Red Sox’ quest to make Duran a leader was always going to end poorly

Red Sox’ quest to make Duran a leader was always going to end poorly originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jarren Duran is many things on a baseball field – athletic, driven, energetic, exciting. But one descriptor the team has tried to force on him always rang false.

Leader.

Six weeks ago in Cincinnati, manager Alex Cora gushed that Duran could effectively become the face of the franchise. He explained that when the next generation of prospects arrived, someone would have to show them the way, and he knew just the guy.

“As a group, we need somebody that people look up to, right?” Cora told reporters, including MLB.com and The Boston Globe. “Who better than your leadoff guy that plays every day? And he’s been great in the clubhouse. He’s been open about his situation the last few years.

“So this is kind of like, I’m trying to find the leader for this organization that is going to help us not only this year, but he’s going to help everybody in the future. He loves and he understands it. He’s becoming a guy.”

It sounded good, but anyone present for Duran’s journey from seventh-rounder to can’t-miss prospect to overmatched big leaguer and finally to All-Star screwed up their face like they had just bitten a lemon. Him? Isn’t he still kind of immature? Isn’t he thin-skinned? Why rush such a massive responsibility onto a player who’s so tightly wound, there’s always the fear of explosion?

And now it’s clear how ill-equipped Duran actually was to assume the role.

On Sunday, a NESN hot mic caught him responding to a heckler with a homophobic slur. He released a postgame statement apologizing for using “a truly horrific word” and falling short as a role model. “I’ll take this opportunity to educate myself and my teammates and to grow as a person,” he said in the statement.

Here’s hoping he does. Duran has been open about his struggles with mental health, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this incident challenges him in that regard. But Duran is no victim. It’s dismaying how reflexively he summoned such a repellant word, especially in response to a mild taunt that he should grab “a tennis racket.”

The punishment didn’t fit the crime. You just don’t go there.

That Duran did should tell us all we need to know about his ability to set an example for Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Co.

It’s a team-building failure that the Red Sox have constructed a roster without players who can guide their future stars as they acclimate to the big leagues. Whereas Dustin Pedroia had David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Mike Lowell to look up to in 2007, and Xander Bogaerts could develop under the watchful eye of Ortiz, Pedroia, and Jon Lester, the next generation of Red Sox stars will join a clubhouse devoid of experienced leaders. Rafael Devers doesn’t want the job, and most of the other veterans are of the fungible variety.

So that left Cora seeking someone else, and he settled on a risky, imperfect solution.

Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal recently detailed Duran’s deficiencies as a Worcester farmhand, when his obvious talent could be superseded by his surliness and immaturity. In light of Sunday’s incident, that column is worth another read, highlighting, for instance, the way Duran disrespected popular former All-Star Rich Gedman during batting practice. The warning signs always existed.

This isn’t to say that Duran can’t grow and learn and become a better person. But it calls into question any plans to hand him the clubhouse. Some guys just aren’t meant to fill that role.

Duran plans to address the incident on Monday, presumably before the Red Sox face the Rangers. He’ll undoubtedly express contrition and the organization will support him, even as he faces the possibility of a suspension or some other league-imposed discipline.

In that moment, Duran may sound like someone who understands his mistake. Perhaps it will be the last transgression of his career. But it should also be a permanent reminder that as the Red Sox search for someone to lead their clubhouse, they’d best look elsewhere.