Jonathan Papelbon on Alex Verdugo: ‘You’re not a superstar, you can’t pull this’
The Red Sox offseason has been anti-climatic. Boston has spent just $1 million on the major league roster and missed out on prized Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
That hasn’t stopped former closer Jonathan Papelbon from creating some headlines.
During Alex Verdugo’s introductory presser to the New York media, the new Yankees outfielder talked about how he was excited to play for new skipper Aaron Boone.
“I’ve seen the way (Boone) has his players’ backs. The one that really gets out to me is he’s like ‘these guys are savages and he’s yelling at the umpire,” the outfielder said. “That’s something I want to see out of my head coach, I want to see some fire and fight of the guys, and instead of airing people out have their backs.”
In the process, Verdugo called out Alex Cora and Papelbon took issue with his comments.
"Verdugo I mean Vertigo is a bitch,” Papelbon posted on X Friday afternoon. “Cora has his players and teammates backs more than anyone in the game. You aired yourself out by being late, lazy and unproductive. If I played for Cora I’m drilling this bitch, just saying."
Papelbon continued to double down on his feelings towards Verdugo in an interview with the Boston Herald.
“I think Alex and (Craig) Breslow are both all-in on how we’re going to create a winning culture,” said Papelbon. “Hence the reason why they had no problem getting rid of Verdugo.
“Let’s get the culture of the Red Sox back. Let’s get the dirt dogs, like when we played. I mean, Trot Nixon has got a tattoo that says ‘Dirt Dog,” he revealed. “That’s how we were, that culture. And if you don’t get that back, it doesn’t matter how many superstars you got.”
The former World Series champion will be inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame next season. He knows what it’s like to win in Boston and be a good teammate, something he felt Verdguo failed to be during his tenure.
“To me, they don’t need this kid,” he assessed. “He’s an average player. He’s not, you’re not dealing with a superstar. You’re not dealing with a Manny Ramirez-type caliber.
“For years, we dealt with Manny and ‘Manny being Manny.’ Maybe (Manny) was a cancer sometimes in our clubhouse, but we dealt with it because he was a superstar!” he said with a chuckle. “You’re not a superstar, you can’t pull this.”
Papelbon went on to add he would show up to work at NESN before Verdugo would show up to the field most days. Confirming the reporting this season that the outfielder struggled to show up on time, resulting in a benching from Cora.
“Players get other players out of the clubhouse,” he explained. “I would show up to NESN before (Verdugo) would show up to the field some days. You’d hear him rev his little hot-rod car up, or whatever the hell he drove, and it’s like, dude, you’re way late. Players get pissed off at that. The players then go around, they start mumbling like, ‘You know what? F this guy, man. (Cora), we don’t need this guy, bench him today.”
Papelbon expressed that culture means more than anything in baseball and Verdugo’s subtraction will be good for the Red Sox.
“When you put the Red Sox uniform on, you put it on and you play a certain way,” he explained. “I believe by getting rid of Verdugo and some of these small little things they’re doing right now, they’re trying to create the right culture. And I believe that culture outweighs – this is a saying of mine – culture eats analytics for breakfast.”
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