The Boston Red Sox made one of the underrated moves of the offseason when the franchise signed Japanese outfielder Matasaka Yoshida, who some have called the best hitter for Japan’s Orix Buffaloes since the great Ichiro Suzuki.
Unfortunately, Yoshida’s $90M contract comeup resulted in MLBbro Jeter Downs, the top prospect in the Red Sox organization, being designated for assignment. In what is reported as a surprise move, Boston needed to free up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster in order to officially complete the signing of Yoshida and did so at Downs’ expense.
Downs, a first-round pick of the Cincinatti Reds in the 2017 MLB Draft, got a cup of coffee with the Red Sox in 2021. The 24-year-old played in 14 games. Over that stretch, the young infielder slashed .154/.171/.256, clubbed one home run and drove in four runs.
Here’s some MLBbro history for your dome piece:
Downs was the top prospect acquired by the Red Sox along with outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Connor Wong from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for six-time All-Star Mookie Betts.
After being designated for assignment, Downs either now will be traded or will be placed on waivers where any team in the MLB can place a claim, and if successful he would immediately be added to their 40-man roster. If no team were to place a claim on Downs, he could return to Boston’s farm system.
Boston discards another promising Black player. Well, if you can trade off Mookie Betts then anything is possible. The versatile middle infielder will surely get picked up. He has tremendous power, and his main focus is trying to shake his boom-or-bust label when it comes to productivity at the plate.
Expect this young and talented MLBbro to be playing in the Major Leagues somewhere this season.
Recent Comments