Five Packages To Convince the Red Sox To Trade Jarren Duran
Whatever Craig Breslow might say, the Red Sox need to trade an outfielder. Here are five packages they would accept for Jarren Duran.
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The worst-kept secret of the 2025-26 offseason is the glaring logjam the Boston Red Sox have in their outfield. With four bona fide everyday contributors, only three spots to play them, and Masataka Yoshida clogging up the designated hitter spot, someone feels like the odd man out.
That someone, at least consistent with reporting, seems to be 29-year-old Jarren Duran. A player who bloomed late, Duran, since 2023, is a fringe top-20 position player with 13.2 fWAR and a 121 wRC+ in 419 games.
However, despite the roster construction and reporting this winter, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said at the team’s annual fan fest that trading an outfielder was “never likely.” In an offseason comprised entirely of trades — before yesterday’s Ranger Suárez signing — it seemed there was always one more big trade in the works for Boston.
Alas, not so fast.
That said, the moment Breslow publicly acknowledges a need, or desire, to trade an outfielder, he loses any potential leverage he has in negotiations; leverage he already doesn’t have because every team knows he has four outfielders and three spots to play them.
The conclusion of Alex Bregman’s time in Boston offers some credibility to the notion that they don’t have to move an outfielder. After all, when Marcelo Mayer went down in 2025, the Red Sox replaced him by moving Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela to second base.
The problem? Breslow and manager Alex Cora both expressed hesitance to pencil the 25-year-old in at second base again. So now, we’re back where we all began: The Red Sox need to trade an outfielder.
The Difficulties in Moving Duran
There are several difficulties the Red Sox face in a potential trade of Duran. For starters, this lineup is already pretty young.
As constructed, here’s the 2026 Boston Red Sox lineup:
| Player | Age by All-Star Game 2026 |
|---|---|
| Roman Anthony LF | 22 |
| Jarren Duran CF | 29 |
| Trevor Story SS | 33 |
| Willson Contreras 1B | 34 |
| Wilyer Abreu RF | 27 |
| Masataka Yoshida DH | 33 |
| Carlos Narváez C | 27 |
| Marcelo Mayer 3B | 23 |
| Ceddanne Rafaela 2B | 25 |
It’s hardly a hodgepodge of rookies, but as far as consistent production goes, there’s not an extensive track record of elite play in this lineup.
Story rebounded from an abhorrent May last year to finish with a 101 wRC+, but projection models see him as a sub-two-win player in 2026. Contreras, while better than what they’ve gotten out of first base since Triston Casas’ rookie campaign in 2023, doesn’t exactly project to be an All-Star either.
Despite a down 2025 campaign, Duran still limped into a 3.9-win season. Wins above replacement don’t always equal wins, but most good teams don’t lack players in that echelon.
Another difficulty with moving Duran is his age. If he were 27 with three more years of control, the Red Sox commanding a return in line with his 2024 All-Star MVP campaign would make sense. Teams on the bubble may trade from a position of strength to raise the ceiling of their outfield; rebuilding teams may even see him as someone worth building around.
But at 29, Duran’s prime, especially as a speed-over-power-but-also-somewhat-power-over-hit, has already begun. How much longer can a team like the Kansas City Royals expect him to shoulder the load as their best outfielder? Bad teams aren’t trading studs for him, and good teams aren’t trading established high-level contributors for him.
So where does that leave the Red Sox?
The Best Way To Maximize Duran’s Value
As mentioned before, the Red Sox want a return in line with Duran’s 2024 campaign. While maybe 2025 was an aberration, and his true talent is much more in line with his 2024 performance, acquiring teams can make the same argument in reverse.
Teams are looking to trade for him at a low point in value, while the Red Sox want a top-of-the-line return. With Bregman gone, and Rafaela currently listed as the team’s second baseman, perhaps there’s an easier compromise where all parties escape happy.
Five Trade Packages for Jarren Duran
1. Kansas City Royals: LHP Kris Bubic, C Blake Mitchell (JB’s No. 2 Royals Prospect), and LHP David Shields (No. 7)
The Royals aren’t loaded with top-100 prospects — only catcher Carter Jensen — but the Red Sox organizational catching depth is lacking.
Mitchell was the first catcher taken in the 2023 draft, the same one in which the Red Sox selected Kyle Teel out of the University of Virginia. There’s no telling if Boston would’ve opted for Mitchell had Teel gone, but they get a chance to replace the guy they dealt for ace Garrett Crochet — and expressed an interest in re-acquiring earlier this winter.
Mitchell struggled in 2025. His strikeout numbers worsened on a rate basis, and instead of making up for that with extra-base hits, he saw his power numbers drop. He does have a good command of the strike zone, walking in 20.8% of his plate appearances last season, and we’ll see if the power comes back in 2026.
But right now, Boston’s catching depth behind Carlos Narváez and Connor Wong is Jason Delay, a non-roster invitee to spring training, and Brooks Brannon, who’s never played above Double-A.
The prize here is still Bubic. Despite constant injuries, including one to his rotator cuff that ended his 2025 campaign, this southpaw is a stud. While not in the same way as Crochet, Bubic avoids the barrel, getting opposing hitters to expand the zone and frequently whiff. He’s an expiring contract with injury issues, but he’s a very talented arm.
He’s not Cole Ragans, but the Royals won’t trade Cole Ragans!
In a best-case scenario, Bubic gives the Red Sox the best rotation in baseball. If injuries continue to give him trouble, Boston has more than enough depth to survive.
Shields gives the Red Sox yet another lefty pitching prospect. So far as a pro, he’s been a high-strikeout, low-walk arm. He’s not flashy, but the Red Sox adore projectable lefty arms. He may not be Payton Tolle-level, but he’s for sure talented.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers: LHP Justin Wrobleski, OF Mike Sirota (JB’s No. 42 Overall), and LHP Jackson Ferris (Dodgers No. 7)
Shield your eyes, Red Sox fans, it’s another trade of an All-Star outfielder to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
However, there’s a reason the Dodgers always seem to have enough to make additions via trade: Their player development staff is the best in the business. Sirota grew up in New York but played collegiate ball at Northeastern University. Yes, he’s another outfielder, but he mashes the baseball and isn’t close enough to the majors to nip on anybody’s heels yet.
He’d likely join the Red Sox Double-A affiliate in Portland, with fellow exciting young outfielders like Miguel Bleis and Nelly Taylor.
Wrobleski is someone who may have long-term goals as a starter, and maybe one day those goals will be realized. However, the Red Sox have a glaring need for an established lefty middle reliever after trading Chris Murphy and Brennan Bernardino this offseason. They have Tolle, Kyle Harrison, and Patrick Sandoval as other starter-to-reliever options, but Wrobleski just won a ring in that role.
The 25-year-old was elite at missing barrels in 2025, with just a 3.8% barrel rate. He also really took to the bullpen, posting a 3.23 ERA and a 24.6% strikeout-to-walk rate in 55.2 relief innings. His fastball sat 96 mph last year with a 35.2% whiff rate. His slider was also exceptional.
That leaves Ferris, who entered the 2025 campaign as Los Angeles’ No. 5 prospect. He was fine in 2025 but stayed in Double-A the whole year. His 3.86 ERA was hardly poor, but the command wasn’t as refined as you’d like. In fact, it got (slightly) worse from his 2024 numbers.
He’ll be a true 22-year-old prospect in 2026. He still oozes potential and, as mentioned with Shields before, the Red Sox love their projectable lefty arms.
3. Cleveland Guardians: RHP Hunter Gaddis, SS Angel Genao (JB’s No. 56 Overall Prospect), and C Cooper Ingle (No. 70)
Genao fits the bill of Guardians baseball almost to a T, but the truth of the matter is, they’ve been in need of another premier outfielder for a while. Getting that is going to be expensive.
Genao is a hit-over-power bat with good defense from the left side of the infield, and, according to our Top 100 Prospects list, he has an MLB ETA of 2026.
As mentioned before, the Red Sox are in need of infield help with the departure of Bregman. While Genao won’t be MLB-ready on Day 1, the Red Sox can piecemeal it together with David Hamilton, Romy Gonzalez, and a dream while this switch-hitter develops more.
Maybe the Red Sox want the more established Franklin Arias or Brayan Rocchio instead, but I think they’d prefer getting the high-leverage reliever in Gaddis. The right-hander nearly doubled his ERA from 2024, but he had a really rough go of it in June.
Through May, his ERA was 1.19, and he was striking out 35.5% of opposing hitters. From July onward, his ERA was 2.34. He wasn’t striking guys out at the same elite pace, but 25.8% is nothing to scoff at. In June, however, he posted an ERA of almost 11.00, therefore forcing him to round out at a 3.11 ERA.
Lastly, Ingle takes this trade package up to another level for the Red Sox. Due to a scarcity of true multi-faceted players, Ingle isn’t too far away from making a big league impact. Maybe not in 2026, but beyond, he absolutely could be in the equation.
He’s a hit-over-power bat with great swing decisions, and he’ll still run into a handful of homers if you’re not careful. With ever-developing defense, he and Narvaez could be one of the game’s best catching tandems for years.
4. San Diego Padres: LHP Adrian Morejon, C Ethan Salas (JB’s No. 83 Overall Prospect), and LHP Kash Mayfield (Padres No. 6)
Similar to the Guardians, the Padres have a surplus of elite relief pitching. While Morejon is among a dominant contingent remaining after Robert Suarez left for Atlanta, he’s a rental going into 2026.
This offseason is one that shows the value of high-velocity, high-groundball lefty relievers. We’ve already seen Jose A. Ferrer traded to Seattle for Harry Ford, and Angel Zerpa to Milwaukee for Isaac Collins and Nick Mears.
Now, Morejon can headline a package for Jarren Duran. It took a long time, but the southpaw rounded into an elite high-leverage reliever in 2024, then ascended further in 2025. His 2.08 ERA ranked 14th among qualified relievers last year. His 53.1% groundball rate ranked tied for 23rd with Wrobleski.
As for Salas, the masses have given up on him, but the Red Sox could decelerate his minor league development. They’ve done this in the past with guys like infielders Nick Yorke and Blaze Jordan, giving them over a year’s worth of plate appearances before promoting them to Triple-A.
The Padres got it in their minds right away to rapidly progress his development, and he faltered. He even lost all of 2025, save for 10 games, due to injury. He’s still an elite-level defensive backstop with good plate discipline. If he’s able to add power, there’s real everyday potential with Salas. Remember, he’s still only 19 years old until June 1.
Lastly, Mayfield rounds out this trade package as a 20-year-old lefty pitching prospect. A 2024 first-rounder, Mayfield didn’t debut in pro ball until 2025. He made 19 starts in A-ball, posting a 2.97 ERA and a 34.1% strikeout rate.
Walks were an issue for him in his inaugural pro season, but the Red Sox would love to pair him with 2025 first-round pick Kyson Witherspoon in 2026.
5. New York Mets: IF Luisangel Acuña, RHP Brandon Sproat (JB’s No. 87 Overall Prospect), IF Jacob Reimer (No. 93)
Rounding out the trade packages is perhaps the team most in need of Duran’s services. Having dealt Brandon Nimmo to Texas, the Mets’ outfield is no longer a position of strength, even with Juan Soto.
Ideally, Carson Benge comes up and contributes right away. But there’s no guarantee that goes off without a hitch. Even if he comes up and is an immediate star, the Mets could afford an upgrade in center field.
Duran would give them the kind of edge and personality that thrives in Queens; think back to Javier Baez in 2021.
For the Red Sox, getting an infielder on the cheap makes a lot of sense. Acuña hasn’t quite caught up to big league pitching yet, but his glove is very good. Last year, he was worth five defensive runs saved and one out above average in 434.1 innings at second base. He also offers versatility, with experience at shortstop, third base, and even some professional burn in center field.
Alongside Acuña, the Red Sox also get Sproat, who’d become their No. 4 prospect. With the Mets possessing an abundance of young pitching, it’s hard to fathom they get out of this deal without parting with one of Sproat or Tong.
But the Red Sox no longer have a strong contingent of higher-end position player prospects. As a result, they may take “less” on the pitching side to acquire someone with the talent level of Reimer.
Last year, the third baseman made his way to Double-A and continued to rake. In 61 games, he slashed .279/.374/.479 with 24 extra-base hits and a 10.2% walk rate.
Defensively, he’s still a work in progress. Maybe his ceiling is a bat-over-field archetype who ends up at first base. But the bat plays, even if the power isn’t that of a 30-homer guy.
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