Red Sox Open To Moving Jarren Duran

The Red Sox are open to moving Jarren Duran before Monday’s deadline, reports Julian McWilliams of CBS Sports. While Boston’s recent 15-game win streak vaulted them into clear buyers, their left fielder has had a poor season and is a change of scenery candidate. Duran is hitting .195/.252/.337 while striking out at a 29% clip over 429 plate appearances. He’s last in batting average and on-base percentage among the 100 hitters who have taken at least 400 trips to the dish. Only four other players have a lower slugging mark. Duran hasn’t gotten any better even as the team around him has played well. He’s batting .167/.211/.247 in 48 games going back to June 1. The 29-year-old was also at the center of controversy during yesterday’s victory over the Athletics. Batting with runners on the corners and out out, he hit a medium-deep fly ball to left field. Third base coach Chad Epperson elected to hold Willson Contreras, who was running at third, on a potential sacrifice fly. Based on the strength of Tyler Soderstrom’s throw home and Contreras’ lack of speed, that seemed the correct call. Duran nevertheless expressed on-field frustration with an expletive and multiple gestures toward third base (link via Ian Browne of MLB.com). Contreras downplayed the situation postgame, though McWilliams reports that Duran’s ire was directed mostly at Epperson. Even if there’s no lingering bad blood, the fact is that Duran hasn’t been productive for the majority of the season. Boston could use Masataka Yoshida in a stopgap left field platoon with Jahmai Jones (or a right-handed trade acquisition) if they move Duran. Roman Anthony finally progressed to hitting off a tee yesterday as he tries to make it back from the finger tendon tear that has tanked most of his season. He’s still not close to game readiness but will hopefully be back by year’s end. Anthony will presumably be the primary left fielder by the start of next season at the latest. Duran could get attention from other clubs despite the dismal season. He’s two years removed from an eighth-place finish in MVP balloting. He was an above-average regular as recently as last year, when he hit .256/.332/.442 with 16 homers and 24 steals while playing in 156 games. The Astros have been looking for a lefty-hitting outfielder for over a year. The Padres made a push for Duran last summer and could still use a left fielder after losing Ramón Laureano to season-ending hip surgery. The Diamondbacks have a left field need and are looking for lefty bats. The Phillies and Guardians are other contenders who could be in the outfield market. Duran is playing on a $7.7MM arbitration salary, around $2.4MM of which is still to be paid. He’s controllable through 2028 but looks to be playing his way to a non-tender, at least if he stays in Boston. View Comments (65)