Grade the Take: Red Sox should regret trading Alex Verdugo to Yankees
The first major move that the Boston Red Sox made this offseason was a stunner, as the team traded Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees. Trading Verdugo wasn’t surprising considering he was entering the final year of his deal and they already had a slew of left-handed hitting outfielders, but to the Yankees? Really? We rarely see these teams make trades and the Red Sox were willing to send Verdugo to the Bronx?
Early returns of this deal are not great for the Red Sox as Verdugo has been an instrumental piece for the Yankees. The 27-year-old is slashing .275/.362/.450 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 34 games played. He’s become the Yankees’ primary clean-up hitter, which is not what anyone expected in a lineup consisting of as many big names as they have. His personality, which some thought would be a problem in New York, has been a perfect fit on this team and in the city.
With how well Verdugo is playing in the early going, should the Red Sox regret this trade like Yanks Go Yards’ Thomas Carannante believes?
Should the Red Sox regret trading Alex Verdugo to the Yankees?
Trading Verdugo made sense at the time. There was almost no chance he’d be in Boston past the 2024 season, they were able to cut payroll, got a decent return, and opened up time for younger players to get reps, there didn’t seem to be too many negatives.
The player that Boston replaced Verdugo with, Tyler O’Neill, has been outstanding in his own right for the Sox. He’s already hit nine home runs and leads the AL in both slugging and OPS entering play on Wednesday. His 1.0 bWAR matches Verdugo’s despite the former appearing in seven fewer games.
Other players who have received a bump in playing time thanks to the Verdugo trade like Jarren Duran (2.2) and Wilyer Abreu (1.5) actually have higher bWARs. Even Rob Refsnyder has excelled in a platoon role against left-handed pitching despite limited action.
The Red Sox certainly don’t miss Verdugo in their outfield, but again, should they regret making the deal that they made with the team that they made it with? The answer is a resounding yes.
The Red Sox made their division rivals better. Yes, they did get Greg Weissert in the deal who has been great out of the bullpen for Boston and they got Richard Fitts who is their No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, but again, Verdugo has been a seamless fit with their biggest rival.
His energy has been a noticeable addition for a team that lacked it for much of last season. He’s performing better than he did in any season in Boston outside of the shortened 2020 campaign, showing that the Red Sox clearly couldn’t get the most out of him. There just isn’t a lot to like from Boston’s point of view about this trade.
The Red Sox could’ve traded Verdugo to 28 other teams and not have this be a big deal, but they didn’t. They chose to trade him to a team that would take him, and have watched the former blue-chip piece of the Mookie Betts deal thrive for the team they can’t stand the most without any facial hair whatsoever.
There are two questions here. Should the Red Sox regret trading Alex Verdugo? Absolutely not. They’re just fine without him. Should they regret trading him to the Yankees? 100%. If the Red Sox knew Verdugo was going to thrive like this in the Bronx they would not have done the deal. It’s that simple. They got a decent return and are fine without him, but Verdugo being a major positive in New York makes this deal a miss for Boston.
Grade: B+
This article was originally published on fansided.com as Grade the Take: Red Sox should regret trading Alex Verdugo to Yankees.