The time has passed for Mariners to follow ESPN's lead on plundering Red Sox outfield

Jarren Duran as a fit for the Seattle Mariners? Haven't heard that one in a while, and you can take it from us that it was a good idea once upon a time. A look back through the archives revealed no fewer than three articles pitching the same idea in 2025.

On one hand, that speaks to Duran's perpetual presence on the rumor mill by way of the Boston Red Sox's outfield surplus. On the other, it speaks to how badly the Mariners needed exactly his kind of spark last season. A lefty-hitting outfielder with top-of-the-lineup skills? Yes, please.

Well, now along come Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN to rekindle the concept of Duran as a fit for Seattle. They list the Mariners as one of the prime landing spots for the 29-year-old, who they rate as having a 25 percent chance of being traded.

But how would this work, exactly?

Relative to 2025, Duran has gone from a must-have to not even a nice-to-have for the Mariners. They're already giving more plate appearances to lefty hitters than all but three other teams, and 395 have gone to two productive lefty-hitting outfielder types: Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone. While Randy Arozarena's hamstring injury has opened up a spot in the outfield, that's only temporary.

It's hard to imagine Jerry Dipoto wanting to go all-in on redundancy by trading for Duran at any price, much less the one Boston is likely to demand. Despite his volatility over the last two seasons, he's still a former All-Star Game MVP with two more years of club control after 2026. There's no way the Red Sox are trading him without getting at least one real prospect in return.

There are other players on ESPN's trade deadline big board who fit the Mariners a lot better

What the Mariners really need is more right-handed thunder, ideally in the form of someone who could share right field and DH with the Raley-Canzone duo.

Two on ESPN's list who represent the best-case and second-best-case scenarios are Byron Buxton and Seiya Suzuki. And to their credit, McDaniel and Passan have the Mariners listed as a fit for the latter — no argument there, guys.

Among Boston's inventory, Willson Contreras could even work as a time-share option with Canzone at DH and Josh Naylor at first base. Taylor Ward is another AL Easter who conceivably fits with the Mariners. And since Matt Shaw clearly needs a change of scenery, why not Seattle?

Frankly, the door can't be closed on any right-handed stick who can help. There's a dire split at play in the 1,053 plate appearances taken by righty batters for the Mariners. Arozarena and Julio Rodríguez have combined for a 124 wRC+. The others have combined for a 69 wRC+.

This doesn't necessarily have to be a season-killing flaw. But as far as Dipoto and the front office should be concerned, it's best not to take that chance.

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