In 2019, outfielder Alex Verdugo was ranked as the top prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system. In 2020, he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox as part of the massive deal that brought former American League MVP Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. In 2021, he smashed 13 home runs and 32 doubles, as well as “countless clutch hits,” to help the underdog Red Sox win 92 games and get to the AL Championship Series.
The Red Sox had had enough after his many clashes with Boston manager Alex Cora over perceived lack of effort during the 2023 season. That winter, they traded him to their bitter rivals, the New York Yankees. Despite the fact that Yankees manager Aaron Boone played Verdugo in 149 games, as well as all 14 postseason games, his one season in New York was a major disappointment.
“From May 1 to the completion of the regular season, Alex Verdugo ranked 133rd out of 136 eligible position players, with a 72 WRC+. Zachary Roman of Fansided commented, “He was tied for 131st out of 136 qualified position players with -0.1 fWAR.” “Simply put, for five of the six months of the regular season, he was performing like one of the worst position players in the sport.”
WRC+ stands for “weighted runs created plus,” a statistic used to analyze a hitter’s run production in which the MLB average is always 100. And fWAR is the Wins Above Replacement formula employed by the analytics website Fangraphs. The main line from both of these metrics is that Verdugo was a mediocre offensive player last season.
So it’s not surprising that when Verdugo became a free agent three weeks into spring training, he couldn’t find a team. But Verdugo is going out of his way to put a brave face on the situation, uploading a message to his Instagram account that simply reads, “IN DUE TIME,” accompanied with a highlight clip of his career with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers.
“Alex Verdugo’s attempt to find a home in free agency is just getting sad,” remarked Austin Owens, another Fansided writer, in response to Vertigo’s article. “It is very likely that Verdugo does not land on a big-league roster before Opening Day and very well could have to settle for signing a minor League contract and focus on working his way back to the majors.”
The New York Post described Verdugo’s free agency as “sad” in a piece about the Instagram post. But Post writer Matt Ehalt sounded a small note of optimism for Verdugo, writing that “injuries and underperformance” by players currently on a big league roster could prompt another club to give the 28-year-old a shot before opening day, which is now little over three weeks away.
