Alex Verdugo on approaching the ownership on an extension: ‘It was all joking’
On Monday, a report surfaced from The Boston Herald that Alex Verdugo approached owner John Henry and team leadership about an extension. The report made stated that Verdugo wanted to make “it clear he wants to stay in Boston.”
Fast-forward to Wednesday and Verdugo cleared the air on his extension conversation.
“It was all joking. If they want to, they want to,” Verdugo said here at JetBlue Park. “That’s just something I do with them. A lot of people are scared of the ownership. I like to keep it light, keep it fun and mess around with them. That’s really it.”
Red Sox beat writers reported the conversation as a lighthearted and informal exchange. Verdugo also showed team president and CEO Sam Kennedy his collection of grills.
The Arizona native has two years of control before he is eligible to become a free agent. The club said there was no formal approach between both sides on a contract extension.
At first glance, Verdugo appears to be in the best shape of his big league career. In addition to putting in work to get in better physical shape, he also noted he is tired of hearing the media and fans talk negatively about him.
“I’m real about it. I don’t like when people talk (expletive) about me,” Verdugo said to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I don’t like when people say anything about me in certain ways. But in his aspect, he wasn’t saying it to bash me. He wasn’t saying it out of spite. He was saying it because he truly believes that there’s so much more and that he wants to figure out a way to spark it and to get it. I think he did.”
The tough love “pissed me off,” Verdugo told MassLive this week, “But everything pisses me off.” Still, he admitted, “They had reasons to talk, right?”
“It was just that final straw, man,” Verdugo said. “I was just tired of people always having something to say about me and it’s like, you know what, (expletive) it. Let’s handle what I can handle. Let’s control what I can control and put in the work.”
Verdugo agreed to a $6.3 million deal avoiding arbitration this winter.
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