Red Sox 'Quickly Rejected' Padres' 3-Player Jarren Duran Offer: Report

Jarren Duran's name is everywhere with less than a week to go before the Major League Baseball trade deadline.

Duran was the breakout star of the Boston Red Sox's 2024 season, but in 2025, he's been good and not great. In an overcrowded Boston outfield, the 28-year-old Duran looks like the eventual odd man out, as he's somehow both the oldest and the closest to free agency.

The San Diego Padres have been itching to get their hands of Duran for quite some time, dating back before the 2024 campaign. Now that they have a gaping hole in left field, and the Red Sox at least appear amenable to the possibility of a Duran trade, it appears San Diego has progressed to the offer phase.

On Friday, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that the Red Sox rejected an offer from the Padres centered around struggling starting pitcher Dylan Cease, who has two top-five Cy Young finishes to his name, and catching prospect Ethan Salas, MLB Pipeline's No. 21 prospect in all of baseball.

"There’s little question that pitching remains the Red Sox’ primary target as the deadline inches closer," wrote McAdam.

"The Red Sox have signaled interest in Dylan Cease, who would be a rental. The Padres, in their never-ending quest to acquire Duran, proposed a package involving Cease, catching prospect Ethan Salas and another prospect (not shortstop Leo de Vries) for Duran, which was quickly rejected."

If that rejection shows us anything, it's that the Red Sox aren't willing to give up Duran unless they're sure the trade helps them both in the short and long term. Cease could be just what this rotation needs if he's at his best (keep in mind, he's the only pitcher in baseball with at least 200 strikeouts in every season from 2021 to 2024), but he's not guaranteed to be around in 2026.

However, McAdam also indicated that eventually, Duran's fate seems sealed.

"The closer we get to the deadline, the less likely it is that the Sox are going to deal from their active major league roster. At some point, it’s expected, they will move to address their glut of lefthanded-hitting outfielders and that will likely mean a trade involving Jarren Duran," he wrote.

"But moving someone like that, with three full years of control after 2025, is a deal that makes more sense in the offseason. Then, teams aren’t under the demands of a specific deadline and can more freely explore interest industry-wide."

It's got to be hard for Duran to keep the focus these days, but once the deadline passes, assuming he's still around, he can at least lock in for the rest of the season.