It’s been multiple seasons now that the Boston Red Sox have battled a logjam in the outfield. Along with that logjam has come multiple seasons of outfielder Jarren Duran being on the trade block, but the Red Sox not coming up with a move for him due to what’s been perceived as too high of a price range.
Now, with the 2026 season going sideways, the Red Sox look like sellers at the Trade Deadline. Unsurprisingly, Duran’s name is coming up again.
There is a catch, though. Duran has struggled this season. He’s now hitting just .199 on the season with a .258 OBP, .366 slugging percentage, and .624 OPS. That’s with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs. So, if the Red Sox were to trade him now, they’d likely be looking at even less value than they previously thought they could get for him. It’s getting worse, too. Duran hasn’t had a hit in his last four games.
Boston Red Sox Insider on the Team’s Plans for Jarren Duran
GettyBoston Red Sox OF Jarren Duran
At one point, Jarren Duran was a dark-horse MVP candidate. In 2024, he finished with 9.0 WAR and made the All-Star team. The hope was that he could either build on that or the Red Sox could parlay it into an excellent trade return.
Now, two seasons later, that year looks more like an outlier than ever before. So, when insider Mark Feinsand went to put together a list of Red Sox players to be traded at the deadline, he expressed some concern about moving Duran now.
Instead, explained that the more likely scenario is that the team actually holds onto Duran. The hope, then, is that Duran figures it out and recovers some of his value before getting moved in the offseason.
“What could Boston get back for the 2024 All-Star Game MVP? Would the return be worth it? The more likely scenario is for the Red Sox to hold Duran for the rest of this year, hope he has a strong second half to regain some value, then look to move him in the offseason,” Feinsand wrote.
In the end, the result looks to be the same for Duran. The Red Sox have a logjam in the outfield and with the Red Sox not committing to him long-term, Duran is the odd man out.
“That leaves Duran, who at 29 is the oldest of the bunch and, not coincidentally, the priciest. Duran is earning $7.7 million this season and is arbitration-eligible for two more years, offering club control for a potential trade partner,” Feinsand wrote.
Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow Isn’t Committed to Selling at the Trade Deadline
GettyBoston Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow
From the outside looking in, the Boston Red Sox are an obvious candidate to be sellers. However, Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow doesn’t want to commit to being a seller just yet.
“We’ll be realistic and do what is best for the organization,” Breslow said, being quoted by The Boston Globe. “But I still think that we’re capable of playing better and stacking some wins together and hope that we can do that in the [coming days and weeks].”
Breslow is in a difficult spot. The Red Sox are rapidly underperforming this season and there really hasn’t been much of a spark. However, Breslow was behind the Alex Cora firing. So, now any continued failure is going to fall on his shoulders over roster construction.
“The first thing we need to do is take care of what’s happening here and do everything we can to figure out how to play better baseball and stack some wins together,” Breslow said. “After that, when teams make the decision to sell off players, particularly those that are maybe on expiring contracts, you try to get the best return you possibly can. Sometimes that’s available early. Sometimes you don’t know what a team is truly willing to pay up until you’re closer to the deadline.”
The Red Sox are entering play on Wednesday at 32-45. That’s 14.5 games out in the AL East. It’s also tied for the second fewest wins in all of MLB.
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