The Boston Red Sox held onto Jarren Duran past this year’s trade deadline, but the struggling outfielder’s time in Boston could still be nearing its conclusion.
Duran’s name was swirling in trade rumors ahead of Monday’s deadline, but the Red Sox chose to stick with him through his struggles in the hopes that he can still turn things around this season. The Red Sox surged back into contention with a torrid stretch starting in the beginning of July and continuing through their sweep of the Chicago White Sox this week, even without consistent contributions from Duran.
But one MLB insider believes he could still be traded this winter, naming him as a top candidate to move in early 2027.
Jarren Duran’s Time With the Red Sox Could Be Running Out
CBS Sports reporter Mike Axisa broke down the “way-too-early” trade candidates for next winter, placing Duran among the honorable mentions. Axisa expects the Red Sox to be aggressive in adding talent, calling them top landing spots for Washington Nationals All-Star CJ Abrams and Angels shortstop Zach Neto.
But the team could also do some addition by subtraction with Duran, who started out this season cold at the plate and has struggled to break out of the slump.
Duran himself thought his time in Boston was coming to an end at the trade deadline.
“To be honest, I thought I was going to be released,” Duran told The Boston Globe. “I am the worst player in MLB statistically. I hate looking at the numbers, but when you’re going bad, you look at the numbers and it was pretty obvious how bad I was. I thought I was going to be released.”
Duran has hovered around .200 at the plate this season, compounding the struggles with incidents involving fans and other ugly incidents, like when he appeared to take issue with Willson Contreras during a game.
Duran said even he thought he should be out of the lineup at times.
“There were a couple times where I yelled at (interim manager Chad Tracy), like, ‘I shouldn’t be playing! What are you guys (expletive) doing? I shouldn’t even be in this lineup,’” he said. “And then something good would happen, and Trace would be like, ‘That’s why you’re in the (expletive) lineup!’”
Red Sox Predicted to Cut Ties With Jaren Duran After Struggling Season