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Red Sox Chief of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow
After a long offseason that had several trade rumors surrounding the Boston Red Sox and their surplus of outfielders, manager Alex Cora is ready to begin the season with his group. On Monday night, the Red Sox announced their Opening Day roster for Thursday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds on the road.
There are very few surprises for Boston’s roster that will travel to Ohio on Tuesday night after closing out their Grapefruit League schedule against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers. In fact, all five of the Red Sox outfielders, unsurprisingly, will be with Cora for Opening Day.
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However, the question should be asked: Will they all end the season in Boston once the trade deadline passes? The answers to that question will be mixed. Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report listed seven last-minute trades before Opening Day, with one Red Sox outfielder listed.
Boston Red Sox Outfielder Jarren Duran Linked to Late-Minute Trade
When it came to trade rumors over the offseason and Boston’s outfielder, most of the chatter surrounded Jarren Duan and Wilyer Abreu. Miller has the Red Sox trading Duran and pitcher Kutter Crawford to the Arizona Diamondbacks for second baseman Ketel Marte.
“Goodness knows there was plenty of speculation back during “Winter Meetings SZN” about Boston’s interest in adding three-time All-Star Marte to a questionable infield,” wrote Miller.
“Goodness also knows Arizona could use some help in the outfield in the form of 2024 All-Star Jarren Duran, as well as another option for its starting rotation—even if that option is Kutter Crawford, who missed all of 2025 due to both a knee and wrist injury and didn’t pitch in a game in spring training.”
Duran is making just under $8 million this year and is arbitration-eligible through 2028. Crawford is making $2.75 million. Matre, on the other hand, is owed $103.5 million over the next six seasons. He has a no-trade clause that kicks in next month, according to Miller. That would make it difficult for the Diamondbacks to move him.
Red Sox Have Too Many Outfielders, Not Enough Spots
Having depth is big in baseball with the grind of a 162-game season. Injuries are going to happen. It’s just the nature of the game. However, with three outfield spots available per game, playing time is going to be difficult for Cora to spread around.
Roman Anthony is a rising superstar. Ceddanne Rafaela is coming off a Gold Glove season, while Abreu won his second consecutive one last season. Masataka Yoshida is fully healthy and likely headed for a lot of at-bats at DH.
Boston had a need for Marte earlier in the offseason. Now, not so much. They did lose Alex Bregman, but traded for his replacement, Caleb Durbin, from the Milwaukee Brewers. Marcelo Mayer is going to begin the season at second base. He does have an injury history that would be concerning to the Red Sox. Boston also has Isiah Kiner-Falefa for depth in the infield.
Bringing on Marte is something that is easier said than done for Boston. As is unloading an outfielder or two. Things could change around the trade deadline this summer.
Scott Roche Scott Roche covers college football, NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com and has three decades of sports writing, covering everything from college to professional sports. More about Scott Roche
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