Alex Verdugo will get one other probability to show himself within the Nationwide League West.
In accordance with the San Diego Union Tribune’s Kevin Acee, the previous Boston Purple Sox outfielder is in settlement with the San Diego Padres on a minor league contract.
Verdugo returns to the NL West after six tumultuous years on the East Coast, following his half within the Los Angeles Dodgers’ commerce for Mookie Betts (and David Value) in 2020.
There have been shiny spots, however controversy was probably the most constant facet of Verdugo’s four-year Purple Sox tenure. He arrived, not solely as an unwitting half within the membership’s most calamitous commerce since Babe Ruth, however within the shadow of a scandal from his time in the Dodgers minor leagues, when he was current at an alleged bodily and sexual assault of a teenage woman.
Verdugo hit .281 with a .761 OPS over 493 common season Purple Sox video games and helped the workforce make an surprising run to Sport 6 of the 2021 ALCS, however regressed on the plate considerably in subsequent years. Earlier than the ultimate recreation of the 2022 season, supervisor Alex Cora mentioned the outfielder’s title earlier than a reporter may even end asking which of his gamers most wanted to take a leap ahead the next 12 months.
“He’s attending to that space in his profession that’s, ‘Who’s he gonna be?’ ” Cora advised reporters on the time.
The next season was sufficient of a solution for the Purple Sox. At spring coaching, Verdugo approached principal proprietor John Henry and boldly declared he was prepared to prove he deserved a long-term contract. Cora benched the outfielder a number of occasions that season, for causes starting from lack of hustle to the suspicious August 2023 incident the supervisor described as “in all probability considered one of my worst days right here on this group.”
The Purple Sox had been keen to hearken to provides for Verdugo on the 2023 commerce deadline, and by December of that 12 months, agreed to make a trade with the New York Yankees, one thing they’d solely completed six occasions since 1972, to chop ties. (The Purple Sox acquired right-handers Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice within the deal.)
Verdugo took thinly-veiled pictures at Cora and the Purple Sox after the commerce, drawing ire from franchise legends the way in which he had in Los Angeles. He bought off to a strong begin with the Yankees in 2024, however fizzled out by late spring. That October, former Dodgers teammate Walker Buehler struck him out to win Los Angeles its second World Collection championship for the reason that Betts commerce.
That is the second consecutive late-offseason signing for Verdugo, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Atlanta Braves final 12 months, only a week earlier than Opening Day, and has been a free agent since they launched him on July 5. He’s considered one of a number of former Red Sox players who’ve signed minor league offers with NL golf equipment this winter. Infielder Dom Smith, a fan-favorite throughout his stint with the 2024 Sox, is in Braves camp as a non-roster invitee. Buehler, who pitched for Boston final 12 months, can be in Padres camp on a minor league deal.
The Padres’ big-league roster consists of former Purple Sox teammates Xander Bogaerts and Nick Pivetta, however in line with Acee, Verdugo has a “methods to go” if he needs to show he deserves a spot.
