The Boston Red Sox have a lot of work to do.
Boston won just 78 games in each of the last two seasons and clearly needs to make some changes. The Red Sox made some strides in 2023 but they weren't enough to get them back to the postseason. Boston's biggest issues are in the starting rotation and the club will need to address it this offseason.
The Red Sox already have been linked to some big-name hurlers who will be available in free agency, but the club could be active in the trade market. One player who could end up having high trade value is young outfielder Jarren Duran, according to The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey.
"I don't know if that means they will trade him, but I do think he'd get a good amount of interest on the market considering he's still a pre-arbitration player making roughly $800,000 while (Alex Verdugo) is one year away from free agency and set to make about $9 million," McCaffrey said. Duran has already played a good portion of time in the majors compared to (Ceddanne Rafaela) and (Wilyer Abreu).
"As we noted, Rafaela is extremely exciting defensively but still has a lot to prove offensively and Abreu put up a good two months, but as we all know, while he's shown good progress, a lot of players can have good two-month stretches. Duran isn't a sure thing, of course, and slumped at the end of the year before finishing with a toe injury, but he'd likely be able to return the most of any of these players in the market."
It's unclear if Duran actually will be dealt as McCaffrey noted, but it's clear that there at least will be some interest. This isn't too surprising. Duran has been mentioned in trade rumors multiple times over the last few seasons and likely will again this offseason. A move would be surprising as Duran took a major step forward and could be the club's starting center fielder over the next few years. But, if a deal for a pitcher came up, maybe the Red Sox wouldn't be able to turn it down.
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