Red Sox's Outfield Trade Stance is Clear as Spring Training Begins

It was a long offseason of trade rumors but Spring Training has officially arrived.

Aug 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Boston Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela (3) celebrates with outfielder Jarren Duran (16) after hitting a two run home run during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: James A. Pittman-Imagn Images | James A. Pittman-Imagn Images

Spring Training is officially here for the new-look Boston Red Sox.

Pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report by Tuesday and soon enough, the full squad will be down in Florida getting ready for Opening Day. It's an exciting time for Boston. The Red Sox won 89 games in 2025 and although they lost Alex Bregman this offseason, arguably are in a better place overall heading into the 2026 season.

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Boston gave its starting rotation a facelift while adding Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo. Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello are the top returning starters. Boston added Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin to the infield, which should make up for the loss of Bregman and then some. On top of that, the Red Sox still have the best overall outfield in baseball, led by young slugger Roman Anthony.

The Red Sox are trending upwards

Sep 9, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) hits a double during the sixth inning against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

One of the questions of the offseason was whether the Red Sox would trade an outfielder. That hasn't happened to this point. The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey reported that there was interest in the outfield group as recently as last week, but Boston has a "high bar" for any member of the group.

"How will the four-man outfield/DH rotation work? A team source said last week that there’s still interest in Boston’s outfielders, but the Red Sox are still setting a high bar for any trade talks involving the group," McCaffrey wrote. "It seemed throughout the winter that they would need to trade one of Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu or Ceddanne Rafaela (with Roman Anthony all but untouchable). But the club continued to harp on the benefits of four strong outfielders and its plan to rotate them through the designated hitter spot.

"[Alex Cora] said on Monday that Abreu and Rafaela will be close to everyday players in right field and center field, respectively. With that in mind, Anthony and Duran are likely to rotate between left field and DH. Duran could shift to center to give Rafaela days off, and Anthony can play right field to spell Abreu. What that means for [Masataka Yoshida’s] role remains an open question."

Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported before Spring Training began that the Red Sox had been "open" to the idea of moving Jaren Duran, but had shown "no willingness" to the idea of trading Wilyer Abreu.

At this point, it would be surprising to see any outfielder go with Spring Training upon us and without a gaping hole to fill on the roster any longer. Boston was at the center of trade rumors all offseason, but it certainly seems like the club is willing to roll the dice with the surplus and see what happens. But, this will be a topic to keep an eye on during the season, especially when it comes to Duran, it seems.

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