As the Red Sox look toward October, the bigger picture in Boston is already coming into focus. This club has spent much of the season among baseball’s better teams and has a legitimate shot at a World Series run, but the offseason could matter just as much. If the Red Sox want to keep pushing forward, they still have areas that need help.
One of those spots is infield depth, especially at third base or second base. That’s where a name from Japan could quickly move to the top of the wish list if he becomes available.
According to Jeff Passan, Teruaki Sato is expected to be posted, and that would put the 27-year-old slugger squarely on the radar. Boston should be paying close attention.
“Teruaki Sato is a 27-year-old third baseman, and if the Hanshin Tigers post him as expected, he could become the first reigning position-playing NPB MVP to join MLB since Hideki Matsui in 2003. At 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, the left-handed-hitting Sato is slashing .320/.398/.636 with 35 home runs and 92 RBIs in 122 games in an offense-starved Nippon Professional Baseball.
“Not only are his traditional Triple Crown numbers leading the Central League, so are all three of those slash numbers,” Jeff Passan wrote.
Sato brings the kind of power that jumps off the page. He has 35 home runs and a 1.026 OPS this year in NPB, production that makes him a fascinating fit for a Red Sox team that could use another impact bat.
There’s always some uncertainty when a player makes the jump from Japan to MLB, but Sato’s profile is hard to ignore. If he becomes available, he looks like exactly the sort of addition Boston should be ready to pursue.
In Other News...
Red Sox May Be Facing A Jarren Duran Decision They Cant Dodge
Jarren Durans name has become part of a bigger conversation in Boston as the Red Sox continue sorting through a crowded outfield and a murkier long-term picture. MLB insider Mark Feinsand has pointed to Duran as a possible trade candidate, a notable shift for a player whose value looked far higher during his peak in 2024. Since then, the offensive decline has changed the way the club has to think about him, even as his profile still carries enough intrigue to keep him in the discussion.
The timing matters, too, because the Red Sox are not just weighing present production but what Duran might look like by the 2027 offseason, when roster pressure and trade considerations could come to a head. A move would not be made lightly, especially with Duran still drawing attention from fans and offering the kind of athleticism that can play elsewhere if Boston decides a change of scenery is the cleaner path. For now, it is less a done deal than a question the Red Sox may eventually have to answer. [Read more 🡒]
Masataka Yoshidas Return Could Force A Tough Red Sox October Call
Masataka Yoshidas health is becoming a late-season roster question the Red Sox may not be able to avoid if they keep playing into October. Interim manager Chad Tracy said Yoshidas return will hinge on how well the injury heals, and if the outfielder is ready in time for the playoffs, Boston will have to weigh what that means for Mickey Gasper and Nick Sogard. It is the kind of decision that looks straightforward on paper but gets complicated fast when a club starts balancing offense, defense and roster flexibility.
Gasper and Sogard have helped give the Red Sox options while Yoshida has been sidelined, and their roles could shrink quickly if he is activated for the postseason. The problem for Boston is not whether Yoshida can hit, but whether carrying him would be the best use of a precious playoff spot when the team is trying to build the most complete roster possible. With the injury timeline still tied to his healing progress, the Red Sox may soon have to choose between the bat they know and the lineup balance they have built without him. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Turnaround Is Suddenly Unlike Anything MLB Has Seen
Bostons season looked buried in April, when the club fired Alex Cora after a miserable start and handed the dugout to Chad Tracy. What followed was the kind of long, stubborn recovery that rarely shows up in modern baseball, especially for a team that spent the first half digging itself out of a hole and still managed to keep the season from slipping away.
The turnaround became historic from there. The Red Sox finished 82-68, becoming the first MLB team to end up above .500 after losing 46 of their first 78 games, and the surge was fueled by a mix of veteran production from Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu, plus useful contributions from Caleb Durbin and a wave of minor league call-ups. Boston also added Adley Rutschman from Baltimore before the trade deadline, a move that only added to the sense that this was a roster constantly evolving while still somehow finding its footing. [Read more 🡒]