Proposed Red Sox trade sees Boston deal Jarren Duran for $13.25 million ace in All-Star swap originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox have one of their most important offseasons in a while ahead of them, and they need to start making some moves. They’ve already acquired a starter in Sonny Gray; now it’s time to get a true No. 2 starter, while lightening their outfield load.
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With a surplus of young superstar outfielders, it seems the oldest in Jarren Duran is on the trade block. Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer believes if the Sox want to deal Duran, they could work with the Kansas City Royals for All-Star and Cy Young candidate Cole Ragans.
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The trade would look like this:
Red Sox get: Cole Ragans
Royals get: Jarren Duran
“It’s imperative that any Royals outfielder be able to cover the huge stretch of grass at Kauffman Stadium, but that would be no problem for Duran. He isn’t the best route-runner, but he has elite reaction time and plenty of closing speed. For Boston, the appeal of Ragans would be getting a potential No. 1-B to pair with their No. 1-A in Garrett Crochet. Ragans was fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2024, and he fanned 98 batters in 61.2 innings even in a down season this year,” Rymer wrote.
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This past season, Ragans dealt with injuries, posting a 3-3 record, a 4.67 ERA, 98 Ks, and a WHIP of 1.184 over 61 innings pitched. However, in the 2024 season, he was an All-Star and fourth place for the AL Cy Young. He posted a record of 11-9, an ERA of 3.14, 223 Ks, and a WHIP of 1.143 over 186 innings pitched.
If that’s the Ragans the Sox get, then it’s honestly a good trade. He could even get better after working with pitching coach Andrew Bailey, and really fill the No. 2 spot for the Sox. Hopefully, they get to work and see how negotiations go.
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