Kansas City Royals Still Interested In Trading For Jarren Duran

[Matthew Lenz]

At this point, it seems like just a matter of time until the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals come to an agreement on a deal headlined by outfielder Jarren Duran.

And the latest update on the saga, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Kansas City Royals are still interested in Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran … if they lower the asking price. Rosenthal goes on to say, "The Royals are under the impression Duran would cost them left-hander Cole Ragans, though the Red Sox view the initial talks as more informal and exploratory."

The inclusion of Ragans seems to be what is holding up the two sides from coming to an agreement. While both players are controllable through 2028, Ragans is considerably cheaper and is at a more premium position. Additionally, Rosenthal shares that the Royals generally believe he is more valuable… a game one starter in a hypothetical postseason game.

Our sister site, Royals Keep, shared potential matchups in a trade for Jarren Duran, Click here to read our in-depth piece on scenarios.

Do you think the Red Sox should drop their asking price to move Duran? Or up the offer to ensure they land Ragans? Let us know in the comments!

View full rumor

[notin]

Ragans really doesn’t make sense for KC to give up.  But the rest of their rotation is also a bit questionable or lacking control…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

15 minutes ago, notin said:

Ragans really doesn’t make sense for KC to give up.  Ragans.  But the rest of their rotation is also a bit questionable or lacking control…

MLB police just pulled you over for seeing double... or at least typing a double meaning.

Do the Royals' starting pitchers walk a lot of guys or does KC only have them under contract for a year before they reach free agency?

(thrilled that my brain is now wired this way about a pastime; imagine all those kids out there making Christmas wish lists on a budget)

[JoeBrady]

I'd love to see the medicals on Ragans.  I like Duran a lot and think he would do very, very well for KC.  But Ragans has a 2.79 FIP for KC in maybe 319 innings.  It's almost impossible for me to think they would trade him for anything less than a star.

Unless they anticipate major arm problems.

[mvp 78]

Bubic for Bleis and Masa? 

Ok! 

[notin]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bubic for Bleis and Masa? 

Ok! 

Getting Bubic should definitely be more about unloading.  He’s had one good season and didn’t even last all the way though it, and now has only one season left until free agency…

[notin]

47 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I'd love to see the medicals on Ragans.  I like Duran a lot and think he would do very, very well for KC.  But Ragans has a 2.79 FIP for KC in maybe 319 innings.  It's almost impossible for me to think they would trade him for anything less than a star.

Unless they anticipate major arm problems.

It sounds like KC is far more interested in acquiring Duran than they are in trading Ragans.  I don’t see a deal happening here…

[vjcsmoke]

Ragans when healthy was missing bats with his pitches. 14.3 strikeouts per 9 last season.

He was injured and only played for 13 starts so it's a small sample size. But if he's fully recovered he would be a very interesting addition as a potential top 3 pitcher. So of course this deal won't be happen.

[Larry Cook]

We do not have to trade any of our outfielders!  So  applaud bres-slow for not charging the maximum for any of them!!! 
 

I would prefer we keep the four we have now 

[moonslav59]

A healthy Ragans is worth 2 Durans, but...

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

A healthy Ragans is worth 2 Durans, but...

He almost has to be injured.  Some his game logs are sick, and about as impressive as Crochet was when we got him.

• 4/2-4/43 ---31/2 K/W and 1 HR in 18.2 IPs
• 5/5-5/16 ---26/4 K/W and -0- HRs in 15
• 9/23-9/28 ---18/2 K/W and 1 HR in 9.1

Those numbers define the term 'unhittable'.

[moonslav59]

30 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

He almost has to be injured.  Some his game logs are sick, and about as impressive as Crochet was when we got him.

• 4/2-4/43 ---31/2 K/W and 1 HR in 18.2 IPs
• 5/5-5/16 ---26/4 K/W and -0- HRs in 15
• 9/23-9/28 ---18/2 K/W and 1 HR in 9.1

Those numbers define the term 'unhittable'.

The guy is very attractive, but I'm so tired of hoping for health, especially with pitchers.

The 2025 season was an IL merry-go-round, that also included a nice return by Gio and a "healthy" Buehler stinking up the place.

How about these samples from the 2025 game logs?

3/31 to 4/15: 18.2 IP, 13H, 21K/5BB, 1HR, 0.96 ERA/2.71 FIP

5/3 to 6/1: 39.1IP 24H, 42K/10 BB, 1 HR 0.69 ERA/2.09 FIP

That was his teammate Bubic, but Kris finished the season at 4.61/3.60 in his last 8 GS and 41 IP

[notin]

8 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

We do not have to trade any of our outfielders!  So  applaud bres-slow for not charging the maximum for any of them!!! 
 

I would prefer we keep the four we have now 

We do not, but we do have a surplus of outfielders and a shortage of infielders.  We need a team with their surpluses and dearths reversed…

[notin]

10 hours ago, vjcsmoke said:

Ragans when healthy was missing bats with his pitches. 14.3 strikeouts per 9 last season.

He was injured and only played for 13 starts so it's a small sample size. But if he's fully recovered he would be a very interesting addition as a potential top 3 pitcher. So of course this deal won't be happen.

I think it doesn’t happen because I do not believe KC to be that stupid.

Third team? Maybe…

[JoeBrady]

47 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

but I'm so tired of hoping for health, especially with pitchers.

It's why I sometimes prefer to have someone that had the TJS and has put it behind him, like Alcantara.  Alcantara looks good recently, and is unlikely to require a follow-up procedure in the next two years.  A guy like Ryan finished awful.  6.47/5.85 with 10 HRs in his last 32 IPs.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It's why I sometimes prefer to have someone that had the TJS and has put it behind him, like Alcantara.  Alcantara looks good recently, and is unlikely to require a follow-up procedure in the next two years.  A guy like Ryan finished awful.  6.47/5.85 with 10 HRs in his last 32 IPs.

Not all guys who finish poorly end up sucking or needing TJS soon afterwards.

While Crochet did not end 2024 as poorly as Ryan did, he did drop a ton:

3.07 ERA/2.32 after 21 GS

5.19 ERA/3.86 in last 11 GS

[Eldon Dunlop]

On 12/15/2025 at 1:23 PM, vjcsmoke said:

Ragans when healthy was missing bats with his pitches. 14.3 strikeouts per 9 last season.

He was injured and only played for 13 starts so it's a small sample size. But if he's fully recovered he would be a very interesting addition as a potential top 3 pitcher. So of course this deal won't be happen.

That's the thing though . Duran has proven himself to be a bit of an Iron man , where-as Ragans has only shown himself durable in 1 season . If Ragans can stay healthy , he might prove to be a top 3 SP . Though Duran has struggled some defensively in LF ,especially with the Monster , He has played near GG defense in CF , with only 1 error there in 2022 , and 1 error there in 2024 .

[JoeBrady]

On 12/16/2025 at 12:09 AM, moonslav59 said:

5.19 ERA/3.86 in last 11 GS

A little bit of an aberration.  He had a 47/3 K/W in his final 27.2 IPs.  That's unhittable.  Ryan had a still very respectable 41/12 in 32 IPs.  It's not a disqualifier, but that is way down from 2023 and 2024, and from his earlier 2025 results.

[moonslav59]

34 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

A little bit of an aberration.  He had a 47/3 K/W in his final 27.2 IPs.  That's unhittable.  Ryan had a still very respectable 41/12 in 32 IPs.  It's not a disqualifier, but that is way down from 2023 and 2024, and from his earlier 2025 results.

Yes, and that is one downside of just finding sample sizes to make a point. Crochet was a damn good pitcher, despite the 5.19 ERA over a rather large sample size, and so is Joe Ryan, despite 4 bad games pitched in his last 7 starts of 2025.

[Behindenemylines]

On 12/15/2025 at 11:52 AM, mvp 78 said:

Bubic for Bleis and Masa? 

Ok! 

Masa needs to go, but KC is not making this trade.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, Behindenemylines said:

Masa needs to go, but KC is not making this trade.

I was going by what was written on the KC website. If that's what they want to go with. Fine by me! 

[Behindenemylines]

On 12/15/2025 at 11:14 AM, notin said:

Ragans really doesn’t make sense for KC to give up.  Ragans.  But the rest of their rotation is also a bit questionable or lacking control…

Ragans is the only pitcher that I would part with Duran. An the could only happen if he is a healthy pitcher.