Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow made the objectives for this off-season crystal clear earlier this week, per The Boston Globe: find a number two starter worthy of backing up Garrett Crochet, and find a power bat to replace the thump of Raffy Devers (and potentially Alex Bregman).
History shows that the Boston Red Sox prefer to find their pitchers on the trade market, for which they retain several key pieces even after the Crochet deal of a year ago. Speculation thus rests not on whether Boston shall utilize these assets, but when and which ones?
Young Slugger Turned Enigma
Triston Casas resembles nothing so much as Bismarck’s quote about Napoleon III: “a sphinx with no riddle.” The Casas Question is not “Can he hit?” for he has proven so already at the major league level with his career .800 OPS; instead, it is “Can he stay healthy for a full season?” This latter quandary has proven inversely durable to its subject, turning what could be the team’s first long-term answer at first since Kevin Youkilis into trade bait.
Boston’s flirtation with a Kyle Schwarber reconciliation, should it be consummated, will open the market for cold corner needy clubs with pitching to spare. Viable bidders in this niche field number a scant few: the emerging Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, and the rebuilding Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals. Each possesses at least one veteran starter while desiring young power in the lineup.
Of course, the Casas Question remains as cold a case as the murder of Otzi. Any agreement would require these clubs to buy into Boston’s thesis that the injuries that have truncated Casas in each of his three seasons at the major league level were unlikely individual occurrences, not a perennial problem. For the same reason, Breslow may be reluctant to swap a player at his lowest possible value, preferring to see whether that asset may improve his relative value before moving on.
2-Way Corner Outfielder for Sale, Will Smash Righties
Wilyer Abreu entered the Red Sox organization as part of the Christian Vazquez trade at the 2022 deadline and will exit it similarly, should acceptable terms be arranged between his current and prospective clubs. Boston remains laden with outfielder candidates yet deficient in outfield spots; Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela have long-term contracts and positions, leaving Abreu and others contending for a single seat at the table.
At this point, the most cataract-afflicted umpire can perceive Abreu’s skillset: he slugs right-handers, should be sat against southpaws, and has deservingly won two Gold Gloves. With four full years of control remaining, and that junction ending about when his prime should, this youngster should derive more interest than his first base-bound counterpart.
Concerning potential suitors, the same quartet remains plausible, in addition to teams like the Detroit Tigers, whose needs prioritize a two-way corner outfielder over a first baseman with durability concerns. Those years of control may indeed prove the most enticing ingredient of an Abreu package, especially if weighed against that other Red Sox outfielder perpetually on the block.
The Once and Future Trade Piece
Few players have suffered as much scrying into their future as Jarren Duran has over the past two years. Last July, he seemed on the move to Minnesota for Joe Ryan or to Pittsburgh for Mitch Keller, though such prophecies have remained unfulfilled as of the current date. To reiterate, history shows that the Red Sox prefer to trade for starting pitching during the winter rather than at the deadline; if Duran finds himself in a new uniform as part of a deal for Crochet’s understudy, then it will happen by March or not at all.
For his own part, Duran has done little to earn such an uncertain fate. A third excellent season earned him a quick one-year extension rather than a trip through the turbulence of arbitration; on the flip side of the coin, he has only three years of control left before entering free agency. With a salary of $7.7 million for 2026, those remaining entries in the ledger will reduce interest among zealously penny-pinching organizations.
What places the left fielder ahead of cornermate Abreu is the completeness of his game: Duran displays above-average skill in hitting, fielding, and base-running, as well as having exhibited a strong work ethic and mental fortitude. His own relative struggles against left-handed pitching have produced more moderate splits, earning his spot as a lineup regular. As a result, any deal centered on Duran will reduce the need for the Red Sox to garnish their offer with prospects.