Red Sox passed on trading Jarren Duran, and he may finally be rewarding their faith

The Boston Red Sox made good use of the trade deadline, landing big names in Adley Rutschman, Curtis Mead, Erik Miller, and a couple of other players to boost their playoff odds. They also could have used it to unload some baggage, which they did by moving Marcelo Mayer, but they didn’t get rid of everything. 

The big name they didn’t move was All-Star Jarren Duran, who was having a horrific 2026 season, and his antics during the season made it seem like his time in Boston was done come August. However, Boston opted not to, to even Duran’s surprise.

Duran feared being let go

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Duran didn’t even believe the Red Sox were going to trade him. With how he was doing, he thought they would release him. He was the worst hitter in baseball, and wasn’t getting hot at all.  

“To be honest, I thought I was going to be released… I am the worst player in MLB statistically. I hate looking at the numbers but when you’re going bad, you look at the numbers and it was pretty obvious how bad I was,” Duran said (via Boston Globe’s Alex Speier).

Duran was thankful that he wasn’t traded or released, and he’s shown his appreciation in the last seven games.

Red Sox are glad they didn’t deal him

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In the past seven games, Duran has finally turned it around; he’s hitting .308/.333/.538/.871 with two home runs and four RBI. 

This has brought his season stats to .203/.259/.354/.613 with 10 doubles, 15 home runs, 58 RBI, and 16 stolen bases in 105 games. While this seems very mediocre, keep in mind, Duran was hitting sub-.180 for a long time, up to just a couple weeks ago. 

Duran’s future is probably still set in stone

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Even with this increase in hitting, however, Duran’s time in Boston is most likely on a timer. The Red Sox have openly admitted to their plans to try shopping him over the offseason, and with Roman Anthony coming back, there’s no real place for Duran in the lineup.

So, this hitting streak might work out for Duran if he keeps it up. Combine it with the two years of control left on his contract, and there could be plenty of suitors for the 2024 All-Star MVP. 

Hopefully, Duran continues this success, and goes out on a high note with Boston, so they can get something good in return.

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