The Red Sox are no longer in position to demand the kind of monster return Jarren Duran once would have commanded, but the Padres could still make this a conversation worth having if his name comes up again before the 2026 deadline.
That’s the reality now. If Boston had moved Duran before the season, or at last year’s deadline, or right after that nine-WAR season, the package would have looked a lot different. Instead, the Red Sox kept him, never gave him a long-term commitment, and never made him contract offers the way they did with so many other young players.
Now Duran is sitting at .200 on the season as of June 29, and the strikeouts are piling up at a 30% clip. His value, once sky-high and still strong only a few months ago, has taken a real hit. Even so, San Diego has long been interested in him, and there’s still a belief that he could rebound, put together a solid 2026, and then give the Padres a productive 2027.
If the Red Sox did revisit a deal, the biggest thing working in Duran’s favor is team control for another year after 2026. That should keep the return from collapsing entirely, even if it won’t get Boston a top-100 prospect. More likely, it would mean a package built around a few intriguing pieces.
The headliner would be Jorge Quintana, the Padres’ fifth-ranked prospect. The 19-year-old switch-hitting shortstop is in Single-A and is batting .232/.321/.304 with nine doubles and two home runs.
He has 24 RBI, 26 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases. The stat line is modest, but the appeal is in the tools and the upside, along with encouraging underlying numbers such as promising exit velocities.
Another name in the mix would be Diego Serna. The 17-year-old left-handed pitcher has made just one appearance in the DSL this season, so there isn’t much current production to evaluate, but he fits the mold of a lottery ticket. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, ranks 20th in the system, and signed for $1 million in January.
The third piece would be Romeo Sanabria, the Padres’ 27th-ranked prospect. He’s a 24-year-old first baseman in Triple-A and is hitting .247/.344/.392 with 13 doubles and eight home runs.
He has 32 RBI, 34 runs scored, and five steals. Sanabria projects more as depth than a centerpiece, but with Willson Contreras potentially being moved as well, Boston would need options at first base, and Sanabria could fit that need.
It isn’t the dream haul the Red Sox once could have extracted for Duran. That window is gone. But even now, a deal like this could still give Boston useful pieces and help the organization keep building toward its next core.
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