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Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox.

The offseason is only just getting started, but for the Boston Red Sox, one talking point has quickly come to dominate the speculation surrounding possible moves by this year’s 89-game winners who finally returned to relevance after three seasons in the wilderness — the likelihood, or not, of trading Jarren Duran.

The 29-year-old outfielder has emerged as a fan favorite at Fenway Park for his blinding speed on the basepaths, as well as his willingness to interact with fans, sometimes for hours after games, and his openness about his mental health struggles.

But on the Red Sox roster, Duran appears increasingly redundant. The surplus of outfielders on the Boston major league roster has been well documented, especially since the emergence of 21-year-old super-prospect Roman Anthony, who is quickly gaining “face of the franchise” status despite his young age, anointed as such by no less a source than Red Sox legend David “Big Papi” Ortiz.

Prime Time to Deal Duran

Meanwhile, Duran’s production took a drop from his breakout 2024 — his OPS falling 60 points from .834 to .774 in 2025, his home run output falling by five to 16, and even his stolen bases declining from 34 to 24.

With the 2018 seventh-round draft pick from Cal State Long Beach avoiding arbitration with a one-year, $7.7 million contract and with two years of team control remaining, now seems to be prime time to test Duran’s value on the trade market.

With that in mind, a new proposal by baseball analyst Bailey Bassett of ClutchPoints would allow the Red Sox to free up space in their outfield by shipping Duran across the country while adding three outfield prospects who have the potential to make sure Boston maintains an elite outfield corps for years to come.

Hope Comes to Boston in Duran Trade

The deal proposed by Bassett would send Duran back to his Southern California home, while also giving him perhaps his best opportunity to win a World Series.

But while Duran takes his place in the Los Angeles Dodgers outfield, essentially replacing last year’s $17 million free agent bust Michael Conforto in left, three of the Dodgers’ top outfield prospects would join the Red Sox farm system in exchange.

The intriguing package would be topped by Los Angeles No. 2 prospect Zyhir Hope, age 20, who was predicted to go as an early-round draft pick in 2023 but fell to the 11th round largely due to what appeared to be his determination to play college baseball at North Carolina.

But he decided to sign with the Chicago Cubs, who quickly traded him to the Dodgers after just six months. Across all minor league levels, rising to Double-A by this season, Hope has compiled a solid .842 OPS with 25 home runs in 200 games.

‘Polished Hitter’ and Taiwan Star Round Out Deal

The Dodgers’ No. 3 prospect, Eduardo Quintero — a converted catcher who the organization now sees in center field — would come next in the prospect package. A 2023 international signing from Venezuela, Quintero is described by MLB Pipeline as “a polished hitter who rarely chases pitches out of the zone and makes consistent contact to all fields.”

Finally, the Dodgers — in Bassett’s idea — include No. 10 prospect 19-year-old lefty-swinging outfielder Ching-Hsien Ko, a star on Taiwan’s 2023 silver medalist Under-18 Baseball World Cup team.

The Dodgers signed the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Ko in June 2024 for $650,000. In his Arizona Complex League debut this year, Ko posted an impressive OPS of 1.026 in 226 plate appearances. But on his promotion to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, he struggled to adjust, managing just 25 hits in 114 at-bats without a homer. He did walk 23 times, however, demonstrating an impressive feel for the strike zone.

Would the Dodgers take away their outfield future for the left field upgrade Duran is likely to bring, helping give Los Angeles a less rocky road to the World Series than they experienced this year? And would the Red Sox accept a package of outfield prospects, but no immediate help for the big league club, in return? Before spring training opens in February, those answers seem likely to become clear.

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

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