So what do folks think the signing of Joc Pederson for 1/$7m (Cubs) says about the market for JBJ? MLB TradeRumors projected Joc to get 2/18 and JBJ to get 2/16, but Joc ended up taking only one year at a lower AAV. As for JBJ, he obviously would like a longer term deal - I expect he'd like three years, if not four (and he's represented by Boras). But in terms of the other clubs rumored to be interested, or the best fits, the Astros are said to be taking a pause on the FA market after their recent signings, and the Mets are apparently only interested in a short-term deal, and like the Sox, have an in-house option for CF (Nimmo), so there's apparently no urgency on their part. SF has also been mentioned recently, so maybe that's Jackie's best chance of getting a 3 or 4 year deal, as they would seem to be looking past '21 in terms of competing, and they have little in the way of long-term salary commitments.
Bringing JBJ back would clearly improve the Sox for '21, but even doing so on a one-year deal might be difficult, even if his price drops (unless they decide to go over the 210 CBT). And it does seem that they are high on Duran - recent stories, including Speier in the Globe, cites Red Sox quality control coach Ramon Vasquez (Duran's coach in the PR winter league) , who compares him to Ellsbury and says he could hit 25-30 homers and 40 doubles and be a plus defender. That's pretty high praise, so if the Sox front office is anywhere near that high on him then I can see why they're reluctant to bring JBJ back on a multi-year deal. I wasn't willing to be nearly so optimistic about him being even a solid/average regular (having seen earlier projections on him being more of a 4th OF), but this, and the fact that Keith Law included him in his Top 100, has me feeling a little better that he could at least meet, if not surpass, that level.