It’s two years too late, but Craig Breslow is finally trying to trade Jarren Duran — like trying really, really hard, apparently. According to one executive from a National League team, Duran is “very available” — and not just in a “we’re listening” kind of way, but in a “they’re looking to move him” kind of way. But trading Duran may be easier said than done, as his roller coaster production and contract status make it hard to determine his true value. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
When he does enter trade negotiations for Duran, Breslow will be doing so with a new title, as he’s now the President of Baseball Operations, as opposed to his former title of Chief Baseball Officer. “I don’t know,” Breslow said when asked why the change was made. “Perhaps there was, like, unnecessary confusion.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
A Jarren Duran trade may or may not return a significant piece for Breslow and the Red Sox. But whatever they might get could pale in comparison to the production bump that might arise from two players already in the organization. “We need to have a more consistent offense. We need to score more runs,” Breslow said. “There’s a bunch of different ways to do that and we saw this postseason that there’s a bunch of different ways to do that. I also don’t want to discount what another full season of Willson (Contreras), a full season of (Curtis) Mead and a full season of Adley (Rutschman) can bring. When you talk about power, outside of Willson, we anticipate Mead, Roman (Anthony) and Adley — none of whom was healthy and with us for a full season — those could be the sources of some real power. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Do we dare to dream about adding a healthy and productive Triston Casas to the 2027 lineup as well? Casas plans to play for the Tigres de Licey in the Dominican winter league this offseason, though he is still not quite ready to step on the field. “[He] still needs to ramp up in terms of game speed and intensity,” said Breslow. “but he is feeling good, so we’re optimistic he’s gonna be able to compete in Winter League games.” (Sean McAdam, MassLive)
Is it possible that Casas’ incredibly lengthy absence was caused in part by mismanagement from the medical staff? That’s an impossible question to answer from the outside, but the Red Sox front office apparently has enough questions about how recent injuries have been handled that they’re conducting a “sweeping” review of their medical processes. “I think it’s important to try and decouple — are we getting the diagnosis or the rehab wrong, or do we need to make sure that communication with our players, with our staff internally, with the media externally is tightened up,” Breslow said. (Conor Ryan, Boston.com)
