Red Sox open to trading outfielder Alex Verdugo
With the MLB trade deadline set to expire on Aug. 1 at 6 p.m., the Red Sox have expressed to other teams that they’ll listen to offers on outfielder Alex Verdugo, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo.
The Red Sox are sitting 2.5 games out of the final wild-card spot. Boston is expected to both buy and sell ahead of the trade deadline, in an attempt to improve their chances of making the postseason.
Verdugo is making $6.3 million this season and under team control through 2024. He will get a sizable raise in arbitration next winter.
The Red Sox are said to be looking for more controllable players to build around their core. Chaim Bloom could look to move Verdugo to acquire a controllable young starter.
Verdugo confirmed to MassLive that no contract extension talks have taken place with the club.
“Honestly, I don’t care. I don’t care,” said Verdugo. “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 red-hot to begin the season, hitting .307 with 26 doubles and an .856 OPS in his first 72 games. Since then, the Sox outfielder has been in a slump, entering Sunday afternoon’s game having hit just .143 (11-for-77) with one double, seven RBI and a .446 OPS in his last 21 games.
The Arizona native is prepared to go year-to-year with his contract until free agency. If the Red Sox want to extend Verdugo, a good comp for a contract would be the five-year, $75 million deal the White Sox gave to Andrew Benintendi.
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