoping that something changes soon.
Uncle – I’ve been saying this has a 2019 feel to it. Just like that year, the team seems to have started the regular season unprepared.
Also it’s worth noting Oviedo, Gray and Ranger all had very poor final ST appearances. Normally SP’s go full throttle in their final ST game, so it wasn’t for lack of trying.
In conclusion, I believe the team performance will improve over time. The only question is will they dig themselves too big a hole to get out of.
FPG
Definitely wAy to early to judge the team yet,but … Improvement should and will happen.
How about the Mariners giving out that huge deal to a player who has yet to play in MLB…
cdc – hi! I hadn’t heard about the Mariners player, I’ll have to look into it.
Fever- It looks like they are going to dig quite a deep hole to try to climb out of when the offense wakes up and the pitching improves. I do question some of their choices for the bullpen. I don’t know that either Watson or Moran are the long term answer. They had several guys who looked superior during spring training. The way the starters are pitching, the bullpen is going to get overused pretty quickly.
Uncle – There are some serious issues going on beyond the performance on the field. The mental mistakes are glaring and shocking.
Case in point, Rafaela losing an ABS challenge in the 3rd inning with nobody on base. Absolutely inexcusable. Is Cora doing nothing to correct issues like this? Or are the players tuning him out?
Even more shocking, the umpire loses track of the count which costs Bello a strikeout and leads to a walk. How on Earth did not ONE SINGLE MEMBER OF THE RED SOX notice??? Are they so absorbed in analytics that they don’t even pay attention to the game?
Millar said it best, “information overload”.
Most concerning to me, what is going on with Roman? 4 K’s on 13 pitches? It’s almost like we are seeing a repeat of what happened to Campbell last year. Roman is suddenly afraid to swing?
Whatever is going on internally needs to be addressed by the front office ASAP. This is not just a couple players going through slumps, it’s far worse.
FPG
2nd start of the season and Crochet has to be the stopper. Top 2 spots in the order Anthony & Story striking out over 40% of the time. I know it’s early but it’s frustrating. Story should be hitting no higher than 6th. Not panicking yet
Crochet gets a big win today and let’s start hitting some..
FPG
We discussed the other day,the ABS plan, or lack of one in the Sox case . Each umpire should be charted , something that already should be in place. Get ahead of the game.. Each player should be given a ‘cheat sheet ‘ on when to and when not to challenge. A properly prepared team will use this as an advantage. After 5 games it does not look like the Sox are one of those teams. This is a new era in the game of baseball. It really is. Every scenario should be gone over. Get the nerds together and get a plan before it cost more games..
cdc – hi!
Roman is benched today.
Narvaez was supposed to play today, but Cora changed his mind. Supposedly there’s issues between Narvy and Cora.
Story will always strike out, that’s what sluggers do. If he hits another 25 dingers the strikeouts don’t matter as much.
It will get better, hopefully not too late though. Huge mismatch today favoring the Sox.
cdc – hi!
But is it really necessary to come up with some elaborate plan?
It’s really simple, don’t challenge any close calls unless it’s a critical situation later in the game such as runners on base.
It’s so easy even a Rafaela can do it …. or at least should be able to.
Fever- It should be a mismatch, but with no offense and fielding that is less than impressive (Story already has two errors this season so picking up where he left off) even Crochet may not be able to win games. I have not been watching the games as I have not had a chance but checking the box scores is getting depressing. Who would have guessed Wong would be the best hitter?
AC top 6 up 2-0 Duran on no outs and for 6 pitches he sits there waiting for Contrarez’s DP …USE YOUR LEAD AND YOUR SPEED BRUH grr‼️ Use WHO you have, WHEN you should, & WHERE you should…Call me for the WHY if you can’t figure that out infurriating your horrid in-game mgmt…
Kristian Campbell , the richest minor leaguer of all time
Nah. Campbell 8 years, $60 million. Rusney Castillo, seven-years, $72.5 million. The Sox are experienced at this. (Of course it’s not yet clear that Campbell will be a career minor leaguer.)
technically rusney was alredy a professional. spent 5 years in cuban league and boston signed him as a FA. kristian is a true prospect. sox simply jumped the gun
no Bronxlou is still right.
I can NOT STAND ALEX CORA’S ANYTHING…HE IS NOT SMART OR GENIUS…IN FACT HE IS IGNORANT ON HOW IN GAME MGMT NEEDS TO BE. CAN HIM NOW BEFORE ANOTHER LOSING SEASON
2 games in and Cora is already complaining.It’s very easy to rotate the 4 and also get Yoshida 8-10 AB’s a week
Is the goal for Yoshida to only have 8-10 abs,per week? ..I think that is where your logic might be flawed as based on comments coming from cora and presumably the front office/ownership that is not the current plan.
100-120 abs for Yoshida is 5th outfielder area. Yoshida needs more than that.
AC not a good player
AC not a good manager
AC good at cheating
AC is not the answer AT ALL
I get the feeling you are not particularly fond of Alex Cora
Inessential parenthetical elements proceed the subject. It’s hard to argue “meanwhile” is essential context that has to precede the subject for the sentence to be understood.
Meanwhile is the paranthetical element.
Does Cora discuss cheating?
spider – Yes he does. A few years ago he bragged to the Red Sox, including Chris Sale, that his Astros team “Stole the WS from the Dodgers”.
Chris Sale and his Sox teammates were hammered by Cora’s cheating Astros in the 2017 ALDS.
3 games in and Cora already pissing games away.
example: top of the 6th…. 2-0 lead… Duran leads off with a walk… Contreras gets to a 3-2 count… at that point you half to send the runner… Contreras hits into a DP… next batter Abreu promptly hit one off the wall in left Center…. should be 3-0.
Then he pinch hits for Mayer when Francona has a Righty ready, basically wasting him. They need to let him play and stop stunting his development with these idiotic platoons.
Anthony needs to be hitting 3rd in a run producing spot in the order.
Nate Eaton belongs on this team…. I would give Durbin a week and if he doesn’t get his act together, send him to Worchester to figure stuff out.
Boy AC your squad and lineup is tuned up, way to have them ready for openong day…and the houston opener a masterpiece of dog doo. Fire everyone who touches the hitters…all of those idiots because your entire team minus maybe Abreu have swiss cheese holes…all of them‼️ Suarez, Gray and Oveido will be.lit in the AL East
This lineup is a disaster…not the players but the batting order is crap in Bostom
AC is not what they claim, not a wizard, terrible in game manager
guru – He’s absolutely terrible at teaching and developing players too. He cares more about being every player’s BFF instead of their manager.
I’m not talking about just what he did to Campbell. Look at Rafaela, who constantly makes mental errors. Couple days ago he gets doubled up a mile from the bag in an extra inning game. Tonight he loses an ABS challenge in the 3rd inning with nobody on base. As usual, no repercussions by Cora.
AC /Redsox = Dogshit