Jarren Duran Nearly Triples His 2024 Earnings with Huge Performance-Based Pay Day

In 2024, outfielder Jarren Duran signed a contract that paid him $760,000 for the 2024 season. He again put up huge numbers, made his first All-Star team, was a Silver Slugger finalist, and finished eighth in voting for AL MVP. On Friday, it was announced that the 28-year-old received the sixth-highest performance bonus given out this year at just over $1.32 million. That bonus is nearly double his 2024 contract (and more than triples how much taxable income). 

Duran was the Red Sox seventh-round pick in 2018 out of Long Beach State. He debuted with 33 games in 2021. He played in 58 games in 2022. Combined in those two seasons, he was a -0.8 bWAR player. In 2023, he played in 102 games and hit .295 with 34 doubles, eight homers and 24 stolen bases, while playing strong defense. He broke out in 2024. He played in 160 games. He hit .285/.342/.492 (.834) with a league-leading 48 doubles, a league-leading 14 triples, 21 home runs, and 34 stolen bases. Baseball Reference showed him at 8.7 WAR while FanGraphs had him at 6.7 WAR. 

This offseason, Duran is a Super-2 arbitration-eligible player, so this was his final season of being eligible for this bonus. 

As you may recall, the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement set for a means for players with less than three years of service time to make some bonus money based on their performance that season. Each of the 30 teams contributes equally to the $50 million bonus pool. Eligible players can get huge bonuses based on award voting. For instance, winning an MVP award or a  Cy Young  Award means $2.5 million while second-place finishers earn $1.75 million and a third place finish is worth $1.5 million. Fourth and fifth place finishers receive $1 million. It's also $1 million if the player is named all-MLB first team. A Rookie of the Year Award earns a player $750,000, while a second place finish in rookie voting or being named to the all-MLB second team is worth a half-million dollars. (however a player can only earn one of those specific bonuses, receiving the higher of the values)

Duran was named All-MLB Second Team in 2024 which means that $500,000 of his $1.3 million bonus was due to that. 

The remaining pool money is distributed to players based on a formula that combines multiple Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistics. 

No surprise, but with his second-place finish in the AL MVP voting, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr. received the highest bonus of the year at just over $3 million. Paul Skenes was a finalist for both NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young. He earned about $2.15 million for his bonus. Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson came in just over $2 million. Contreras received the fourth-highest bonus. Also receiving a seven-figure bonus are Royals LHP Cole Ragans ($1.64M),  Duran  ($1.32M), Padres OF Jackson Merrill ($1.19M), and Yankees RHP Luis Gil ($1.1M). Brewers OF Jackson Chourio rounded out the Top 10, just behind Orioles OF Colton Cowser ($978,671). 

Red Sox who earned a big payday today thanks to their 2024 performance are (with 2024 regular salary): 

RHP Tanner Houck - $534,267 (2024 salary: $770,000)
OF Wilyer Abreu - $368,745 (2024 salary: $749,500)
RHP Kutter Crawford - $237,986 (2024 salary: $760,000)

This year, 101 players received a bonus. Crawford's bonus ranked #98, so he was near the cut-off. Like Duran, Crawford is a Super 2 player this offseason. Houck topped three years of service time in 2024 making him arbitration-eligible as well. Of the four Red Sox receiving bonuses this year, three of them will be ineligible to receive it in 2025. 

Congratulations to all four deserving bonus recipients.