Red Sox Prediction: One Final Blockbuster After Willson Contreras Deal

Four trades down, one to go?

The Boston Red Sox have had a busy winter, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. After acquiring Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade that was finalized on Monday, Boston's roster is starting to take shape in earnest.

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Outside of finally making a splash signing in free agency, however, the Red Sox should still have one final agenda item this winter when it comes to trades, and it's a move that wouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's been following the offseason rumor mill.

Red Sox could finally offload Jarren Duran, nab Mackenzie Gore

All winter, Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran has heard his name floated in trade rumors. The Kansas City Royals are a known suitor, and for the sake of allowing everyone involved to take a deep breath, we believe the Red Sox will eventually relent.

So the prediction here is that Duran goes to the Royals, but in a three-team trade (something Royals general manager J.J. Picollo hinted could be in the works). To complete the deal, the Red Sox would receive lefty MacKenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals, and prospects galore would be exchanged.

There have been lots of hypotheticals for this particular deal drawn up by the various personalities of Red Sox Twitter this winter. It's hard to guess exactly how it will turn out, but if we had to make a guess, it would be something like this:

Red Sox receive: SP Mackenzie Gore, C Ramon Ramirez (Royals No. 9 prospect, per MLB Pipeline)

Royals receive: OF Jarren Duran, 2B David Hamilton

Nationals receive: 3B Josh Hammond (Royals No. 4), RHP Luinder Avila (Royals No. 14), RHP Marcus Phillips (Red Sox No. 10), 2B Henry Godbout (Red Sox No. 17)

If the Nationals were willing to take on salary, which we have no evidence that they are, though they should be, they could also take on the last two years of Masataka Yoshida's contract and net even better prospects in the deal. That's wishful thinking, but it would make the trade a lot more fun for Boston (more money to sign Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette) and Washington (accelerate the rebuild).

There might be another piece involved here and there, or it might look completely different. The only framework of this prediction that really matters, though, is that Duran ends up in Kansas City and Gore comes to Boston.

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