Yankees, Braves Castoff Alex Verdugo May Get Yet Another MLB Shot

Newsweek

2 days ago

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The seemingly endless saga of how Alex Verdugo went from promising, highly ranked prospect to the player that nobody wants is one of the more puzzling stories in MLB over the past few years.
Now, it appears that Verdugo — who, though healthy, has played only 56 big-league games this year and has been without a team since July 5 — may be on his way back to The Show one more time, even after his own hometown paper, the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star, declared his career at an end.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 17: Alex Verdugo #24 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout during the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during Game Three of the American League Championship Series...
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 17: Alex Verdugo #24 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout during the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during Game Three of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 17, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. MoreBleacher Report's Kerry Miller listed Verdugo among his potential late-season waiver-wire moves contenders could make.
"And there he sits once again, unsigned for over a month at this point, even as teams like the Guardians, Royals and Phillies could put just about any warm body with outfield experience to some use," Miller wrote.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' second-round draft pick in 2014, Verdugo rose to be the organization's No. 1 prospect by the start of the 2019 season. But a year later, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox as part of a package that brought 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts to Los Angeles.
After the 2023 season and a series of run-ins with Boston manager Alex Cora, the Red Sox shipped Verdugo to the New York Yankees. But when he became a free agent after the 2024 season, the Yankees turned their backs on him. And so did every other team.
Until, that is, the Atlanta Braves signed him to a minor league deal just before the season got underway. The Braves called him up on April 18.
By July 5, after Verdugo recorded a .239 batting average and .585 OPS with zero home runs, the Braves released the 29-year-old after he went through the waiver wire with no team putting a claim on him.
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Nor has any team has expressed interest in Verdugo since then, but that may soon change, according to an analysis by Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.
"Despite a decent 2024 campaign (at least in the outfield) with the Yankees in which he even hit a home run in the World Series, nobody seemed to want Alex Verdugo this past offseason," Miller wrote. "And there he sits once again, unsigned for over a month at this point, even as teams like the Guardians, Royals and Phillies could put just about any warm body with outfield experience to some use."
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The Royals in particular are in a battle to get back to the playoffs for a second straight season after an eight-year absence, sitting four games off the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
Yet of their three regular outfielders, none has an OPS over .668. Despite a couple of down years, Verdugo still carries a respectable career OPS of .732.
At $138 million, Kansas City carries the 12th-lowest payroll in baseball, making Verdugo who could be acquired for the prorated remainder of his $1.5 million Braves contract — approximately $375,000 — a viable option for a late-season playoff push.
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