Red Sox trade idea swaps Jarren Duran with Diamondbacks for 35.5 bWAR infielder

Red Sox trade idea swaps Jarren Duran with Diamondbacks for 35.5 bWAR infielder originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Red Sox have been synonymous with trades and trade rumors for the last year or so. While this offseason, they made a ton of moves, acquiring Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, and Caleb Durbin in trades, more could be on the horizon.

Craig Breslow and company have been no strangers to trades, and it would not be a surprise if they made a few more deals in the coming months. And, with Jarren Duran still popping up in trade rumors, he could finally be on the move.

Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller proposed one trade idea for the Red Sox using Duran, and another fan favorite pitcher, to acquire an Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star infielder with 35.5 career bWAR in Ketel Marte.

Red Sox trade idea swaps Duran for Ketel Marte

“The Trade: Boston Red Sox send OF Jarren Duran and RHP Kutter Crawford to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 2B Ketel Marte,” Miller writes.

Boston sending Duran away this season would not be a major surprise. They have the outfield depth to make it work, with Ceddane Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Roman Anthony taking over full-time with Duran out of the picture if this deal happened.

While Duran, the All-Star who put up 8.7 bWAR in 2024, would be a tough player to lose, with how deep the Boston outfield is, moving on from him to land someone as good as Marte would make a ton of sense.

Crawford is expendable as well, since the Red Sox have one of the deepest starting rotations in all of Major League Baseball, with plenty of other options in the minors waiting for the call.

Sending Crawford and Duran for one player would be a lot, but Marte, the 32-year-old second baseman who is under contract on a fairly reasonable deal through 2030, would be a worthwhile trade to make.

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Marte has been linked to the Red Sox before, and he would be an instant upgrade over Marcelo Mayer at second base. The three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, and NLCS MVP in 2023 is one of the best, if not the best, second basemen in baseball.

Last season, he added 4.4 bWAR to his 35.5 career total. Marte also had a .283 batting average with an .893 OPS and 145 OPS+. In 2024, Marte had a .292 batting average with a .932 OPS and 154 OPS+ for a career-best 6.8 bWAR season.

He has 171 home runs and 1,273 hits in his big-league career that began in 2015. Entering year 12, Marte is likely the best second baseman in MLB thanks to solid defense and incredible hitting.

While Duran and Crawford would both be tough losses, being able to acquire Marte would make such difficult losses worth it. This trade idea from Miller would be a huge boon for the Red Sox, as their team would get a lot better with this deal.