Insider's latest report could deter Royals from pursuing big-time trade with Red Sox

The Kansas City Royals are coming off an immensely successful three-day offseason stretch, which saw them address multiple pressing roster needs.

They managed to acquire two desperately needed outfielders after signing veteran Lane Thomas on Thursday, followed by a trade with the Brewers that brought in Isaac Collins on Saturday. They also managed to find a potential back-end bullpen arm as well in Nick Mears in that deal with Milwaukee. And of course, we can't forget about how they solidified a key piece of their future on Friday by extending Maikel Garcia.

As busy as they've been though, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, it appears the Royals aren't finished adding this winter.

Even after the acquisitions of Thomas and Collins, Rosenthal reports that the Royals still have interest in Boston Red Sox All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran. However, it seems the price may still be too high.

"Kansas City Royals are open to adding another outfielder – most notably Jarren Duran, if the Boston Red Sox lower their asking price," Rosenthal wrote. "The Royals are under the impression Duran would cost them left-hander Cole Ragans."

While he also cites that these are "initial talks" that are considered to be "more informal and exploratory", the fact that Ragans seems to be the go-to arm for Boston right now could be a major deterrent.

Royals should avoid trading Cole Ragans to Red Sox for Jarren Duran

After it seemed the Royals could potentially be entertaining the notion if dealing Ragans last month, GM J.J. Picollo seemed to backtrack somewhat during last week's Winter Meetings and take Ragans off the table, according to MLB.com's Anne Rogers.

"We’re in a really good spot [with depth], so if the right trade comes along, and it costs us a starting pitcher, we have to look at it," Picollo told Rogers. "It’s just not going to be Cole."

And while the Red Sox may be interested in Ragans, Picollo should stick to his guns and not waiver from his desire to keep his ace in the rotation for 2026.

There's no denying that when Ragans is healthy and at his best, he's an elite starting arm in today's game. He threw to a sterling 2.54 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and .194 BAA in his first half-season with the team in 2023 after being traded to them from Texas. Then in 2024, his 3.14 ERA and 10.77 K/9 saw him finish fourth in AL Cy Young voting.

And even amid what was a year filled with injuries in 2025, he finished the year strong and looked like a his full front-man self, posting a 2.77 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, .136 BAA with a 45.8% K-rate in the month of September.

Now, Duran would give the Royals some much needed star power in their outfield to help match the strength of their infield, having posted a 6.8 fWAR season in 2024 followed by a very respectable 3.9 fWAR in 2025.

However, should that come at the expense of Ragans?

Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha bring a strong veteran presence to this staff, but Lugo's coming off a poor second-half last season and Wacha's a mid-to-high 3.00s ERA arm, so neither currently screams of a leading man quite like Ragans does.

Then there's Noah Cameron, who was excellent in his rookie campaign, but some below-average expected metrics (45th percentile xERA and 43rd percentile xBA) could indicate his sophomore season may not be as strong as debut season.

Kris Bubic is coming off an All-Star season, but he seems like the Royals prime candidate to trade to narrow their starting surplus given he's only under control for one more season.

And arms like Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek may've looked strong in their opening stints in Royals colors, but at the moment project more like bottom of the rotation arms.

This means the more you look at it, the more Picollo looks right in his assessment of Ragans. He's simply an asset that's indispensable unless the return is absolutely ground-breaking.

While Duran could address a lot of issues and do wonders for improving upon Kansas City's outfield's putrid performance in 2025, a corner outfielder coming off a 111 wRC+ campaign doesn't seem to fit that ground-breaking criteria.

If Rosenthal is correct in his assessment and these trade talks with Boston are in fact "informal and exploratory" then perhaps there's still a deal to be made here for a different return. It just seems like a mistake for that return to be Ragans.