The Boston Red Sox outfield logjam has been a problem manager Alex Cora has been dealing with since the start of 2025. This season, the team has five starting-caliber outfielders and is forced to rotate all of them. It seems to be affecting the players abilities to get into a rhythm.
The issue is only compounded by the fact that three of them have long-term contracts with a lot of guaranteed money attached in Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Masataka Yoshida. Also making the issue worse is the fact that Wilyer Abreu is one of the few sources of consistent power in the lineup, so his development is paramount to the team's success this season.
Of course, there is also a sixth man in the equation, Kristian Campbell, who was converted to a full-time outfielder this offseason, and is currently stuck in Triple-A because there is no room for him in the majors.
That leaves Jarren Duran as the odd man out in the equation, even though he is an X-factor in everything Cora wants the team to do offensively — be uber aggressive on the base paths. Even still, the 29-year-old is the most likely trade candidate of the five. ESPN's Dave Schoenfield pointed this out in his early trade deadline preview, adding that other teams may covet his long-term control.
The Red Sox had their opportunity and didn't take it - now they might have missed it too
While Duran is the obvious choice to all of Red Sox Nation — his name has been floated in trade rumors since the 2025 trade deadline — it's also very unlikely to happen. If Craig Breslow had any intent on moving the lefty, it likely would have happened already. While not moving him at last season's trade deadline made sense, he seemed to have multiple opportunities to do so during the winter and chose not to.
Alex Cora on Jarren Duran batting .164 on the season:
— Jacob Levine (@408Jake) April 21, 2026
"Kind of like slow it down, even a bunt or something. Just get going. We need him to run the bases, do what he does. Hit one in the gap and stretch it out to a triple or one of those ground balls that get through and get to… pic.twitter.com/x38HOZbrb0
Reporting from multiple sources during the offseason suggested that the Sox valued Duran well above any potential trade partner. Breslow was allegedly looking for value equal to the 2024 version of him, a 9.0 bWAR player, and not the 4.7 bWAR player he was in 2025. If they really wanted to move off of Duran, they easily could have come down on the value of some to try and match up with someone to get the job done.
Now, Duran is having a very rough start to his 2026 campaign. He only has 17 hits in his first 24 games and has an OPS well under .600. His value is likely at the lowest it's ever been. If the Sox wouldn't lower his value over the offseason, there is no way they sell low on him at the trade deadline.
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