Red Sox Predicted To Trade 1 Of 3 Outfielders To Make Room For Roman Anthony

Jul 5, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (43) and right fielder Wilyer Abreu (52) celebrates after defeating the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

As the Boston Red Sox look to heat up after a slow start on offense, their top prospect has already come out of the gates swinging.

Roman Anthony may be "just "3-for-11 in Triple-A so far this season, but those hits have been two home runs and a triple that missed being an inside-the-park home run by a few feet. The 20-year-old is generally regarded as the number-one position player prospect in baseball, and he's itching to earn his way onto the big-league roster.

There's one main issue: the Red Sox already have an outfield logjam. Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu were all slated to be regular starters this season, and Rafael Devers' move to designated hitter has left Masataka Yoshida scrapping for outfield at-bats when he returns from the injured list.

That logjam was the subject of a conversation between Just Baseball Show hosts Jack McMullen and Aram Leighton, in which Abreu, Rafaela, and Yoshida were all identified as possible midseason trade candidates when Anthony arrives.

"I think you have to do something about Wilyer Abreu if Roman continues to go nuclear, but Wilyer Abreu looks awesome," McMullen said.

"The only area where I see it is just getting Ceddanne Rafaela to the bench. I know you extended that guy," Leighton said. "We didn't even mention Yoshida, by the way... where the hell does that guy go?"

Whichever of the three winds up on the hot seat, McMullen predicted that a trade was coming, though it's hard for anyone to forecast at this point what the specifics of a trade might look like.

"At some point, somebody is going to get traded and I have no idea who is going to get traded, I have no idea where they're going to go, but somebody needs to get traded," McMullen said.

There are so many factors to consider here. Abreu is the most tradable asset, but he's carried Boston's offense so far this season. Rafaela chases too much and is on a $50 million contract, while Yoshida is still owed $55 million over the next three years and offers little to no defensive upside.

The only certainty seems to be that Anthony is going to eventually become a starter in the Red Sox outfield. If he keeps having multi-homer games, as he did on Sunday, that could happen sooner rather than later.