Red Sox Have Rightfully Sky-High Trade Value On Jarren Duran

It sounds like if the Boston Red Sox are going to trade Jarren Duran, they aren't going to do so for anything less than a massive offer.

Duran is 29 years old, has three seasons of control left under his belt, and can do everything offensively you want a player to be able to do. Duran can hit for power, he can hit for contact, he can steal bases, he gets walked, he can score 100-plus, and the list goes on. This guy has led the league in triples back-to-back seasons with 14 and 13. Duran also has 41 or more doubles in each of the last two seasons. This guy does it all.

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His 2025 season wasn't as good as his 2024 campaign. That's not some sort of hot take. Instead, it's more of just a sign of how good 2024 was. He was an 8.7-WAR player and an All-Star. In 2025, he was a 4.6-WAR player. That's nothing to sneeze at. He was tied with New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón for No. 43 in baseball. There are a lot of players in the big leagues, and Duran was better than most of them, even in a down year by his standards.

Boston should keep Jarren Duran

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel shared insights into the rumors on Tuesday and noted that Duran's chances of being traded are 50 percent and that the Red Sox are viewing him as more of a "seven-win player" in trade talks than the 2025 "4-win version" version.

"The buzz: The Red Sox are valuing Duran more like the seven-win player of 2024 than his 4-win version in 2025," Passan and McDaniel wrote. "Either way, his addition can instantaneously make a team better, and Boston can hold out for a big return because the Red Sox don't have to deal him. At some point, though, the Red Sox will have to move Duran or Wilyer Abreu. Keeping full-time-quality players for less than full-time roles rarely works out well.

"The scouting report: Duran has elite bat speed and foot speed, along with a good arm, so his physical tools can lead to a return to something like his star performance from 2024. His foot speed pays off in elite baserunning value, ranking third in baseball over the past three seasons combined at +23 runs. His true talent level seems quite close to his 2025 production, which is still one of the top 35 position players in the sport. Duran has a ton of trade value because he's still in his 20s and has three years of control. Predicted chance of getting traded: 50 percent."

The way that this can be interpreted is that the Duran isn't going anywhere unless some big-time player is coming back to town. If the Red Sox hold to this idea of viewing Duran as a seven-win player in trade talks, that's telling. There were just seven players in baseball who had a 7-WAR or higher: Aaron Judge, Cristopher Sanchez, Shohei Ohtani, Paul Skenes, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., and Geraldo Perdomo. Julio Rodriguez, Tarik Skubal, and Garrett Crochet rounded out the top 10, but were just under seven-win players.

Duran is cheap and team-controlled right now. There shouldn't be a trade unless there's an offer so big the Red Sox can't refuse.

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