Red Sox, Phillies Get Projected 3-Player Trade Package To Land Jarren Duran

The Philadelphia Phillies might be a Jarren Duran away from the World Series in 2025.

That's what the Boston Red Sox have seen firsthand in their first two losses to the Phillies this week. This Philadelphia team can crush the baseball, and their starters can pitch the living daylights out of the ball. But center field stands out as an obvious weak point.

Duran, who has been speculated as a trade candidate for months, is an established star, though maybe not quite of the caliber he was in 2024. The Red Sox don't have to part ways with him, even though their outfield is overcrowded, because he's under contract through the 2028 season,.

That said, if a team like the Phillies goes all-in on acquiring Duran, the Red Sox have to have their ears open. So what might it take to pry him away from Boston?

On Wednesday, Just Baseball's Ryan Finkelstein and Jay Staph projected a three-player package they believed could convince the Red Sox to fork Duran over: right-handed pitcher Mick Abel, shortstop Aidan Miller, and outfielder Justin Crawford.

"Aside from Andrew Painter, these are nearly all of the club’s most exciting prospects, making this an expensive price tag," wrote. "Abel could immediately earn his promotion back to the big leagues, where he could get a more extended look than he’s gotten with the Phillies. If not, he’ll go to Triple-A for a little longer, looking to earn this promotion once more.

"While it is a lot to give up, this trade keeps Andrew Painter and adds a player with three years of control to a roster that has some expiring pieces. It would allow the Phillies to jumpstart rebuilding a new core around Bryce Harper and Trea Turner, while bolstering their current group for another run."

That's a hefty, hefty haul for the Phillies to surrender, but Duran hit a leadoff, opposite-field home run off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler on Monday, so they've seen firsthand what a difference-maker he can be. Yet, it's also not a guarantee the Red Sox would want what they're offering in return.

Abel should be a rotation piece for the foreseeable future, so maybe that's enough. But Miller is floundering at the plate in Double-A, so he might not be an impact offensive shortstop, and Crawford's best-case scenario is basically... Duran with less power and more defense?

It wouldn't be a surprise to see either side hang up in this hypothetical, but the beauty of hypotheticals is that sometimes they turn out to be a lot less crazy than the real thing.