Red Sox talked Alex Verdugo swap with AL East rival at the trade deadline (sources)
The Red Sox entertained trading outfielder Alex Verdugo ahead of the MLB trade deadline. One team that emerged as a suitor for Verdugo was the New York Yankees, per league sources.
The Sox and Yankees discussed sending the right fielder to the Bronx in deal that would send right-hander Clarke Schmidt to Boston.
"According to sources, trades involving Alex Verdugo going to the Astros or Yankees were discussed but never completed," WEEI’s Bradford later Wednesday afternoon while on the Mego and Jones Show. "The asking price for James Paxton continued the trend of asking for much more than even desperate teams could stomach. And no semblance of pitching help was secured, leaving the Red Sox in an immediate tough spot while being swept by the Blue Jays in a pivotal early-August showdown with the Blue Jays."
The Red Sox ultimately hung onto Verdugo, but the clear need for starting pitching ahead of the deadline would have benefited the roster.
Chaim Bloom has preached “sustainability” as one of his top priorities leading the Sox front office. On Wednesday afternoon, the Red Sox fired Bloom after four years at the helm running the team’s baseball operations. Trading Verdugo would who has one year left of team control for young controllable starting pitching would have helped position the club for this season and beyond.
Prior to the trade deadline, Verdugo was struggling at the plate, dealing with a month-long stretch at the plate where he hit just a mere .142 and posted a .446 OPS.
Boston has been noncommittal to extending Verdugo beyond 2024 and after two instances where Alex Cora has benched him this season, the writing maybe on the wall this winter.
Verdugo didn’t let the rumors of possibly being traded prior to the deadline bother him, noting he tries to separate the game and the business side.
“Honestly, I don’t care. I don’t care,” said Verdugo while the team was out in San Francisco. “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.)”
Schmidt is arbitration eligible in 2025 and under team control through 2028. The righty has appeared in 29 games making 28 starts, posting a 9-8 record with a 4.54 ERA in 140 2/3 innings.
The 27-year-old has established himself as a viable starter has a 3.82 ERA (19 games) since May 19. His overall stats aren’t eye popping, but he fits the mold of what the Red Sox were reportedly looking for ahead of the deadline.
Schmidt offers a five-pitch mix, cutter, sweeper, sinker, curveball and changeup.
“I think he’s really tightened up his arsenal,” said Yankees skipper Aaron Boone to the New York Daily News. “The cutter, which was getting hit a lot early, what we felt like was a really good weapon for him has proven to be that and just think he’s grown a lot.”
Schmidt primarily uses his cutter and sweeper while mixing in his sinker and curveball. He’s tossed his cutter 27.8% of the time and his sweeper 27.6%.
If the Red Sox revisit these trade talks in the offseason and acquire Schmidt, he would be the latest Yankees hurler to join the organization. Boston drafted Garrett Whitlock during the 2020 Rule 5 draft, Kaleb Ort in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft.
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