Padres hopes to upgrade on left field with Dennis Lin Jarren Duran Red Sox’s business goals list. They have been interested in Duran before because they have been connected with him before the 2024 season.
Given previous interests, it is not surprising that the brothers still stare at him. They couldn’t pry him off before last year, but encountered a cheap solution in their left field opening as they hoped to replace Juan Soto Not much spending. They signed Jurickson Profar Just $1mm, it took him a year of his career, although obviously, it looks suspicious now due to his recent PED suspension.
Entering 2025, monks are once again subject to financial restrictions and try to catch more lightning in the bottle. They brought many players in small trades and minor league agreements and added them to existing options. So far, they have tried eight different players on the left: Jason Heyward,,,,, Oscar González,,,,, Brandon Rockridge,,,,, Gavin bed sheets,,,,, tirso ornelas,,,,, Taylor Wade,,,,, Jose Iglesias and Connor Joe.
So far, no one in the group is the solution. Gonzalez is playing in Japan now. Heyward hit .176/.223/.271 and then landed on the injured list with tilted pressure. Ornelas hit .071/.188/.071 in the Grand Slam and is in an optional allocation. Joe was traded to the Reds. Wade, Iglesias and Lockridge are mainly multi-bit objects with glove priority. The sheets performed well on the plate, but weren’t a good defender on the left. He also left yesterday’s game after he collided with the left field wall while trying to catch the home run.
Duran, on the other hand, is a great left fielder. Last year, he hit 21 home runs with a 129 WRC+ and cut .285/.342/.492. He stole 34 bases and created strong traces of his gloves, separating time almost equally in the center and the left. Fangraphs thinks he is worth 6.7 wins in the substitute this year.
In 2025, his offense went bankrupt. He has only had four home runs so far. His walking rate also dropped from 7.3% last year to 5.7% this year. This gives him the .264/.312/.406 line and 97 WRC+. His Statcast number is a mixed bag. Compared to last year, his tough hit rate and exit speeds were higher, but he had fewer balls. His home run rate has been cut in almost half, down from 11.7% last year to 6% this year.
It’s hard to say whether he can go back to last year’s offense, but he does have 13 steals. His gloves don’t get the glow marks of last year, but the numbers can get a little weird in small samples.
Regardless of this year’s slideshow, Duran will be an upgrade to anything Padres currently has. There are also financial factors to consider, as the monks have obviously been operating in limited funds for many years. Duran qualifies as a super two player for the first time in the recent offseason.
He and the Red Sox disagree with the conditions before the filing deadline, but ultimately avoided arbitration. He is paying $3.75mm this year, making a $100k acquisition on the 2026 8mm club option. This option can be climbed to $12mm via escalator. Even if the option is rejected, Duran can still retain 2026 through arbitration and also in the 2028 season.
His combination of skills, control and affordable salary makes the Padre’s interests very easy to understand. However, these attributes also gave him an appeal to the Red Sox, and it is unclear whether they are interested in moving him, and he can still be a key part of the club in the coming years.
You can imagine what they are considering. Sox currently has a crowded outfield mix, with Duran usually next to midfield field players Ceddanne Rafaela and the right fielder Wilyer Abreualthough Rob Refsnyder Being a bench outfielder present. Yoshida Masataka If he is healthy, he will be mixed together. Rafael Devers There are designated batsmen almost every day. This is the case Roman Anthonyconsidered by many as the highest prospect of baseball, he could not be called even if he was destroying the triple ball.
Sox also had a disappointing season overall, with a current record of 29-32. They only have 3.5 games in the playoff position, but have to surpass many teams to make the playoffs. Their injury list currently features Yoshida Alex Bregman,,,,, Triston Casas and many pitchers.
They have the potential to retreat in the crowded ALS playoffs over the next few weeks. In this case, maybe they decided to make Duran available. He would open the left-hand market for Anthony in the trade, and probably brought back some valuable works in the trade.
However, this is a lot of speculation. Even if it becomes more realistic, Padres is certainly not the only club to be interested in. As Lin pointed out, monks have traded many prospects in recent years. Even with a clear interest, they may not have prospective capital to reach an agreement. Their system consists of two highly ranked prospects titles Ethan Salas and Leo But reports often suggest that the priests want to use the two as their future catchers and shortstops, respectively.
Even if Paders is willing to subtract them further from the system, as Lin points out, they may have to consider their own rotation. Michael King and Yu Darvish Currently on the injury list, which further subtracts the year from the highest group that has begun.
There are a lot of variables involved here, and there is still a lot of time until the transaction deadline, but now the situations that can be monitored will certainly follow more rumors. The trade deadline for this year is July 31.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, image
