Jarren Duran's brief, confusing beef with NBC Sports Boston contributor Michael Holley last week caught the attention of a former American League Most Valuable Player.
Mo Vaughn, the ex-Boston Red Sox slugging first baseman, saw Duran's Instagram story, like hundreds of thousands of others, even though it was deleted. Holley had taken issue with the way the Red Sox were potentially sugarcoating Roman Anthony's injury outlook, and Duran reposted the clip with an angry caption.
“They let people like this on NBC Sports,” Duran wrote, adding a clown emoji.
"We have to always be careful of pressing send. Because when you press that send button, it doesn’t come back. And then we’ve got to have a little bit of self-awareness about when we can talk and when we can’t talk," Vaughn said on WEEI's "The Zach Gelb Show." "You play for an organization. Your words mean something. You represent an organization.
"I know Michael Holley very, very well. Solid dude. Duran, hitting .200, man, you should be hitting the batting cage, figuring out your swing, and trying not to bring any heat to yourself. You know where we are, you know we’re not playing well. Have self-awareness, get yourself together, and be a contributor."
Duran's season has gotten off to a worse start than just about anyone could have envisioned, to the point where even on a roster completely lacking offensive production, his presence in the leadoff spot in the order is causing the most controversy of any daily decision.
Of course, that's also eating into whatever trade value he might have left, even with 2 1/2 years of team control still under his belt.
Listen to Vaughn's advice or don't, that's Duran's call. But even if making extra enemies online is rarely a good idea, the most imporatnt thing the 29-year-old can do is to start producing.