The Boston Red Sox finalized their opening day roster on Monday, and as expected, they will carry five outfielders into the regular season. Though manager Alex Cora said when the roster was released that he had a plan for sharing playing time among Roman Anthony, Cedanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida and Jarren Duran, the overflow is the reason that the last name on that list has been the subject of trade rumors all offseason, and even before.
The idea arrives just days before opening day, with Boston facing a roster crunch in the outfield. Just because the Red Sox open their regular season Thursday in Cincinnati against the Reds doesn’t mean the Duran trade proposals have stopped. On Monday, Bleacher Report MLB analyst Kerry Miller proposed that Boston trade Duran for a three-time National League All-Star, but one who comes with a high price tag.
The deal would be a last-minute blockbuster, to say the least. In Miller’s proposal, Duran gets shipped to the Arizona Diamondbacks along with right-handed pitcher Kutter Crawford, who last pitched on Sept. 28, 2024, and missed all of last season with knee and wrist injuries.
In return, the Red Sox would receive one of MLB’s most productive middle infielders in 32-year-old Ketel Marte, who has belted 99 home runs over the last three seasons for the Diamondbacks. In his nine seasons since he was traded from the Seattle Mariners, Marte has compiled an .851 OPS with 441 extra-base hits, including 168 homers.
But while Duran is owed only $7.7 million in salary this season, and remains arbitration eligible for two more seasons even though he will turn 30 in September, the Red Sox would be taking on quite an expense in Marte. The two-time Silver Slugger winner has about $102 million owed to him on his six-year, $116 million contract.
Plus, Marte could exercise a player option for one more season worth $11.5 million.
But, Miller notes, Marte’s “full no-trade clause goes into effect at some point in April. There actually might be a fair amount of ‘now or never’ motivation for Arizona to make this happen.”
The trade would also take playing time away from Red Sox rookie Marcelo Mayer, the team’s first-round draft pick, No. 4 overall in 2021, who is finally getting a chance to play a full season at the major league level.
Or Mayer could move from second base to his natural position, shortstop, displacing 10-year veteran Trevor Story, who has two years to go on a six-year, $140 million deal.
The trade seems unlikely, and complicated to pull off even if both teams were interested. But from the Red Sox perspective, the deal would both free up playing time for the team’s other four outfielders while offering a significant offensive upgrade on the infield.
