BOSTON – The Red Sox decided to decline Jarren Duran’s $8 million option for next season, but they quickly reached a new one-year agreement with the speedy outfielder that will pay him a base salary of $7.7 million and includes $75,000 in potential bonuses, a source told MLB.com.
Duran will receive a $100,000 buyout for the option not getting picked up. He will get $25,000 bonuses for 450, 500 and 550 plate appearances.
The left-handed hitter wouldn’t have been a free agent even without this agreement. Instead, he would have gone through the arbitration process.
After a breakout season in 2024 in which he was named MVP of the All-Star Game and slashed .285/.342/.492 with 48 doubles, 14 triples, 21 homers and 34 stolen bases, Duran lacked the same consistency in ‘25 as his bWAR went from 8.7 to 4.7.
In 157 games and 696 plate appearances, Duran had a batting line of .256/.332/.442 with 41 doubles, 13 triples, 16 homers and 24 stolen bases.
There were still plenty of good moments. Duran led the American League in triples, while ranking third in doubles and sixth in extra-base hits (70).
Of that group, Anthony is the only one who is pretty much untouchable.
In 510 games for the Red Sox over five seasons, Duran has a .267 average with 50 homers, 226 RBIs and 91 stolen bases.
The 29-year-old was selected by the Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2018 Draft out of Long Beach State.
