As the San Diego Padres continue to nip at the heels of the spiraling Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the West, general manager AJ Preller has been hard at work trying to creatively improve the team. One of those ways has been to half-sell, half-buy, with Preller looking to use his wealth of talent, including pending free agent Dylan Cease, to improve the team both now, and in the future. As such, the Padres have been heavily linked to Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, with first reports surfacing in May of San Diego's scouting.
Red Sox Fans Send Strong Message After Dylan Cease, Jarren Duran Trade Rejected originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
As the San Diego Padres continue to nip at the heels of the spiraling Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the West, general manager AJ Preller has been hard at work trying to creatively improve the team.
One of those ways has been to half-sell, half-buy, with Preller looking to use his wealth of talent, including pending free agent Dylan Cease, to improve the team both now, and in the future.
As such, the Padres have been heavily linked to Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, with first reports surfacing in May of San Diego's scouting.
Duran, who grew up an hour and a half north of San Diego, is believed to be heavily coveted by his Boston Red Sox, who have him under team control until 2026.
According to MassLive's Sean McAdam, the Red Sox rejected a trade offer that would have sent Duran to San Diego in exchange for Cease and Ethan Salas, the Padres' No. 2 prospect.
The trade seems heavily lopsided in favor of San Diego, who would have arguably the most athletic outfield in baseball with the addition of Duran, who would join Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr in a loaded outfield.
Both Cease and Salas have had tremendously underwhelming 2025 seasons, with Salas posting an anemic .588 OPS and .194 batting average for Double-A San Antonio, and Cease following up his fourth-place 2024 NL Cy Young finish with a 3-10 record and 4.59 ERA in 2025.
Cease has been hurt by three bad starts, in particular his April 8th outing against the Athletics (9ER, 4 innings), his June 16th start against the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine (6ER, 5 innings) and his July 9th start at home against the Diamondbacks (6ER, 6 innings).
Without those three starts, Cease's ERA becomes a respectable 3.39. Cease's record has also been warped by extremely poor run support, with his 3.5 runs/game ranking sixth worst in baseball, behind Michael Wacha (4-9), Paul Skenes (one win since May 28), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-7), Mitch Keller (4-10), and Chris Paddack (3-9).
One fan posted on X (formerly Twitter): "No way the Red Sox rejected that. If so that’s actually insane."
Another wrote: "Find it very hard to believe Boston would turn this offer down. Their future OF is set and it doesn’t include Duran."
McAdam's report comes amid mounting trade rumors for Duran, who was also mentioned in a Friday column from insider Jim Bowden, who listed the Red Sox and Padres as potential trade partners with the Miami Marlins in a three-team trade.
Bowden drew up a trade that would send Duran to San Diego, Marlins starter Edward Cabrera to Boston, and Salas, along with Red Sox No. 9 prospect Luis Perales, going to Miami.
If the Sox can fortify their rotation, trading Duran looks like the smart move, especially if it would give Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu a chance to get near-daily reps as an outfield unit.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
