The Padres are being absolutely relentless in their pursuit of Jarren Duran, but they have less than 24 hours to figure out a deal with the Red Sox. Per Sean McAdam of MassLive, San Diego already tried to make it happen by offering Dylan Cease, No. 2 prospect Ethan Salas, and an unnamed second prospect, but the Red Sox "quickly rejected" it.
Duran hasn't exactly been playing like a guy who warrants an occasionally elite starting pitcher and a No. 2 prospect in return, but his years of team control and MVP-caliber 2024 season do allow Boston to play hardball.
AJ Preller and the Padres' front office seem desperate to trade for Duran, but the Red Sox are free to sit back and let them keep coming back with bigger and better offers, if they really want him that badly.
Per Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic, the Red Sox might be able to goad the Padres into doing just that. Boston would reportedly be open to a deal if it included San Diego's No. 1 prospect (and MLB Pipeline's No. 3 overall) Leo de Vries (instead of Salas from the original package).
Revisited Red Sox-Padres Jarren Duran trade could get top prospect Leo De Vries to Boston
De Vries, a shortstop currently in High-A, was last year's No. 1 international prospect, and the Padres gave him a $4.2 million signing bonus accordingly. He's a switch hitter with "exquisite knowledge of the zone." His power hasn't really come together in High-A so far, but he leads the Fort Wayne Tincaps in doubles and is tied for second in both homers and RBI. Right now, he looks the Padres' obvious replacement for Xander Bogaerts at shortstop the second he's ready for the major leagues.
Meanwhile, Trevor Story's contract is up in 2027, the year that De Vries is expected to land in the majors. The Red Sox have a $25 million club option on Story for 2028, but it's already pretty clear that they won't exercise it, especially not if De Vries is in their pipeline and shaping up to be their shortstop of the future.
Boston already has a few middle infielders in their top 15 — Franklin Arias (No. 1), Mikey Romero, and Yoeilin Cespedes — but De Vries would completely blow them out of the water.
Preller is no stranger to giving up top prospects. When he traded for Juan Soto, who had marginally more team control left than Duran does now, he gave up almost every big name he had. If the Red Sox are willing to wait until Preller's desperation reaches untold heights, they could reap massive benefits.