The Red Sox took care of some important offseason business on Tuesday, agreeing to a new one-year discount with outfielder Jarren Duran.
Duran remained under team control and would not have been a free agent this offseason no matter what, but the new contract resolves what otherwise could have been a messy situation.
Last offseason the Red Sox avoided arbitration with Duran by agreeing to a one-year discount that included an $8 million club option for 2026. If that option wasn’t picked up, the two sides would have had to agree to new terms or potentially go to arbitration this winter instead.
The deadline to exercise that option would have been Thursday.
Salary arbitration in MLB can be an unsavory process that essentially forces a club to stand before a panel of arbitrators and argue why their player isn’t deserving of a larger salary. Given Duran’s well-documented mental health struggles, that process could have been particularly fraught.
According to MassLive’s Christopher Smith, Duran’s new discount is for $7.7 million with $75,000 in player bonuses. He was also paid a $100,000 buyout for his previous club option not being picked up.
The new discount represents a significant raise for Duran, who earned $3.75 million this past season. The 29-year-old outfielder remains under team control for three more years and will anthem free agency after the 2028 season.
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