Getty

Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox.

With the Boston Red Sox losing third baseman Alex Bregman after just one season, when the three-time All-Star chose to opt out of his three-year, $120 million contract, a new trade rumor sees Boston making a dramatic deal for a replacement at third base that would come as a surprise, and perhaps a shock, to Red fans, were it to actually happen.

The possibility of the rumored trade, which would see outfielder Jarren Duran as well as the organization’s top pitching prospect Payton Tolle shipped out along with two other prospects, became at least slightly more realistic on Wednesday when the team on the other end announced that it may be sold soon.

According to a statement issued Wednesday by San Diego Padres chair John Seidler, brother of late owner Peter Seidler who died almost exactly two years earlier at age 63, his family which controls the team through a trust was now considering “a potential sale of the franchise.”

Padres Turmoil Sets Stage For Trade

The Padres have seen a decline in revenues over the past two years due to the collapse of Diamond Sports Group, parent company of Bally Sports San Diego, which held local broadcast rights to the team until 2023 when it abruptly defaulted on its contract with the Padres and filed for bankruptcy.

With the turmoil at the top of the organization, the Padres could be expected to look toward unloading some of its larger, more burdensome player contracts — none weightier than seven-time All-Star third baseman Manny Machado.

The Padres have three players on nine-figure contracts that run at least through the 2030 season. Outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., 26, is still owed $286 million on his deal that takes him through 2034, while 33-year-old shortstop Xander Bogaerts is signed through 2033 with $200 million remaining to collect.

Sox, Padres Have Converging Interests

But Machado, signed an 11-year, $350 million contract that takes him through the 2033 season. The Padres owe the 33-year-old former No. 3 overall draft pick another $301 million on the deal.

His stratospheric cost would seem to make Machado a likely trade candidate for an ownership looking to streamline costs, making the team more attractive to potential buyers.

The Red Sox, of course, have a significant hole to fill at third base if they hope to improve on a 2025 campaign that saw them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, and only the second since 2018.

The Red Sox and Padres have interests that converge, but that doesn’t mean Machado would come cheaply if the Red Sox decided to target him. One rumored trade package sees not only Jarren Duran — the outfielder most often named as a potential trade candidate for Boston this offseason — but also Payton Tolle headed to San Diego.

Tolle, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound left power pitcher, is rated as the Red Sox’ top pitching prospect and No. 2 prospect overall by MLB Pipeline.

Machado to Boston Would be Controversial Move

But that’s not all. The trade rumor also has Boston’s No. 3 prospect, slugging outfielder Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia included in the Machodo trade package, along with at least one more high-ranking prospect.

Seeing Machado in a Red Sox uniform would certainly come as a surprise for Red Sox Nation, and not only due to the unlikelihood that Padres woudl let him go. In 2017, Machado — then playing for the Baltimore Orioles — slid into second base, injuring the left knee of one of Boston’s most valuable and popular stars, second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Pedroia never fully recovered, playing through pain for the duration of the 2017 season, then appearing in only three games in 2018 and six in 2019 before finally making his retirement official on February 1, 2021.

Machado has been reviled as a villain by many Red Sox fans ever since.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin

More Heavy on Red Sox

Loading more stories