Duran’s 2025 incentives are straightforward: he’ll receive three separate pay bumps based on his plate appearances for the season: $50,000 for reaching 400, 450, and 500 plate appearances. Duran smashed all of those marks in 2024, reaching a remarkable 753 plate appearances in a season in which he played all 160 games.
Boston manager Alex Cora isn’t likely to let Duran play in every game next season, as most players need at least a handful of rest days throughout the course of the MLB season. However, 500 plate appearances should still be easy for Duran to obtain if he is healthy for all or most of 2025.
The 2026 incentives are far more performance-based. Duran can earn an extra $1 million four separate times, all tied to MVP voting. Duran will earn $1 million for a top 20 American League MVP finish, as well as bumps at top 10, top 5, and a max value of $12 million if Duran wins the MVP award.
Duran finished eighth in MVP voting in 2024, so he’d be eligible for two of the four incentives if he continued to be in that part of the conversation.
2024 was a breakout year for Duran, who earned an All-Star nod and even won All-Star MVP for his game-winning home run in the star-studded showcase. Given his current trajectory, and his age (28 years old), Duran is set to earn plenty of money over the course of his career. He’s become a reliable player both defensively and at the top of the Red Sox lineup.
Now, with contract talks behind them and arbitration avoided, both Duran and the Red Sox can turn their focus towards spring training and 2025, where Boston hopes to re-emerge as a playoff contender in the AL East.
A week after the Red Sox and Jarren Duran failed to reach an agreement on a contract and seemed to be heading toward arbitration, the sides got a deal done on Friday to avoid that process.
Sam Kennedy referred to arbitration as a “necessary evil,” but in this case that was not necessary to help keep Duran tied to Boston on a fair deal in 2025.
