A speculative trade proposal circulating among baseball analysts would send Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, shortstop Trevor Story, and teenage prospect Dorian Soto to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
The idea, floated on Baseball Trade Values and rated nearly even by the site’s model, aims to shed salary for the Red Sox while giving the Dodgers a younger, controllable piece and a high-upside minor leaguer.
Whether the swap truly improves either roster remains an open question heading into the offseason.
Hernández, 33, signed a three-year, $66 million contract with Los Angeles that runs through 2027.
A two-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger winner, and Home Run Derby champion, he has also collected World Series rings in each of the past two seasons.
Across 11 big-league campaigns, he has posted a .261/.318/.478 slash line with 233 home runs. In 2026 he managed a more modest .267/.334/.425 with 16 homers and 64 RBI in 125 games, good for roughly 1.0 WAR.
Because one year remains on his deal at a luxury-tax average annual value near $20 million, his surplus value sits in negative territory under most trade models.
On the other side, Duran’s 2026 season was a clear step backward. The 29-year-old outfielder, drafted by Boston in 2018, hit just .207/.266/.361 with 20 homers and 21 stolen bases while producing only 0.4 WAR.
He is under team control through 2028 after agreeing to a $7.75 million salary to avoid arbitration. Story, also 33, remains owed $25 million in 2027 on the six-year, $140 million contract he signed before the 2022 season.
Injuries limited him to 64 games and a .235/.271/.351 line this year.
Soto, an 18-year-old switch-hitting outfielder signed out of the Dominican Republic for $1.4 million, is ranked among Boston’s top prospects but has yet to face advanced competition.
Boston already fields a young, athletic outfield that includes Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu, all of whom have shown defensive excellence.
Adding a 33-year-old bat whose production has declined therefore looks like an inefficient route to improvement. The principal attraction for the Red Sox is simply removing Story’s remaining obligation from the books.
For the Dodgers, absorbing that contract while parting with Hernández yields only a modest net gain once the model accounts for salaries.
The proposal ultimately functions more as a salary-dump vehicle than as a clear upgrade for either club’s outfield, leaving both sides with reasons to hesitate.
