Padres have interest in Red Sox's Jarren Duran, but June could amplify multiple needs

New York Times

5 days ago

SAN DIEGO — The month of June should not determine the ultimate trajectory of the San Diego Padres. There will be 78 games left when it is over — a relative eternity for one of April's hottest teams to recapture and sustain the brand of baseball it played early this season and throughout last summer. Yet there also is no guarantee that the Padres will fully awaken from their recent offensive malaise, that injured starting pitchers Michael King and Yu Darvish will return anytime soon or that, weeks from now, San Diego could justify acquiring significant reinforcements.
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As the Padres face a daunting upcoming schedule and glaring holes at the bottom of their lineup, their list of trade targets again includes Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, league sources told The Athletic. The Padres expressed interest in Duran ahead of the 2024 season, before veteran left fielder Jurickson Profar and then-rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill joined Duran as first-time All-Stars. Now, an underwhelming Red Sox team might consider Duran expendable; outfielder Roman Anthony remains tantalizingly close to Boston, and a restless fan base has been clamoring for the arrival of the sport's consensus No. 1 prospect.
Meanwhile, the Padres' need for a left fielder was amplified Sunday when their primary designated hitter, Gavin Sheets, exited an eventual 6-4 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates after crashing face-first into the left-field wall. Manager Mike Shildt later said Sheets was being evaluated for a head contusion, a sore hip and a jammed wrist and thumb, as well as the possibility of a concussion. Even if Sheets does not miss much time, Sunday's collision heightened the urgency for the Padres to find a viable alternative in left field.
Sheets, a minor-league signee who has emerged as one of the team's most reliable hitters, has made only 15 career starts in left, and the fit already was awkward before it turned injurious. Jason Heyward, who started at that position on Opening Day, has a .492 on-base plus slugging percentage. The veteran is widely respected inside the San Diego clubhouse, but his current stint on the injured list might only be delaying an inevitable parting of ways. The Padres rank second-to-last in the majors with a .530 OPS from their left fielders, and their catchers also reside near the bottom with a .592 OPS.
Whether the Padres possess enough prospect capital to acquire Duran — and leave enough resources for other needs — is another question. Duran, who can play multiple outfield positions, finished last season seventh in the majors in FanGraphs' version of wins above replacement. He has not been as productive in 2025, but the 28-year-old is making only $3.75 million and remains under affordable club control through 2026. The Padres still boast a pair of top-50 prospects in shortstop Leo De Vries and catcher Ethan Salas, but the organization's farm system has been thinned out over the past few years by a slew of win-now trades.
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For now, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller might want to hold off on an all-out pursuit of left-field help. The Padres' need for starting pitching might be equally acute. King, their No. 1 starter, awoke May 24 with discomfort in his throwing shoulder. A battery of tests and visits with specialists has since produced a diagnosis of a pinched nerve. King has begun playing light catch and reported incremental improvement in his shoulder — the pitcher expressed optimism Sunday that he could return in weeks rather than months — but team officials have cautioned that the nerve in question will dictate the right-hander's timetable.
''Incremental' would probably be in caps,' Shildt said.
As for Darvish, the Padres' most experienced starter has yet to make his season debut, and the 38-year-old hasn't thrown a full bullpen session since he felt forearm tightness recovering from a May 14 rehab start. Darvish plans to throw a full bullpen this week in San Francisco. Still, no matter how he recovers, the Padres will continue exercising caution with Darvish, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and has encountered more elbow trouble in recent seasons.
For San Diego, the injuries to a valuable slugger and a pair of key pitchers figure to increase their immediate level of difficulty. The Padres embarked Friday on a stretch of 26 games in 27 days, with 14 of those games coming away from Petco Park. Beginning with Monday's series opener at Oracle Park, they will play 14 of their next 17 games against National League West opponents. Seven of those games will come against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
After matching a franchise record with a 14-3 start, the Padres have gone 19-21. Their once-relentless offense was the biggest culprit for their May mediocrity. Over the 18 games following a 21-run eruption against the historically awful Colorado Rockies, the Padres ranked last in the majors in OPS and third-to-last in runs per game. In the same span, Sheets supplied six of his 11 home runs and 12 of his team-leading 34 RBIs.
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Sunday, despite another last-place opponent and Sheets' injury, brought a welcome display of offense. After trailing early, the Padres scored four runs while batting around in the seventh. While leadoff man Fernando Tatis Jr. remained mired in the worst slump of his career, he showed notable patience during a four-pitch walk that sustained the rally. Two other key hitters, Jackson Merrill and Luis Arraez, each finished the game with a pair of hits. Franchise third baseman Manny Machado provided his 349th career home run and came close to recording his 350th.
This is your man? Yes. Look at the screen. That's mine. pic.twitter.com/cUPZ4jo7bs
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 1, 2025
'Just the way we won, I think, was just huge,' Machado said. 'It's been a rough couple weeks, rough couple of months. But this group grinded it out, and we keep continuing to grind. So, continue doing that and play baseball the way we're capable of playing.'
As the schedule shifts to a string of tougher matchups, however, depth figures to be essential. Even before Sheets' injury, the Padres faced significant questions about their rotation and offense. In one indication of a thin bench, San Diego entered Sunday with a .409 OPS in pinch hit plate appearances.
So, with a June challenge upon them, the Padres certainly could use a left fielder with Duran's ability. Yet, depending on how King and Darvish recover, they also could use more starting pitching. This month might not make or break their playoff hopes, but it could go a long way toward determining their trajectory. The season remains relatively young. And there are only 52 games left before the trade deadline.
— The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal contributed to this story.
(Top photo of Jarren Duran: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)