Over a third of the way into the season with the All-Star break and trade deadline coming into view over the horizon, the Boston Red Sox remain in a sort of limbo. Their pitching has largely been what's keeping them afloat to start the year, but the offense has recently picked up to keep the Sox competitive, but not necessarily win a ton more than usual.
Despite his team's continued troubles, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is hoping to buy ahead of the trade deadline (whether that's because he truly thinks Boston could make a run or if he's trying to save his job is worthy of debate). Multiple Red Sox trade rumors have already emerged, including one from MLB insider Jeff Passan that other teams are still calling about Jarren Duran.
Unfortunately, the rumor continues a rough trend from years past: according to Passan, there's a "steep" difference in how the Red Sox are evaluating Duran compared to potential suitors. Passan and Kiley McDaniel reported last year that Boston valued Duran "more like the seven-win player of 2024 than his 4-win version in 2025," which clearly didn't go over well, since Duran is still on the team.
If Passan's report is correct, there's no way Duran is worth what the Red Sox are asking for him, and their insistence on their asking price is pure delusion. Not only has Duran only once been the MVP-candidate, eight-WAR player he was in 2024, two seasons ago now, his performance this year has brought his value down even further.
The Red Sox are still overvaluing Jarren Duran in trade talks, according to Jeff Passan
Duran has batted .215/.279/.404 over 56 games that year, and his slash line only looks that good because of a .297/.365/.656 stretch in his last 15 appearances. His defense has been excellent, with four outs above average for 90th percentile range and three defensive runs saved between left and center field, but that isn't enough to boost his value as high as Boston likes.
The Red Sox very publicly decided that they weren't going to add an impact bat to their offense this offseason and instead opted to rely on internal players to give the team a lift with their bats and their leadership. Duran was one of the players Boston planned to lean on, but that hasn't gone to plan in any way.
Not only has Duran not delivered offensively, but he hasn't delivered as a leader. He's 29 and has been in the league for six years, but still has trouble filtering out fan noise and focusing on the game. He also refused to speak after Alex Cora's surprise firing and a crowd of reporters ended up speaking with then-21-year-old Roman Anthony about the move.
The Red Sox weren't able to trade Duran with his previously way-too-high valuation and they haven't learned that he's simply not worth that much to other teams. Just because Duran is among the best Boston has to offer doesn't mean other teams have to see him that way — and they don't.
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