The Boston Red Sox might be seriously considering trading Jarren Duran.
What began as a single report (via The Athletic) linking Duran to one team (the San Diego Padres) on June 2 has since sparked a massive free-for-all of Duran trade rumors across Major League Baseball media, most of which are purely speculatory.
After all, why would Boston be interested in trading a guy who was the team’s best player in 2024?
The answer to that question would be simple if the Red Sox were winning in 2025, but that’s not the case. With Boston underperforming at 30-34 entering Thursday, and with Duran looking like 2024 may have been his career-defining moment, a trade suddenly seems opportunistic for Boston.
One of the best arguments for trading Duran came from the brain of ESPN’s Paul Hembekides during a new episode of the Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney podcast.
“I think now is a great time to do it,” Hembekides said.
“In fact, it makes a little bit of sense for the Padres, but a lot of sense for the Red Sox, who I think have an opportunity to capture pretty high value on a player whom I'm not perhaps as high on as consensus is.”
“Duran's a really good player … (he was an) 8.5 WAR player last year, but he's never going to do that again. And at the age of 29 with three more years of control, now is a pretty good time to capitalize on his value when you have so many other needs and Roman Anthony knocking at the door.”
“You can go Anthony in left, you can go (Ceddanne) Rafaela — who's a plus defender — in center, and then Wilyer Abreu is one of the great breakout players in all of baseball in right field. And it provides you an opportunity to restock your system and/or add present-day pitching, which the Padres could of course do and other teams like the Mariners could do as well.”
“I think Jarren Duran is a perfect trade candidate for the Red Sox that would declutter the roster a little bit and capitalize on his value while it's still relatively high.”
Entering Thursday, Duran was slashing .274/.323/.423/.747 with four home runs, 35 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, 1.2 WAR, and 107 OPS+.
It would be surprising to see the Red Sox actually trade Duran, but then again, it’s been a very surprising (and disappointing) season for Boston.
