Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam broke down the weekend benching of outfielder Alex Verdugo on the most recent Fenway Rundown Podcast. Here are some highlights of what they said about Verdugo’s behavior over the past two seasons:
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McAdam on the Verdugo drama:
“In the last, let’s call it nine or 10 months, Alex Cora has had to call out Alex Verdugo for not being in suitable shape and challenge him to change that,” McAdam said. “He had to remove him from a game (in Cleveland in June) and keep him out of the next night’s game for failure to hustle on the bases. And of course, over the weekend, because Verdugo showed up about two hours before first pitch, scratched him from the lineup.
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“So all the people saying this is a big step backward for the organization, and (Cora saying) this is one of the worst days I’ve had here since managing….If that sounds like an overreaction, I would point out that this is a nearly year-long pattern with Verdugo, and that’s just the stuff we know about. Who knows what else has taken place between them to change that dynamic, where there may have been other instances where Cora felt the need to step in and discipline Verdugo.
“You see now why the Red Sox were certainly listening to trade talk, but also (why they) have not shown the least bit of interest in trying to extend him past 2024, when he’ll become eligible for free agency.”
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Cotillo on unsuccessfully trying to write a story on Verdugo over the past two seasons:
“About halfway through (each of the last two seasons), I’ve tried to write a feature on Alex Verdugo’s maturity and Alex Verdugo becoming increasingly mature and has he taken a step forward,” Cotillo said. “And last year, 2022, did a lot of reporting on this. Talked to a bunch of players, some former Dodgers teammates. Got some guys on the record, got some quotes from Rich Hill about it, Kikè Hernandez, some other guys. And was prepared to write the story and while asking around on it, got a call from someone in the organization saying, ‘Hey, pump the brakes on this, he’s not there yet. He is not really showing as much as maybe it seems and there’s still some issues here.’ Then, I didn’t run the story.
“This year, he’s having a great year. Seems like things are going to be trending in the right direction. I get to the point again where I’m writing the story, talk to Justin Turner, talk to Kikè Hernandez again. I’m starting to dig, do the background reporting for it. He gets benched in Cleveland right in the middle of writing it, and I felt, again, I can’t write this. And I just think that kind of shows you that he has gotten close, but can’t get over that hump. It looked like this year, the way he started the season, the way he came in, into camp in shape, the way Cora was happy with him, stumping for him to be an All-Star, all that type of stuff….It seemed like he was finally there only to get benched in Cleveland and benched here. And it’s just at a certain point that either (it’s time to) figure it out or you don’t. And the clock’s ticking with him.”
