As of June 20, the Boston Red Sox are 30-43, and it appears the team is heading toward being sellers once the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline arrives. It’s been a terrible 2026 MLB season, including the firing of manager Alex Cora and five other members of his coaching staff on April 25.
The question will be which players the Red Sox are ready to offload and which young assets they acquire to try to be a playoff contender in 2027. One potential veteran who might be of interest to a team pushing for the playoffs is Jarren Duran.
Even with the trade deadline a little under a month and a half away, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report believes that Duran and the Red Sox need to part ways between now and the deadline.
“There’s going to be a theme here with some guys who have seemingly been in trade rumors for years,” Kelly wrote in a June 18 article. “Jarren Duran is at the top of that list. Duran may never match his 2024 season, when he led MLB with 48 doubles, while posting an AL-best 14 triples.
“But Duran is significantly better than his .214 batting average and .668 OPS. He’s just a year removed from tripling 13 times and posting a .774 OPS. That type of spark plug would be of interest to just about all contending teams, even if many of them would prefer a right-handed bat.”
Duran has a .210 batting average with 58 hits, 12 home runs, 37 RBIs and 36 runs scored in 68 games this season for the Red Sox, per StatMuse. Not the best numbers, but perhaps a change of scenery and in a playoff race might cause Duran’s production to get a boost for whatever team trades for him.
Should the Red Sox Trade When the Value is Low?
Moreover, Kelly raises the question of whether Boston should consider trading a player whose value isn’t at its highest, while still having the outfielder under control until 2028 to see if they can maximize a trade return.
“The question is whether the Red Sox would sell low on Duran if he doesn’t heat up prior to the Aug. 3 trade deadline,” Kelly added in his article. “Craig Breslow and company are obvious sellers, but with Duran under team control through the 2028 season, they might prefer to hold onto him until the offseason and hope that his value goes back up with a big second half.”
Boston Could Benefit From Trading Jarren Duran
Nonetheless, the Red Sox have a plethora of young outfielders who need playing time, especially this season, which can help them grow and gain more experience. That might be more useful along with whatever they can get back for Duran, so that’s the opposite of the coin in the Duran situation.
“It just feels like the possibility of eventually getting traded has loomed over Duran for a few years now, with Boston also having Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela in the outfield mix,” Kelly wrote. “Eventually, that has to wear you down, and a change of scenery could probably do the 29-year-old some good.”
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