Padres nearly pulled off one offseason trade that would've made them juggernauts

The trade deadline is finally behind us and by and large, the San Diego Padres are in a great spot. The bullpen looks like a potential juggernaut now, the rotation is pitching well, and the offense is humming coming off a season series-clinching win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. And they've managed to do it without Fernando Tatis Jr., Yu Darvish, and Joe Musgrove, all of whom are (probably) going to return sometime in the second half.

Part of the reason why the Padres are in this position is that they successfully filled the void in their outfield after trading Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankees. Jurickson Profar took over in left and has become one of the better hitters in baseball, and Jackson Merrill seamlessly made the conversation to center field from the dirt. However, there was a decent chance that things could have ended very differently.

Last offseason, the Padres were very busy trying to address their outfield, and one of their more high-profile targets was Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. While things worked out well for San Diego, it is hard not to wonder what might have been.

Jarren Duran's stellar 2024 season was almost in a Padres uniform

We don't know exactly how far the trade talks for Duran actually got, whether he was going to be part of a trade for Kenley Jansen, or what Boston's asking price was for the slugger coming off a strong, but injury-shortened 2023 season. What we do know is that they had their sights set on Duran before the season and obviously the Red Sox ended up keeping him.

Boston has been reaping the benefits of that decision ever since. Through 107 games in 2024, Duran is slashing .292/.351/.504 with 12 triples(!), 13 homers, and 23 stolen bases. The AL MVP race is particularly brutal this season, but Duran still top five in the American League by fWAR with teammate Rafael Devers coming in right behind him in sixth.

Again, all's well that ends well. Profar and Merrill have been great, and once Tatis Jr. returns San Diego's outfield stacks up against any team in baseball. However, it is at least a little fun to think about what the Padres lineup would look like with all of those guys and Duran in it somehow, and how it could have impacted San Diego's previous moves and trade deadline this year.

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