Red Sox-Jarren Duran trade rumors remind Yankees of ill-fated 2024 mistake

If there's an argument for the Boston Red Sox to hold onto Jarren Duran, that argument appears to be on its last breath. The Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox are indeed shopping Duran, seeing as it's the worst-kept secret at the GM Meetings. Alrighty then.

None of this should come as a surprise to the onlooking New York Yankees. Boston's had an outfield logjam for years, with Duran positioned as the obvious odd man out.

But the Yankees, of all teams, also can't help but cringe at the current Duran situation, as it reminds them of when Boston traded another one of its unwanted outfielders back in 2023 ... to the Yankees.

Jarren Duran trade buzz is giving Yankees PTSD about their Alex Verdugo trade gone wrong

The bitterest rivals in the sport making a trade with one another! What could possibly go wrong? In December 2023, the Yanks acquired Verdugo from Boston in exchange for three right-handers: Greg Weissert, Richard Fitts, and Nicholas Judice.

The trade turned out to be a win for the Red Sox. Weissert has his warts, but he's been a reliever whom the Red Sox have relied on consistently. Fitts impressed once elevated to MLB, and he was used in the trade package to acquire Sonny Gray. Judice remains in the minors, but that's a moot point. Don't forget, the Sox cleared over $10 million in payroll with this move too!

Verdugo, to put it simply, was a huge disappointment in pinstripes. Whereas he was a proven everyday player with the Red Sox and hit .264/.324/.421 with decent pop (13 homers) in his final season in Boston, Verdugo dropped down to .233/.291/.356 in his lone season with the Yankees, which featured an alarming spiral from June onward.

Verdugo's career has been in freefall since. No one's entirely sure what happened. After the Yankees decided to move on, Verdugo received chances from the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, but both clubs released him within a year of the experiment not working out. And now he's on the mend after major shoulder surgery.

Is Jarren Duran the next Alex Verdugo? Yankees fans, look away

The baseball world would be shocked to see Duran's career plummet in the style of Verdugo's, but the Yankees will tell you that the parallel is stronger than you think. Just like Duran had one awesome year, finishing No. 8 in AL MVP voting in 2024, Verdugo finished No. 12 in AL MVP voting in 2020 with the Red Sox.

Both players are/were acknowledged as highly-talented, left-handed-hitting outfielders who began declining unexpectedly during what should've been the start of their prime. One was sent packing by the Red Sox, and the other is about to be.

Verdugo's story shouldn't prevent the Yankees from eyeing future Red Sox players in trades. There's plenty of talent on both of these historic franchises. If anything, Verdugo's a cautionary tale about the still unpredictable nature of player evaluation in baseball, even at the highest level. In this instance, it's just not hard to see the parallels and suffer that painful 2023 reminder.

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