SAN FRANCISCO — Thanks to their mid-year turnaround, the Red Sox have re-inserted themselves into the American League playoff race.
That alone suggests that the team will likely try to enhance their roster, particularly when it comes to pitching. The Red Sox could sorely use a back-end starter and perhaps another bullpen arm.
At the same time, however, there’s persistent talk in the industry that the Red Sox are at least open to the possibility of moving some veteran pieces, with an eye toward making themselves better for the long-term. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has used “sustainability” as one of his priorities.
For example, both free agents to-be Adam Duvall and James Paxton have attracted interest as rentals.
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A more complicated scenario has emerged surrounding Alex Verdugo. Verdugo is under team control for another year, not eligible for free agency until after the 2024 season.
Despite a month-long stretch during which he’s hit just .143 and compiled a .446 OPS, the Red Sox aren’t unhappy with Verdugo. But they may not be interested in making a long-term commitment to him past 2024, and as such, may be willing to trade him now, believing that with two postseasons of control remaining, his value will never be higher.
If that’s the case, Verdugo is seemingly unbothered by the potential for a trade, taking a philosophical approach to the potential for a deal.
“Honestly, I don’t care. I don’t care,” said Verdugo Sunday morning at Oracle Park. “Whatever happens, happens. I really don’t care about that stuff. 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.
“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 (the game and the business.)”
Verdugo was dealt to the Red Sox in February of 2020, part of the return for Mookie Betts. That experience served to open his eyes to what can happen.
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“I already learned,” he said. “You learn. You don’t get to emotional with it. At the end of the day, this is a business. Everybody’s always told you that. These guys up there (in the front office), are running a business, man. That’s what it is. You don’t take no hard feelings. You just go out there to play, play hard. Wherever you are in the big leagues, it’s a blessing. It doesn’t matter.”
The first time Verdugo was traded, it came at the very start of spring training. He had time to join the Red Sox, get acclimated to a new team and learn his teammates before the start of a season. Were it to happen before Tuesday afternoon, he’d be uprooted in the middle of the year, learning on the fly with just two months remaining.
“You’re still getting traded, middle of the season or not,” he said. “You still have different things to worry about. At the end of the day, it’s not any different. You’re getting traded. We’ll see what happens.”
This past spring training, Verdugo, called out last fall by manager Alex Cora and determined to have a bounce-back season, jokingly told members of ownership and the Baseball Operations staff that he was going to have such a good season that he would earn a lucrative contract extension.
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That hasn’t happened, however, and his uncertain contractual situation could play a factor in whether he gets moved elsewhere.
“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.
“I’m probably just going to end up taking it year-to-year (contractually), like I’ve planned my whole career. You see some players come up, get a week in the big leagues and they get extended for whatever. And then you see guys who have to go through it every year. So it is what it is. You do what you can, you control what you can control. All that other noise? Honestly, I didn’t even know I was part of trade rumors.”
Verdugo would prefer to remain with the Red Sox, especially given their second-half resurgence.
“Yes, it would be hard to leave the team, but I’m not even thinking about it,” he said. “This is all hypothetical talk. We’ll find out in 72 hours what it is that happens. For me, I’m not thinking about that. I’m having fun. I’m playing the game. Whatever happens, happens.”
