After a disappointing finish to the Philadelphia Phillies' 2025 season, fans should expect some big moves this offseason. With their early playoff exit once again this year, the Phillies need to do something significant with their roster to put themselves in a better position for deeper postseason runs.
As a result, Philadelphia may consider rekindling interest in a previous trade target from this past season in Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. Due to the logjam in the Red Sox outfield, Duran became a popular name ahead of the trade deadline.
Phillies connected to Red Sox's Jarren Duran again ahead of busy offseason
Obviously Duran didn't end up getting traded, with Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski unable to reunite with his former draftee from his time in Boston. But now with that crowded outfield picture for the Red Sox still in play, MLB insider Jim Bowden believes that the Phillies are one of the teams that “would love to land him.”
In Bowden's recent piece for The Athletic, Duran made the list of the top MLB stars most likely to be traded this offseason (subscription required). The Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers are considered the top landing spots for the star outfielder, according to Bowden.
A trade for Duran makes sense for the Phillies. They had been actively searching for an elite player to solve their outfield problem over the past few seasons. They have experimented with the likes of Johan Rojas, Austin Hays, Max Kepler, Weston Wilson and more recently Harrison Bader, but none could provide the impact that Duran would bring.
Trading for Jarren Duran would immediately upgrade Phillies' outfield
The 29-year-old outfielder would represent a massive upgrade on offense, speed and defense all at the same time. For his career, Duran has averaged 90 runs scored, 44 doubles, 11 triples, 16 home runs, 72 RBIs and 29 stolen bases over a full 162-game schedule pace while batting a solid .267 with a .780 OPS.
The former All-Star can also flash the leather in the field, having improved drastically in recent years. Duran has registered 22 outfield assists along with 32 defensive runs saved and a solid .981 fielding percentage over the past two seasons.
The Phillies have run into the dilemma of rostering outfielders who were all bat and not much defense or all defense and not much bat. Duran could finally give Philadelphia that rare all-around ability that they could insert into the everyday lineup with full confidence without worrying about any potential deficiencies.
As for what the Red Sox might be looking for in the return package, their main focus for the upcoming offseason appears to be primarily on starting pitching. So Dombrowski and the Phillies will need to get creative if they want to get a deal done without including young pitching phenom Andrew Painter in talks.
Before the 2025 trade deadline, a hypothesized deal for Duran from Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report involved Painter and No. 4 prospect Eduardo Tait, which seemed like an overpay, even though Duran is under team control through 2028.
Nevertheless, Duran should be a prime target for the Phillies this winter if they really want to shake things up to bolster the team heading into 2026.