The Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners don't have much of a rivalry. They both play in the American League, so they see each other relatively often, but each team has far more sinister divisional rivals to worry about so there isn't much historical spite between the two clubs. But in 2025, with both teams fighting for a Wild Card spot (they would both sneak in if the season ended today), there's a little more tension between the AL compatriots. You'd assume that being in direct competition with each other would halt any potential trades between the teams... but that may not be the case. Jim Bowden of The Athletic mentioned Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran as a possible target for the Mariners:
"They also could look to improve the outfield and are among the possible landing spots for Jarren Duran of the Red Sox or Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox."
Granted, this says nothing about the Red Sox interest in actually shipping Duran out to the PNW — and that's good, because the Red Sox shouldn't want to do it. There might not be a real reason to trade Duran at all, even with Roman Anthony emerging as a potential everyday option in the outfield. It's okay to have lots of good players, in my opinion. So, Red Sox fans likely aren't keen on trading Duran at all. But even moreso, they should despise the idea of trading Duran to a team they're actively cheering against every night. Yes, yes, I know it's a business, and that seems like bad business to me. Why give a team that wants to knock you out in the standings the ammo to do so?
Red Sox shouldn't trade Duran to a team they're fighting in the standings
When you phrase it like that, it seems obvious, right? Red Sox fans would be sad about losing Duran no matter where he ends up; Seattle, typically, would be a harmless place for him to go, and if the team is set on dealing him, Red Sox fans usually wouldn't have qualms with it.
But in 2025, when the teams are neck-and-neck, it would behoove the Red Sox to not hand Duran over to one of their biggest competitors. If they were to receive one of Seattle's top-end starters in the deal like Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby or Luis Castillo, then maybe a swap would make more sense for both sides; but there probably isn't a world where Seattle gives up any of those guys, meaning the package for Duran would probably look more like Logan Evans and a prospect, and at that point, it's certainly not worth it, even with the Sox need for pitching.
A Jarren Duran trade would make a lot of sense... for the Mariners
For Seattle, this deal would be a no-brainer. Dom Canzone has been on a full-on heater recently (.870 OPS) but will likely come back down to earth soon, and the team doesn't have a ton of depth in the outfield with Victor Robles still on the IL and Luke Raley acting as the everyday first baseman. Adding Duran would give the Mariners (who rank No. 5 in stolen bases) even more speed on the basepaths where they like to get aggressive, it would give them some more extra base pop (Duran is No. 1 in MLB in triples) and it would complete a pretty nasty outfield of Duran, Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena.
This is exactly the kind of all-in move Mariners fans want to see from their front office. Duran still has multiple years of club control and there's an obvious spot for him to star in Seattle.
It just wouldn't make much sense for the Red Sox to actually do it.