Jonathan Papelbon blasts Alex Verdugo: ‘He more or less rode himself out of town’

"You’re late. Nobody wants to play with those players. Nobody wants to play with them."

Alex Verdugo will now play against the Red Sox as a member of the Yankees in 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

January 10, 2024

3 minutes to read

Alex Verdugo didn’t exactly have kind words for Alex Cora and the Red Sox after the team traded the 27-year-old outfielder to the Yankees in December.

While some sour sentiment against the Red Sox could be expected after they dealt him to their greatest rival, Verdugo seemed to throw some shade at his former manager — especially after drawing the ire of Cora several times during the 2023 season.

“I’m very excited to work with Aaron [Boone],’’ Verdugo said in his first Zoom call with New York reporters last month. “I’ve seen the way he has his players’ backs. The one that really [sticks out] to me is ‘these guys are savages!’ He’s yelling at the umpire. That’s something I want to see out of my [manager], man. I want to see some fire, some fight for the guys. Instead of airing people out, have their backs.”

Verdugo’s perceived dig at Cora clearly rankled the feathers of former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who called out Verdugo during an interview with “Foul Territory” on Wednesday.

“When I came up in the big leagues, you don’t leave somewhere and just blow up everybody after you leave,” Papelbon said. “Man, I got a little pissed about that. And it’s not just because I played with Alex Cora, or (because) Alex Cora is a friend of mine. It has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with the baseball gods and in the way baseball is. And I thought it was a (expletive) move. You don’t leave somewhere and then call out everybody.”

Verdugo and Cora butted heads on several occasions during the 2023 season.

Cora benched Verdugo in early June for a lack of hustle and benched him again in early August for allegedly showing up to the ballpark late.

After sitting Verdugo in August, Cora offered up one of his harshest postgame press conferences as a Red Sox manager.

“I’m very disappointed,” Cora said, per Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. “This is probably one of my worst days here in this organization. Today we took a step back. I feel responsible because I’m the leader of this team… Today we took a step back as a team. We have to make sure everybody’s available every single day here for us to get to wherever we’re going to go and that wasn’t the case.”

Papelbon claimed Verdugo’s tardiness was a regular issue last season.

“Look man, I did 30 games with NESN last year, and I’m doing pregame. And this dude would come at the same time that I showed up to the field,” Papelbon said. “In some, like, (Dodge) Charger, rev his engine up — ‘Look everybody I’m here at the park. Look at me.’ You know what I mean? You’re late. Nobody wants to play with those players. Nobody wants to play with them.

“And I think, unfortunately, last year in the Red Sox clubhouse, they didn’t necessarily have that guy to say, ‘Hey, Alex, quit this (expletive). We’re all in this together. And if you want to be like that, we don’t need you.’ And so I think he more or less rode himself out of town.”

While the Red Sox have struggled with significantly upgrading their roster this offseason, Papelbon believes Boston’s clubhouse is also in need of a culture change if the team wants to get back to its winning ways.

“I’ve always been a big, big believer that culture eats analytics for breakfast, man. And I’ve always believed that. And analytics are great,” Papelbon said. “But if you don’t have that culture in that clubhouse — you look at the Michigan guys man, they had that culture.

“They just want a national championship. I believe that goes a long way. You’re not always gonna get along, but you all had to be pulled on the same road to be successful. And when you have one guy that’s not pulled on the road. You just don’t win.”