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The Boston Red Sox have already made a massive trade this season. They dealt the face of their franchise, Rafael Devers, to the San Francisco Giants after a contentious season. But the MLB trade deadline is not here yet, and the Red Sox could make more deals. ESPN's Jeff Passan says the connection between Jarren Duran and the San Diego Padres is still strong.
“No player and team have been linked as strongly as Duran and the Padres — and that's without any knowledge of how the Red Sox intend to handle the deadline. Roman Anthony's emergence has put Boston in a position to float Duran and Wilyer Abreu in trade discussions, and whether it's now or over the winter, Boston wants to use its surplus of bats to fill voids elsewhere,” Passan reported.
Duran burst onto the scene last year in his fourth season with the Red Sox. He played in 160 games, posted a .834 OPS, racked up 8.7 bWAR, and won All-Star Game MVP. This year, Duran has taken a step back, but he is still a solid centerfielder. He is in trade conversation because of Boston's logjam in the outfield.
The Red Sox should only trade Duran if they can add more pitching to their prospect pipeline. That is what they prioritized in the Devers trade, and they made the big Garrett Crochet trade in the offseason. San Diego emptied their prospect cupboard last season in trades for Tanner Scott and Luis Arraez. But they still have three pitchers in the top five of their prospect pool that the Red Sox should target.
The Padres could use another outfielder after losing Jurickson Profar last season. They have had a rotating cast of left fielders this year, but none have stuck like Profar did last year. Duran could play left or kick Jackson Merrill to left and man center field in San Diego. He has split time pretty evenly between left and center with the Red Sox.
