The Mets, Astros, Blue Jays and Angels are among the teams that have checked in on free agent outfielder Alex Verdugo this offseason, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported earlier this week that the Pirates were also interested in the lefty-hitting outfielder.
Verdugo is looking to bounce back after a disappointing year in the Bronx. He hit just .233/.291/.356 over 621 plate appearances as a Yankee. Most of the positives came in the season’s first few weeks. Verdugo hit .267/.358/.446 through the end of April. He turned in a .225/.275/.336 slash in more than 500 trips to the plate the rest of the way. He continued to struggle in the postseason, hitting .208/.303/.313 with one homer in 14 games.
It certainly wasn’t an ideal time for the worst year of Verdugo’s career. He’d been a capable regular for a few seasons in Boston before that. Verdugo had a .281/.338/.424 slash over parts of four seasons as a member of the Red Sox. While he never developed into the All-Star caliber player some prospect evaluators expected, he was a solid regular.
Verdugo turns 29 in May. He’s likely available on a one-year pillow contract. He’ll presumably look for a deal that’s not far off the $10MM which Max Kepler received from the Phillies last month. That makes him an option for a low-payroll team like the Pirates. He could fit for any club looking for left-handed outfield help.
That’s a specific need for the Astros. General manager Dana Brown has acknowledged they’d like a lefty-hitting outfielder following the Kyle Tucker trade. Houston doesn’t have an obvious answer in left field, while they’re relying on Chas McCormick to bounce back in right field. Verdugo is one of the most straightforward targets. The Astros project a few million dollars above the luxury tax threshold. It’d be difficult to get back under the tax line unless they trade Ryan Pressly and limit their spending for the remainder of the offseason.
The Angels have Taylor Ward as the expected starter in left field. His name has been floated in trade speculation, albeit without indications that the Halos are actively shopping him. Even if they keep Ward, they’d benefit from an upgrade over the Jo Adell/Mickey Moniak pairing in the opposite corner.
Toronto is very likely to add an everyday outfielder in the coming weeks. They’ll probably take a bigger swing than Verdugo. The Jays have been one of the top suitors for Anthony Santander, to whom they’ve reportedly made an offer. The Mets may be the toughest fit. It stands to reason Verdugo will prioritize a team that can afford him everyday playing time. New York has Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo in the outfield corners, while Tyrone Taylor and Jose Siri are center field options. Starling Marte remains on hand as a depth outfielder.
Cheap Arte would never pay Alex Bregman, that’s why he is only signing Alex Verdugo… just joking everybody, hope yall have a good January 9! My wife left me so I’m gonna be spending a lot more time on MLBTradeRumours.com this season!!!
The Cheap Dodgers have so many players on slave wages with those deferrals
I heard the big spenders orioles are looking at pizza Alonso!
She was just holding you back, Fletch. Now you can spend time with your true love, MLBTR!
Just remember to hit the next one more… Baseballs that is, Alex Verdugo, you bum.
I’ve been wrong so many times before but I don’t see anyone paying AV $10m. $5m with $2m in incentives max.
@Dew
I think Verdugo was just unlucky kart year. His BaBIP was 50 points lower than last year. ask his other stats were similar to previousyears. He’s still young at 28 and plays a slightly above average defense. .
Sorry to hear that, I guess?
Feels like someone should own the name Verdugos_tattoos on this site
FletcherFan: Reminds me of the old joke:
My wife said that I love baseball more than I love her. I told her she’s right, but I definitely love her more than basketball, football, and hockey.
Angels already have Alex Verdugo Lite in Mickey Moniak. The fact that the Angels checked in on Verdugo doesn’t surprise me but also scares the sh:t out of me at the same time.
@nukeg
Spot on observation.
Moniak 81 OPS+
Verdugo 83 OPS+
Moniak, believe it or not, is slightly better vs RHP (but obviously can’t hit LHP at all).
Verdugo can sneak a base hit vs LHP every now and then.
By now every team should know what it’s getting with Alex Verdugo, another over-hyped Dodgers prospect. But with 30 teams and talent stretched around the league, there’s a place for Verdugo, Ruiz, Lux, Outman, et al.
Verdugo was one of the players that came back to Boston in the Mookie Betts trade, that still boggles my mind…
Acoss – I always said that in the Betts trade the dodgers were just super excited to trade Verdugo while his value was sky high. Same for the Braves and Grissom (well his value wasnn’t sky high). Why were they giving up Grissom for a year of Sale?
In both these instances, we have seen why.
sale is not a fa, he was a multi year acquisition, but point still stands
Verdugo put up 5.1 WAR in 159 games over 2019 and 2020. It didn’t look so lopsided until he regressed from there. And he clearly took it personally that the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series on the back of the trade.
I think the Dodgers realized his attitude might be a bad fit and were willing to ship off a young player seemingly on the rise. Of course it doesn’t hurt to do that to acquire Mookie Betts, even if there’s no character questions.
differentbears: How do you know he took the Dodgers winning personally? Did he actually tell you that or are you just spewing?
Grissom was blocked by Albies.
Plenty of ballplayers have come back from worse scandals. The difference is they knew how to keep their mouths shut.
Lux has the hit skills, plus speed. It was a pretty serious injury that derailed his progress. I believe he talked about how he really struggled to believe in his body after it was supposedly healed, not trusting it when he exerted himself.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him thrive for the Reds.
It’s only hype if one believes the hype. The majority of ranked top prospects don’t pan out in MLB.
It kind of amazes me how many women hating men there are in America?
Not enough women realize this I’m afraid,
Why? Because 178 reads the newspaper and can reach an unbiased opinion? Save your sympathy for the million women out there that have legitimate grievances.
But let’s make it simple-if there was $1M on the table and you had to guess correctly, did she make it up or did she not?
Hopefully he remains unsigned.
With the Astros determined to come under the cap this year, they just need to roll with Meyers and McCormick. Get a 3rd defense-first outfielder on the cheap. Try to gain runs with great defense and pitching. Bagwell and company put them in this mess with those dead money contracts so unfortunately, the outfield is where they will have to bite the bullet.
@Mr KLC – Once the remaining FA Closers / late inning setup men have signed (Yates, Robertson, etc.), one of the teams who missed out will circle back with Houston about Pressly. Houston will probably need to eat $4-$6M of his $14M salary, but Houston should still be able to free up $8-$10M by moving Pressly and that money could be used for Verdugo, or another OF with a little more upside than Meyers. They can figure out a way to get below the CBT threshold while adding the OF they need.
Also remember, they have to be under before the end of the season not the end.
Memphis Kong: “…the end of the season not the end?” Which is it, the end or the end?
Passable defence and an empty .250 batting average…. Shatkins must be thinking about signing him every waking moment of there day
I seriously hope they don’t. That would make them even harder to watch!
That makes 2 teams.
Hate his face
Next 2 weeks Goal
Let’s get 20 FAs signed and off the board.
I want the USAToday season preview/fantasy baseball to be up to date and not missing a lot of late signings
I’d just like to know where I can find a USA Today baseball fantasy issue; poor distribution up here
Just say no to Verdugo. Hopefully he doesn’t hear that Mary Jane’s legal in Canada because he addresses nothing for the Jays and something you can get more consistently from Canha or Winker…
Verdugo imo is a player with a demeanor that doesn’t match their very humble play. He’s a boring, mediocre player. His personality outshines his play which is not endearing.
Alex Verdugo makes too much sense for the evil Astros. He already has the type of playing style that has irritated the fans of the three teams he’s played for.
I don’t think it’s a horrible idea to come back to the Bronx one year until Dominez is completely ready.
Yankees can do better. Verdugo stinks.
Just no, bro.
@mlb
Yeah but he’s close to being 30. He might prefer to go somewhere he is guaranteed to state or guaranteed more than a 2 year deal, although 1 year is likely to be what he gets.
Definitely an Angels type of move that will result in nothing.
The heel turn against the Dodgers for Verdugo would be complete if he joins the Trashtros.
@Steele. Give me a better cheaper alternative
They don’t need him he a bump stay way from him
I’m a Dodger fan. I don’t get it. Him, Outman & Pages. So interesting to see Cartaya has fallen off so low; not even in the top 100 now
He makes sense as a LH hitting corner Outfielder which is what the Astros are looking for but i would look at the Eddie Rosario’s or Jake Cave’s over a guy who doesn’t run out ground balls to First Base
Or Mike Yaztrzemski, a far better all around player and teammate.
True. But the Giants would have to be willing to trade hin
Please no. They need Santander , trade ward for pitching help or forget it.
Please stay away Astros.
I wish the Angels spend only on bullpen pitchers.
Astros, no no no. I would rather see Trammel out there than dump any money on Verdugo, and Trammel has done zero so far.
No thank you. Verdugo is trending down, and if you looked at his advance metrics, it’s not going to get better. Plus, the Astros are not a COS destination for hitting, like they’re for pitching. Their hitting coaches are not going to revive his career/unlock that former top prospect potential.
Now the Astros need to gamble a little. I would advocate for signing both Profar and Winker. Astros need LH batters. Profar is a SH and Winker is LH. Hopefully Profar will take a 2 year deal, with a 3rd year team option. Winker, I think might take a 1 year deal.
Try Profar in RF and Winker in LF. Not ideally good defense at the corners, so Jake Meyers has his work cut out for him in CF. While, we’re talking about Jake Meyers, I hope in the future the Astros can find a CF that can both hit and play defense. Jake can do one of those, and it’s not hitting.
This is going to be another of those years where the Angels don’t sign any top free agents, but they’ll say they “were in on” a lot of them.
Angels already have plenty of below avg players… Verdugo is a waste of money
IMHO, Verdugo will be a good signing for someone, for one year. Then he’ll get much larger contract, and go on to disappoint. Pirates should be looking at him.
I’m wondering if the Giants looking to upgrade at 1B has led them down those roads instead of Verdugo in the OF and keeping Wade at 1B. Injury history suggests Wade at 1B is best long term. Even with that canon. But I wonder what they see in Verdugo or what their opinion of him is.
Don’t need him he suck can’t hit worthless
What does it say about Verdugo that Astros fans don’t want him, and Astros haters want the Astros to sign him?
I wonder if Arte Moreno looks at the Dodgers and says to himself, “if only I was as smart as the Dodgers, I would be a contender too.”?