The Boston Red Sox are one of the most interesting teams to watch for as we’re in the final stretch of trade deadline season. Boston is the hottest team in baseball, as they’re winners of their last 10 and now have aspirations of not only winning the American League East but also making a deep playoff run. Once expected to potentially ship off some of their best pieces, now the Red Sox see themselves in predictions for making welcome additions.
The Cleveland Guardians are 3 games below .500 at 46-49, and would need to have a strong second half if they wanted to capture an AL Wild Card spot. In this massive trade proposal, the Guardians and Red Sox swap former All-Stars, which might be the best for both sides.
Boston Predicted to Send Away Jarren Duran for Emmanuel Clase
In this extremely bold prediction proposed by CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa, the Cleveland Guardians give away their star closer Emmanuel Clase for Boston Red Sox star outfielder Jarren Duran. Duran is still a part of that logjam of outfielders that the Red Sox have, and he’s been the subject of many trade rumors this season. For Clase, he would certainly make the Red Sox’s back of the bullpen the most feared in baseball, pairing him with another shutout closer in Aroldis Chapman. Two guys throwing 102 in the eighth and ninth innings, good luck, hitters.
Here is why Axisa believes the bold prediction could pan out:
“Boston has more good outfielders than outfield spots and the Guardians can spare an end-of-game reliever. I will not predict a one-for-one trade — I’ll say there will be more pieces involved to even things out — but Clase for Duran will be the meat of it. The Red Sox get a late-inning dominator and clear the way for a Roman Anthony/Ceddanne Rafaela/Wilyer Abreu outfield. The Guardians get 3 ½ years of a power/speed threat who can play center field, which is exactly the kind of player they can never afford in free agency. Cleveland won’t give Clase away. To trade him, they’ll need to get multiple years of an all-around impact player, and that’s Duran. The Red Sox would upgrade the bullpen, which takes on increased importance in October, which is where they’re headed. ”
Axisa makes a couple of good points with this trade idea, the first being that Duran is controllable, so the Guardians, in a seller’s mindset, trade away Clase for a guy in Duran that would be impossible to acquire otherwise. And for the Guardians, if they’re unlikely to make a true playoff push, what’s the need for Clase?
Both Former All-Stars Are Having Great Seasons
This type of deal would certainly shake up the baseball world, but it isn’t necessarily a one-sided type of deal. Duran is having somewhat of a down season compared to last year, hitting just .256 with 8 home runs. He, of course, has a boatload of triples and can extend a double into a triple with any ball in the gap. And Clase, who was an All-Star in 2022-2024, is putting together another impressive season. Is he going to finish with a 0.61 ERA like he did last year? No, but his ERA is below 3.00 after a somewhat rough start to his standards, and he has 20 saves in 43 innings.
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