Red Sox reportedly listening to offers for Alex Verdugo
Verdugo says he wants to stay in Boston, and that he does not concern himself with trade rumors.
The Boston Red Sox are listening to trade offers for right fielder Alex Verdugo, per Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive.
Trade Deadline
It doesn’t appear as though the Red Sox are actively trying to get rid of Verdugo, but they are definitely testing his market. An American League team source told MassLive that the Red Sox had asked if their club had interest in the outfielder.
The Red Sox can go in multiple directions during this trade deadline. They can buy, adding much-needed pitching help for a reasonable price. They can continue selling after trading Kiké Hernández by offloading impending free agents Adam Duvall and James Paxton. It looks as though the Red Sox might do a little bit of both, welcoming players that can contribute in Boston for a couple of years while adding to their ever-growing prospect pool.
Trading Verdugo, though, would be interesting. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has stated that the team wants to add controllable pieces before Tuesday’s deadline, and Verdugo will not be a free agent until 2024. But in a clogged Boston outfield with a couple of prospects in Triple-A Worcester looking to join the big-league team next season, it’s unclear what Verdugo’s role on this team is long-term.
Regardless, Verdugo appears to be taking these trade rumors in stride.
“Honestly, I don’t care. I don’t care,” Verdugo said on Sunday. “Whatever happens, happens. I really don’t care about that stuff.”
Verdugo has experience with being traded. The Red Sox acquired him from the Dodgers in the 2020 deal that sent superstar Mookie Betts to Los Angeles. After your first trade, he said, you begin to grow numb to it.
“I’m here playing, I’m with the Red Sox. I thought the same thing when I was with the Dodgers. I thought I wouldn’t get traded and I ended up getting traded. This isn’t my first time and I feel like once you get traded, you don’t care. You don’t care.”
Verdugo says he loves playing in Boston.
“I want to stay with the Red Sox. I want to be here. But at the end of the day, it’s a business and all I have to do is go out and play. I separate [on-field baseball from the business aspect].”
WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported on Tuesday that the Red Sox and Verdugo have not had serious discussions regarding an extension.
“We haven’t even tried,” said Verdugo. “There’s been zero talks about an extension. I joke around about it, but they haven’t come to me with anything. So there’s not one way to lead me to believe that they’re interested in that, you know what I mean? There’s no real talks of an extension, so since there’s no real talk of getting anything done, there’s nothing to get done.”
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