The Boston Red Sox enter spring training with the same surplus of outfielders that they had entering the offseason. Despite chief baseball officer Craig Breslow saying that it was “never likely” that he would trade at least one of the Boston outfielders, no Red Sox player’s name, it seemed, came up in hot stove trade discussions more than Jarren Duran.
Now that spring training is underway, Duran’s name is still discussed in trade proposals, with the latest coming from SI.com baseball analyst Thomas Carelli, who outlines a trade that would allow the Red Sox to restock their farm system, depleted by several trades this offseason, by sending Duran to a National League West club, closer to Duran’s California home.
On Thursday, manager Alex Cora also spun the Red Sox outfield overcrowding as a positive.
“It’s not a problem. I bet there’s 29 other managers that would love to have this outfield,” Cora told reporters, as quoted by NESN.com. “Whoever is out there, I truly believe — we got Wily, Ceddanne, Jarren or Roman — is probably the best outfield in the big leagues.”
3 Starting OF Positions Locked Down
The other three outfielders mentioned by Cora are all likely to get the bulk of playing time in the outfield. “Wily,” that is, Wilyer Abreu in right field, and Ceddanne Rafaela in center both won Gold Glove awards last year. With Breslow’s recent statement that the Red Sox are placing a new emphasis on “run prevention,” it seems unlikely that either Gold Glove winner will be displaced in the outfield.
As for Roman Anthony, the Red Sox generational talent is slotted to take the left field starting job and, given his rookie credentials — finishing third in Rookie of the Year balloting despite playing in only 71 games — also seems highly unlikely to have his playing time limited.
In addition, the Red Sox also still have Masataka Yoshida, who Cora on Thursday called “one of the best hitters we have.” But Yoshida’s defensive liabilities mean that he will see most of his at-bats at designated hitter. But DHing Yoshida means that rotating the other four outfielders through the DH slot becomes much more difficult.
Duran to Diamondbacks in New Trade Proposal
Finally, four of the five Red Sox outfielders — all but Rafaela — are left-handed hitters, making a platoon situation largely impossible. So what happens to Duran?
In Carelli’s trade proposal, the Red Sox send Duran to Arizona and get back four prospects now or recently ranked in the Diamondbacks’ top 20.
•Jorge Barrosa. The outfielder was rated No. 12 in the Arizona system in 2024 but struggled as a big leaguer last year, managing only 10 hits and two walks with 22 strikeouts in 77 plate appearances. The Red Sox would certainly send him back to Triple-A for further development, possibly to use as a piece in a trade deadline move.
•Mitch Bratt. The left-handed pitcher is the No. 9 D-backs prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
•Jansel Luis. Ranked No. 12 by MLB Pipeline, the 20-year-old infielder “signed with the D-backs for $525,000 out of the Dominican Republic in January 2022 and has already become a better prospect than many who signed for at least twice that bonus,” per a Pipeline scouting report.
•Daniel Eagen. Ranked No. 13, the 6-foot-4-inch right-hander mixes a 96 mph fastball with “an 80-82 mph downer curveball,” according to Pipeline.
Why would the Red Sox do it, other than to lighten their outfield overload? To replenish the farm system. With only one major free agent signing — former Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Ranger Suarez — the Red Sox relied mainly on trading away high-level prospects to acquire pitchers Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals and Johan Oviedo from the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as third baseman Caleb Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Dealing Duran would provide a quick way to add to the Red Sox prospect depth once again.
Red Sox Urged to Trade Jarren Duran For Haul of 4 Top 20 Diamondbacks Prospects