In order to put Yoshida in the 40-man quota of the major contract, Downs was removed from the force
The Red Sox officially announced on the 15th (16th Japan time) that they signed a five-year contract with outfielder Masanao Yoshida using the posting system from Orix. In order to put Yoshida in the 40-man frame of the major contract, the DFA (effectively out of force) of infielder Jeter Downs has also been announced. Downs is part of the price tag for selling Mookie Betts to the Dodgers before the start of 2020. GM is now forced to admit that the trade failed.
“On the day Masataka Yoshida was introduced at Fenway Park, the countermeasures to add him to the roster seemed to create even more ripples,” reports Red Sox local media outlet MassLive.com. Downs joined Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong in February 2020 in a trade for Betts and David Price. At the time, he was in the top 100 prospects on MLB’s official list, and “was a key piece.”
However, growth has been sluggish since the 2020 minor league was canceled due to the new coronavirus. He’s batting .191 in 99 3A games in 2021 and .197 in 81 3A games this season. He was promoted to the major leagues for the first time this summer, but only finished in 14 games, batting .154 with one home run and 21 strikeouts in 41 at-bats.
Verdugo, who has been transferred together, has become a regular player, but has not grown into a star. In addition, we also introduce the comments of Haim Bloom, the director of the organization headquarters. “He was definitely a big part of a very important trade. It is said that the DFA was decided regardless of that.
“We knew that adding Masa would force us to make some tough decisions,” he added. It is also a manifestation of the seriousness that he wanted to acquire Yoshida even if he admitted the trade failure three years ago. It will be interesting to see how this move affects the future of the Red Sox.
(Full-Count editorial department)
