The Red Sox made a trade with the Yankees for Alex Verdugo.
The ironic thing about it is Chaim Bloom’s first big move was acquiring him, and Craig Breslow‘s first significant move was shipping him off.
In hindsight, we shouldn’t be surprised the Yankees got him. Both teams discussed him at last year’s trade deadline in a potential deal involving Clarke Schmidt, and the Yanks have supposedly been after him for two years.
We also probably shouldn’t be surprised he wasn’t traded in a package for major-league talent: his projected 2024 salary is not insignificant entering his last season of team control being an average player, plus his attitude issues, declining offensive production, etc.
Alex Verdugo is what he is.
Nobody was ever going to live up to being traded for Mookie Betts. That Verdugo wasn’t better than he is was part of the frustration around him: there were flashes of a good player, but he was too inconsistent.
(The Mookie trade still looks fine, by the way, because the entire point was to shed money. A few average years out of Verdugo and Connor Wong being a solid MLB catcher is better than the Red Sox getting literally nothing in return for Betts. No?)
Red Sox-Yankees Alex Verdugo Trade Not Surprising
Embed from Getty ImagesAs I said, we shouldn’t be surprised that the Red Sox made this kind of trade involving Alex Verdugo, Yankees or not.
He is an average player entering the last year of team control with an estimated arbitration salary of $9 million for 2024. There’s the fact the Red Sox never bothered to talk about an extension with him. And he’s been openly shopped since at least last year’s trade deadline.
Add all that to attitude issues and declining offensive production in the last three seasons, and it makes all the sense in the world.
Dugie’s inconsistency frustrated a lot of people within and outside of the organization, which was arguably a factor in Alex Cora‘s public challenge to him after the 2022 season to be better in 2023.
And to Verdugo’s credit, he started ’23 looking like a completely different player on both sides of the ball than we’d seen from him previously. Though his defense held up all season, leading him to be a Gold Glove Award finalist, his offense did decline as the season progressed.
Whether that resulted from off-field stuff, we’ll never truly know for sure. But stuff was definitely going on behind the scenes.
Cora benched Verdugo twice mid-season, once for allegedly not hustling and again in August for arriving late. The August benching all but sealed the 27-year-old’s fate in the Red Sox’s and Cora’s eyes.
Whether what the Red Sox got back from the Yankees in this trade was Alex Verdugo’s actual value or not, Boston got interesting players back to bolster an organizational weakness: upper minors pitching depth.
Red Sox Getting MiLB Pitching Depth
“The Guy” in this trade is Richard Fitts. Fitts, 23, the Double-A Eastern League Pitcher of the Year in ’23, was the Yankees’ 12th best prospect by MLB.com and 16th by Baseball America. He attacks the zone, doesn’t walk many, and is primarily a groundball pitcher with backend starter potential. Over 49 career starts in two minor league seasons, Fitts owns a career 3.57 ERA.
Richard Fitts struggled down the stretch of his start and ended up allowing 6 ER in 4.2 IP but he did strikeout 10 batters and had 18 whiffs. Had a 36.6% CSW. Fitts is a major buy in dynasty leagues right now. pic.twitter.com/joUcOlxLSl
— Chris Clegg (@RotoClegg) April 13, 2023
Greg Weissert, 28, has 31.1 career MLB innings under his belt and is on the 40-man roster. In Triple-A last year, Weissert pitched 40.1 innings with a 2.90 ERA, 17 walks, and 58 strikeouts. He’s pure and simple MLB bullpen depth. The Sox like his bat-missing ability, but most importantly, he has two options remaining.
Embed from Getty ImagesGreg Weissert, Two Seamer and Slider, Overlay with Tails. pic.twitter.com/fO6nnlsstE
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 6, 2022
Greg Weissert, Insane 79mph Sweeper. ?
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 25, 2023
21 inches of Horizontal Break. pic.twitter.com/05nCfjy7JV
Greg Weissert, Back Door 81mph Slider hits the brakes in mid-air.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 8, 2023
[19 inches of horizontal break] pic.twitter.com/fwl6LqhqMv
Nicholas Judice, 22, was just drafted in ’23 in the eighth round and has not yet pitched professionally. Boston liked Judice at the time, too, before the Yankees drafted him. The former Cape Cod Baseball League participant mostly threw out of the bullpen in college. Judice, with a ceiling of a backend bullpen pitcher, is, per Breslow, “a ball of clay.”
2023 MLB Draft sleeper for you. Keep an eye on Louisiana-Monroe RHP Nicholas Judice. The 6-foot-8-inch hurler reportedly flirts with triple digits, but lives 92-95 out of an extremely wide angle. Slider is a deep mid-80s banger. 41 K an 9 BB in 31 IP thus far. More in the tank. pic.twitter.com/ZrofEzYSXg
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) April 19, 2023
Red Sox, Yankees Still Have Work to Do After Alex Verdugo Trade
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s been no secret the Yankees wanted and needed lefthanded hitters, particularly outfielders. Not only lefty-hitting outfielders but hitters that make contact and don’t strike out.
Shortly after acquiring Alex Verdugo in this trade with the Red Sox, the Yankees got Juan Soto, who fit the bill, too.
However, they gave up seven upper-level pitchers to get these two players, impacting their pitching depth. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have added to their upper-level pitching depth by adding five pitchers.
The Yankees still aren’t athletic and have a shaky rotation at best. The Sox still need starters, a second baseman, and likely another righty bat, even after acquiring Tyler O’Neill from the Cardinals. So, whatever the difference is between them right now, it doesn’t mean anything.
We are only in freaking December; chill out with the tit-for-tat nonsense. Let’s see where they’re both at when spring training starts and then we can talk.
Featured Image Credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images
For daily Red Sox coverage, follow me on Twitter. For more MLB coverage, follow @BellyUpBaseball and check out Belly Up Sport’s other MLB content.
