BOSTON — When Alex Verdugo stepped to the plate in the first inning at Fenway Park on Friday, the boos rained down.
Before the game, he was asked how he thought he’d be received in his first game back in Boston since an offseason trade to New York.
“Like a Yankee,” said Verdugo, his signature red beard gone now as part of the Yankee Rules.
Those boos had barely subsided before Verdugo turned a sinker from Brayan Bello and slammed it 406 feet to straightaway center for a two-run homer in the first. He later added an RBI double and an RBI single, as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 8-1 in their first meeting of the season.
Alex Verdugo was HYPED after homering on his first pitch back at Fenway Park. pic.twitter.com/48dKjpoZ8f
— MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2024
Verdugo’s arrival and departure from Boston in many ways matched his fiery personality.
In 2020, he was part of the infamous Mookie Betts deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and he became an everyday player for the Red Sox over his four-year stint before being traded to the Yankees this past winter for reliever Greg Weissert and pitching prospects Richard Fitts and Nicolas Judice.
He recalled his time in Boston fondly.
“I had fun, man. I really enjoyed the team,” he said. “I really enjoyed the fans. I thought they got behind me. They liked the way I played. Nothing but good things to say.”
But his tenure in Boston was one in which he never quite reached his full potential, with his best season coming in the shortened 2020 season when he hit .308 with an .844 OPS. His OPS+ dropped steadily every year in Boston to a league average 100 in 2023. Verdugo excelled in right field last season in Boston in the midst of what he called a difficult year in his personal life.
But two highly publicized benchings in May and August last season by manager Alex Cora, coupled with Verdugo entering his final winter before free agency, made a trade seem all but inevitable. That the trade was with the Yankees was the unexpected part.
“I mean, I was upset,” Verdugo said, standing outside the visitors clubhouse at Fenway before the game. “I’ve already kind of come out and said it. The first few days I was upset. Didn’t really take it the best, but we sat down, we started thinking about all the positive sides of it and going to the Yankees and what they had to offer and the amazing organization that they are. So we quickly then shaved and kind of got off on the right foot with them.”
Entering the weekend series against the Red Sox, Verdugo had hit .259 with a .733 OPS (and 106 OPS+) over 68 games and has settled in nicely in New York, praising his teammates and manager Aaron Boone.
“Maybe he made some adjustments in certain things,” Cora said. “I read that now he’s been staying after games, working out, all that stuff. (Aaron) Judge is a dude in this league. He’s the captain of the New York Yankees. So probably when he talks, people listen. Good for Dugie that he’s following their lead. He’s a good player.”
Verdugo tried to downplay his sometimes rocky relationship with Cora. Aside from the benchings, Cora labeled Verdugo as a player he’d like to see more out of entering 2023 and Verdugo admitted last season he felt targeted by the comments. But on Friday, he offered a more passive tone.
“I just feel like me and him, we’re fine, we’re good,” Verdugo said. “Our families like each other, our kids like each other. Off the field, we have no problems at all. I think there’s just a couple minor things that we bumped heads on and that’s fine. Not everybody’s gonna always agree with things. But really, I got nothing but respect for AC and hoping the best as a manager, as a person, as a father outside of baseball and wherever life takes him.
“I’m a little tired of talking about AC when we’re talking about the Red Sox because of the way it ended,” he added. “We’re still friends. Media and people want to blow it up however you want to blow it up. It was a simple thing as being two men who didn’t agree on something, bumped heads.”
Cora, likewise, tried to avoid the topic of his relationship with Verdugo.
“Dugie is a good kid. I think people are making too much about it to be honest with you,” Cora said prior to the game. “He’s a good player. He got traded, we got three good pitchers, that’s the business of it.”
Weissert, the only current pitcher in the big leagues from that trade, has been a difference-maker in the Red Sox bullpen. After a 4.60 ERA in 29 appearances in 2022-23 for New York, the right-hander has posted a 2.83 ERA for the Red Sox in 29 appearances this season in Boston. Fitts, meanwhile, has become one of the best arms in a thin Red Sox farm system pitching-wise following the trade. Through 11 games, 10 starts for Triple-A Worcester, Fitts has a 4.02 ERA and took a perfect game into the eighth inning a few weeks ago. Right-hander Nicholas Judice was just promoted from the Rookie-level Florida Complex League to Low-A Salem.
But Cora also noted the Verdugo trade made sense for a Red Sox organization that had an increasingly crowded outfield. At the end of last season, Jarren Duran was coming off an impressive turnaround season, the Red Sox saw potential in emerging rookies Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu and veteran Rob Refsnyder offered strong defense and a solid bat against lefties.
“I think where we were as an organization, we were trying to maximize (Verdugo’s) value and I think we killed it,” Cora said. “It was good. I know (the Yankees) were looking at Dugie for a while. It was no secret. Boonie has talked to me about him for a while.
“It opened up the door for us to play other guys,” Cora said. “I think where we were roster-wise and the plan that we have going into the season, yeah, it was the right time.”
As Verdugo circled the bases following his first-inning homer he pounded his chest, undoubtedly gratified by an immediate blow to his former team. Verdugo’s in a different uniform, but he’s the same player and one the Red Sox will have to reckon with throughout the season.
(Photo of Verdugo celebrating his homer: Jaiden Tripi / Getty Images)
