Alex Verdugo’s offseason journey was one of the more drawn-out storylines in baseball. After his lone season with the Yankees, the 28-year-old outfielder entered free agency for the first time—and was met with silence. Not a single team reportedly made him an offer, and the Yankees showed no interest in bringing him back.
His rough free agency stint finally ended on March 20, when the Atlanta Braves signed him to a modest one-year, $1.5 million deal—a steep drop from the $9.2 million he earned in New York. Even then, Verdugo had to begin his 2024 season in the minors.
Called up by the Braves on April 17, Verdugo has since posted a solid .825 OPS over 14 games. While he’s yet to hit a home run after finishing with 13 each for the Yankees and Red Sox the past two seasons, he’s been productive—logging 19 hits, seven doubles, and six walks in 65 plate appearances.
Whether Verdugo can hold onto a spot in the Braves’ lineup once NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. returns from injury remains uncertain. But for now, he’s finding his rhythm again after a disastrous 2023 in New York.
Verdugo got off to a strong start last April with four homers and an .804 OPS, but things quickly unraveled. He slumped to a .687 OPS in May and continued to decline. His postseason performance didn’t help either: across three playoff series, he managed just 10 hits in 56 plate appearances, with only three going for extra bases—though one was a home run.
Alex Verdugo
In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Verdugo reflected on his tough season, saying: “I deviated from my plan and got a little lost in my own self.” He admitted that with the Yankees, he became too results-driven and strayed from the plate discipline that had previously defined his game. Rosenthal added that Verdugo’s swing became “too rotational,” resulting in weak contact.
The Red Sox may have seen the writing on the wall when they traded Verdugo to the Yankees after the 2023 season, receiving pitchers Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert, and Nicholas Judice in return. That deal marked just the eighth trade between the rivals since 1969. Ironically, another rare Red Sox-Yankees trade followed in the 2024–25 offseason, with Carlos Narvaez going to Boston in exchange for pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and cash.
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