New Red Sox Rumors Reveal Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida as Trade Candidates in MLB Free Agency

After struggling down the stretch in the regular season and being swept in the AL Wild Card round, the Boston Red Sox are looking at ways to improve their roster that could include dealing from their starting lineup.

Per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox are "open" to trading either or both of Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida this offseason.

The Red Sox have a cluster of outfielders right now that they can afford to trade from the group to boost another area of the roster.

Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela are the three starters in the outfield for Boston. All three of those players are under team control through at least 2029.

Yoshida is entering the final season of his five-year, $90 million contract that he signed to join the Red Sox are spending seven seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in NPB.

After playing 140 games as a rookie in 2023, Yoshida has been limited to a total of 250 games in the subsequent three seasons. He hit .274/.347/.399 in 87 games during the 2026 campaign.

Duran is a fascinating trade candidate because his ceiling is so high, but a lack of consistency throughout his career makes him hard to evaluate.

In 2024, Duran's 6.9 fWAR ranked fifth among all AL position players behind Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Juan Soto and Gunnar Henderson. He followed it up with a 4.0 fWAR campaign in 2025, but this past season was a huge step down.

Duran hit .207/.266/.361 in 151 games. He turned 30 on Sept. 5 and has two years of arbitration remaining before hitting free agency, so teams looking for outfield help would almost certainly have interest.

Boston's asking price for both players will be fascinating because they are coming off down years, but they have shown the ability to perform at a high level in the recent past.

The Red Sox had a whirlwind 2026 season that saw them got off to a slow start, resulting in manager Alex Cora's dismissal just 27 games into the year. Chad Tracy took over as interim manager, led them to a 15-game winning streak in July and a 77-58 record overall.

However, the Red Sox went just 12-12 in September and were outscored 18-2 in two playoff games against the Yankees. They haven't won a playoff series since 2021 when they reached the ALCS.