He has two years and $36 million remaining on his contract. He is the team’s only below-average defensive outfielder, as manager Alex Cora described him recently. A now-cleared shoulder injury messed with each of his past two seasons. Between an overcrowded outfield and others who figure into the DH picture, he doesn’t have an obvious role on the 2026 squad.

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Would a trade be a good thing?

“It’s hard to say,” Yoshida said. “That’s not what I’m thinking right now, right? All my thinking right now is just: perform, play well, play hard. That’s what I’m thinking right now.

“[Trades are] something that I didn’t really experience back in Japan. Trades haven’t really happened that much, as often as here. So it’s something new. But to trade somebody, both parties [teams] have to agree, right? So it’s gonna be tough, and it’s part of the business, but I just want to say it’s something that’s kind of new to me after I got here.”

How has his family fared in the United States?

“It’s a new culture and a lot of new stuff that we found as a family,” he said. “But family is happy, and each and every day we find something new. So it’s a challenge, but we’ve adapted.”

The upside for Yoshida is his right shoulder, surgically repaired in October 2024, has been back to normal since late last season. That allowed him to find his stride at the plate, then have a routine offseason, practically a luxury.

He has not, however, spoken with Cora or other Red Sox decision-makers about his role.

Cora said it is “too early for that.”

An injury to Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Jarren Duran would have a ripple effect that would open up playing time at DH for Yoshida. But that doesn’t account for Triston Casas, who is slated to be healthy and an option in the first month or so of the season.

In the meantime, Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have stayed publicly positive about Yoshida.

“I think you guys are going to hear this a lot this camp,” Cora insisted Friday. “He is part of the solution. He’s not a problem. He’s part of the solution and he’s a great friggin’ hitter.”

Breslow said: “From the information that we have in talking to Masa and our strength staff, training staff, he is completely healthy. And we don’t anticipate any limitations or restrictions on him … This will be one of the first seasons that I think he’s coming in completely healthy and with a chance to get into games on the position player side in ways other than just DHing, which is great. Because we’ve seen the impact his bat can have on our roster. But unfortunately, each of the last two seasons, he’s dealt with some injuries.”

Yoshida returned last season to post a .625 OPS in July, .596 in August, and .837 in September.

“I got my timing back, just get the foot down,” he said. “That all kind of came back to me at the end of the year.”

Soon, Yoshida will leave to join Japan for the World Baseball Classic. He was a late addition to the roster as it attempts to defend its title from 2023, when Yoshida played a big role.

This time, he is due to play left field, on account of Japan already having a designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani.

Yoshida said being a part of Japan’s team again is “special.”

Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.