<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/rumor-red-sox-yankees-alex-verdugo-clarke-schmidt-2023-trade-talks-surface-after-chaim-bloom-firing');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Red Sox, Yankees Alex Verdugo-Clarke Schmidt 2023 trade talks surface after Chaim Bloom firing');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Brian-Cashman-next-to-Clarke-Schmidt-Alex-Verdugo-next-to-Chaim-Bloom.jpg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Red Sox, Yankees Alex Verdugo-Clarke Schmidt 2023 trade talks surface after Chaim Bloom firing</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-09-14T12:12:06-07:00">September 14th, 12:12pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-09-14T12:12:06-07:00">September 14th, 12:12pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Boston Red Sox reportedly <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisHenrique/status/1702383588363182224" rel="noopener">discussed trading</a> outfielder Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees for starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline this season, according to Chris Henrique of Beyond the Monster.</p><p>This trade would have made sense in theory. The Yankees were desperate to get an outfielder to play the left field position ahead of the deadline, and Alex Verdugo would have been an upgrade, the the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-news-boston-chaim-bloom-firing-reaction-mlb-world" rel="noopener">Red Sox</a> needed some help in the starting pitching department, so Clarke Schmidt could have been an interesting addition.</p><p>Verdugo came over to the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-news-boston-president-reveals-plans-alex-cora-after-chaim-bloom-firing" rel="noopener">Red Sox</a> from the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was arguably the biggest piece that came back in the Mookie Betts trade. He has had some productive seasons with the Red Sox, but some other disappointing ones as well.</p><p>Both the Yankees and the Red Sox decided to stand pat at the deadline. The Yankees quickly fell out of contention and called up young players, while the Red Sox stayed in the conversation a bit longer, but eventually had the same fate.</p><p>The Yankees and Red Sox rarely execute trades, so it shows where both of those teams were at the time.</p><p>The Red Sox let go of Chaim Bloom on Thursday ahead of the team’s doubleheader against the Yankees. The Yankees are expected to retain Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone for next season as they try to re-tool with youth and some likely additions this offseason.</p><p>It will be interesting to see if both of these teams can get back to contention in the American League East soon.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

RUMOR: Red Sox, Yankees Alex Verdugo-Clarke Schmidt 2023 trade talks surface after Chaim Bloom firing

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/red-sox-news-alex-verdugo-traded-mookie-betts');   ga('set', 'title', 'Red Sox star Alex Verdugo drops truth bomb on being traded for Mookie Betts');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Alex-Verdugo-drops-truth-bomb-on-being-traded-for-Mookie-Betts.jpeg"></figure><h1>Red Sox star Alex Verdugo drops truth bomb on being traded for Mookie Betts</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-08-28T10:10:47-07:00">August 28th, 10:10am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-08-28T10:10:47-07:00">August 28th, 10:10am</time><address><a>Andrew Meyers</a>Andrew Meyers is an avid sports fan with a fondness for Philadelphia teams that rarely love him back. He has two degrees from Quinnipiac University, including a master's in sports journalism. Outside of ClutchPoints, Meyers does play-by-play broadcasting for various colleges in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Boston Red Sox have done pretty well for themselves since trading away superstar outfielder Mookie Betts in Feb. 2020. As Betts’ stardom continues in Los Angeles though, the more <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/beantown-rundown-mookie-betts-boston-return-reminder-red-sox-front-office-failures" rel="noopener">Red Sox fans think</a> they got fleeced in the trade that sent Betts to the Dodgers.</p><p>One of the players the Red Sox got in return in that deal was Alex Verdugo. He had 158 MLB games under his belt when he was shipped to Boston and has since become an All-Star caliber player. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2023-08-27/alex-verdugo-red-sox-dodgers-mookie-betts-trade" rel="noopener">He reflected</a> on his game and the trade with the Los Angeles Times.</p><p>“I know what I can bring to the game and bring to a team and it’s just one of those things,” Verdugo said. “I just happened to be traded for him and it’s like, [expletive], it is what it is. It ain’t as washed of a trade as what people try to always make it seem. But it’s all good.”</p><p>Verdugo is having his best season as a pro with the Red Sox in 2023. He has a .788 OPS with 33 doubles, 12 home runs and 51 RBIs. He’s also scored 73 runs and given Boston solid defense in the outfield.</p><p>Of course, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/life-is-a-movie-mookie-betts-heartfelt-message-dodgers-red-sox-fenway-park-return" rel="noopener">Betts has done all that</a> and then some with the Dodgers, including a World Series victory in 2020. Verdugo’s play has eased the pain of losing Betts though, especially with Boston’s run to the ALCS in 2021.</p><p>The Red Sox have a shot to make the postseason again this year and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-news-alex-verdugo-goes-off-umpire-ejection-astros-game" rel="noopener">how Alex Verdugo plays</a> the rest of the season will go a long way in determining that.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Red Sox star Alex Verdugo drops truth bomb on being traded for Mookie Betts

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/red-sox-news-alex-verdugo-goes-off-umpire-ejection-astros-game');   ga('set', 'title', '‘Don’t be so sensitive’: Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo goes off on umpire over ejection from Astros game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/dont-be-so-sensitive-red-soxs-alex-verdugo-goes-off-on-umpire-over-ejection-from-astros-game.jpg"></figure><h1>‘Don’t be so sensitive’: Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo goes off on umpire over ejection from Astros game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-08-22T22:56:58-07:00">August 22nd, 10:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-08-22T22:57:38-07:00">August 22nd, 10:57pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sportswriter who is comfortable covering many different sports. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Boston Red Sox (66-60) entered Tuesday’s road game against the Houston Astros in need of a big win. More dreadful defense and untimely ejections perfectly summed up what was a bitter 7-3 defeat that now puts the club five full games <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-biggest-concerns-playoff-stretch-run" rel="noopener">out of a postseason slot</a>.</p><p>Alex Verdugo, one of those aforementioned ejections, <a href="https://twitter.com/SmittyOnMLB/status/1694208223836799383" rel="noopener">was not happy</a> about being tossed in the fourth inning and gave his blunt opinion of how umpire Pat Hoberg handled the situation.</p><p>“I understand the human error aspect of it and you’re not going to get every call,” he said postgame, per MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith. “But don’t be so sensitive when we let you know our side of it. You know what I mean? That’s baseball. Have a little bit of tougher skin and deal with it.”</p><p>The 27-year-old outfielder’s criticisms of Hoberg come after he was thrown out from the dugout. The strike zone was a hot issue throughout the night, and led to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/astros-news-justin-verlander-alex-cora-expletive-laced-message" rel="noopener">manager Alex Cora</a> also being ejected three innings later. Verdugo claimed he was just chirping, as he occasionally does with umps, and expected to at least be given a warning before being outright removed from the game.</p><p>Aleex Verdugo did not explicitly reveal what he said, so fans will just have to speculate. However, his presence was surely needed for such a critical matchup. He was coming off a three-hit showing on Monday and is one of the better fielders the Red Sox have at their disposal. He was 0-for-2 at the time but still could have made a significant difference.</p><p>That being said, his comments are worth examining. If Hoberg did deviate from an unwritten code as Verdugo suggests, then that could be a problem. Voicing displeasure with an umpire or official is a part of almost every major sport. There is obviously a line that cannot be crossed, but discretion is also expected. It can be a difficult tightrope to walk.</p><p>Unfortunately, it was Verdugo who fell to the ground this time. And the Sox followed. Boston has to forget about this poor performance quick, as Wednesday’s battle can reasonably be considered a must-win.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

‘Don’t be so sensitive’: Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo goes off on umpire over ejection from Astros game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/beantown-rundown-red-sox-failure-unload-alex-verdugo-trade-deadline-already-coming-back-bite');   ga('set', 'title', 'Beantown Rundown: Red Sox failure to unload Alex Verdugo before trade deadline is already coming back to bite them');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Red-Sox-failure-to-unload-Alex-Verdugo-before-trade-deadline-is-already-coming-back-to-bite-them.jpg"></figure><h1>Beantown Rundown: Red Sox failure to unload Alex Verdugo before trade deadline is already coming back to bite them</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-08-07T11:14:25-07:00">August 7th, 11:14am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-08-07T11:14:25-07:00">August 7th, 11:14am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For much of the 2023 MLB season, the Boston Red Sox have exceeded everyone’s expectations, and hung around in the American League wild card race. There’s still time for them to find a way into the playoffs, but after a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-news-alex-cora-enraged-devastating-loss-blue-jays" rel="noopener">demoralizing sweep</a> at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, it’s beginning to feel like that dream is no longer possible.</p><p>Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong against the Blue Jays did. They were thoroughly outplayed by Toronto, and the front office’s failure to do much of anything at the trade deadline seems to be having a negative impact on the locker room. While that is true, things may have been different had the front office decided to trade Alex Verdugo before the deadline struck.</p><p>Verdugo’s name had been floating around in rumors prior to the deadline, and his grumpy demeanor compounded with his ice cold slump at the plate made him a perfect trade candidate. Instead, Verdugo has stuck around and continued to be grumpy, and it’s clear that the Red Sox are already regretting their failure to move on from him at the deadline.</p><h2><b>Red Sox missed perfect opportunity to unload Alex Verdugo</b></h2><p>On the surface, it doesn’t seem like Verdugo is having all that bad of a season for the Sox (.275 BA, 8 HR, 41 RBI, .775 OPS). He’s been steady in Boston’s revolving door of outfielders, and while he doesn’t post gaudy stats, he finds his way on base, and generally is helping produce runs on offense.</p><p>That unfortunately doesn’t paint the whole picture of Verdugo’s season. Since the start of July, Verdugo has embarked on a massive cold stretch (.184 BA, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .564 OPS), and those numbers would look even worse if it weren’t for a three-hit outing in Boston’s embarrassing 13-1 loss in their series finale against Toronto on Sunday.</p><p>Verdugo has been in a complete free-fall for the past month-plus now, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change anytime soon. He’s made it clear he was aware of his name popping up in trade rumors, and he wasn’t particularly thrilled about that. Now he’s stuck on a team that was openly looking to trade him ahead of the deadline.</p><p>While Verdugo has shown some signs of life since the deadline, he was involved in another weird incident where he was left out of the lineup for Boston’s 5-4 loss to Toronto. Manager Alex Cora continually said that Verdugo needed to make himself “<a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38140902/cora-sits-verdugo-red-sox-loss-takes-responsibility" rel="noopener">available</a>” on a daily basis, and did not seem to be pleased with something that Verdugo did (or didn’t do) behind the scenes.</p><p>The hope was that the end of the trade rumors would help Verdugo get back on track, but so far, he’s only really continued to prove that the front office was right in trying to trade him away. Verdugo is getting outperformed by every other outfielder on Boston’s roster, and is bringing down a locker room that had been riding high before the trade deadline.</p><p>Verdugo only has one year of arbitration left on his contract, meaning this would have been the perfect time to move on from him before potentially losing him for nothing after the 2024 season. Everything lined up perfectly for the Red Sox to make a somewhat surprising move, but the front office, led by Chaim Bloom failed to capitalize.</p><p>We’ve already spent a lot of time <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/beantown-rundown-red-sox-lackadaisical-trade-deadline-chaim-blooms-final-act" rel="noopener">harping on Bloom</a> for another lackluster trade deadline, but he may have created a situation where nobody wins with Verdugo. He’s clearly unhappy with something, whether it be the front office for trying to move him, or Cora for calling him out in the media, and it’s getting to the point where having him around isn’t resulting in anything positive for Boston.</p><p>The Red Sox have four other outfielders in Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran, Adam Duvall, and Rob Refsnyder who have all been playing much better than Verdugo as of late, and aren’t causing problems in the clubhouse. Verdugo is already losing his grip on his starting job, which is just another reason why trading him would have made more sense for all parties involved.</p><p>Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and now the Red Sox are stuck with Verdugo for the remainder of the season. Maybe he can save face and turn things around with a solid finish to the season, but as of right now, it’s clear that he is at the center of the problems that are currently plaguing Boston. They had a chance to avoid this situation, but now that they are here, there’s not much they can do with Verdugo anymore.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Beantown Rundown: Red Sox failure to unload Alex Verdugo before trade deadline is already coming back to bite them

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-red-sox-open-trade-offers-alex-verdugo');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Red Sox open to offers for Alex Verdugo ahead of trade deadline');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/mlb-rumors-red-sox-open-to-offers-for-alex-verdugo-ahead-of-trade-deadline.jpg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Red Sox open to offers for Alex Verdugo ahead of trade deadline</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-31T06:28:08-07:00">July 31st, 6:28am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-31T06:28:58-07:00">July 31st, 6:28am</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sportswriter who is comfortable covering many different sports. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Boston Red Sox are doing an excellent job of keeping their fans on their toes going into the MLB trade deadline. Multiple paths have been speculated as potential directions the front office will take in the next day-and-a-half. The club can <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-2-top-prospects-boston-could-trade-at-2023-mlb-trade-deadline" rel="noopener">pursue extra reinforcements</a> for a playoff push or maximize return value of expiring contracts like James Paxton and Adam Duvall.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2023/07/as-trade-deadline-approaches-red-sox-listening-on-alex-verdugo-sources.html" rel="noopener">surprise third option</a>, though, will be a bit harder for Boston brass to explain to Red Sox Nation if it comes to fruition by 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 1. They are reportedly “willing to listen to offers for outfielder Alex Verdugo,” Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive.com reported Sunday night.</p><p>Management is severely testing the good faith it has built up among the fan base this regular season, following an offseason that saw Xander Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha all walk for nothing. Many people will undoubtedly take umbrage at trading away a key every-day player still under contract through 2024 while the team is in the midst of a postseason race. Such a move sends a message that 2023 is not the top priority.</p><p>Now, it has to be stated that Verdugo, who was once a sleeper candidate to earn an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/red-sox-news-did-alex-verdugo-just-take-subtle-shot-julio-rodriguez-all-star-game-snub" rel="noopener">American League All-Star selection</a>, is ice cold in the month of July with a .145 batting average (10-for-69). Moreover, he might command more money than the Sox are willing to pay him going forward, especially with other notable young core players like Brayan Bello also possibly in line for early contract extensions. Add in a decent market demand for outfielders and you could at least make a case for shipping out Verdugo.</p><p>Any argument general manager Chaim Bloom can make, however, does not change the fact that Boston has been the hottest team in July and is just two-and-a-half games out of the third AL Wild Card slot. The franchise’s long-term future is important, but the Red Sox simply cannot afford to take their foot off the gas pedal.</p><p>Any potential Alex Verdugo trade that does not help them stay in contention for this season is going to have Fenway Park drowning in a deluge of criticism and bad optics. Organizations cannot be beholden to fans and public opinion, but certain standards are expected. Forgoing potential short-term success for long-term growth is not easily tolerated in this market.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.235	0	1	0.551	0

2024 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.235	0	1	0.551	0

Alex Verdugo

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RUMOR: Red Sox open to offers for Alex Verdugo ahead of trade deadline

Alex
Verdugo