How Does Alex Cora Feel About The Alex Verdugo Trade?
The Red Sox traded Alex Verdugo to the arch-rival Yankees. Clearly, Craig Breslow is not afraid to trade with the Yankees. We know that Alex Cora hated Verdugo and benched him several times last year. How does the Red Sox skipper feel about the trade?
Cora seems happy with the trade and gave a pretty logical explanation why the Sox made the deal.
“There’s a lot of conversations. We saw an opportunity to improve our pitching structure,” Cora said on “MLB Network Radio” on SiriusXM on Wednesday. “We got three good arms. We’re very happy with the return. Obviously, Alex is a complete player. We know he’s a good defender, a good hitter. He probably fits Yankee Stadium, but you cannot worry about the opposition. It’s about what is going to make you better as an organization, and we got three capable guys.
“As you guys know, where we’re at as an organization, we got a lot of good position players. The part where we need to get stronger is the pitching side of it with Craig and Andrew (Bailey), that’s the way we’re going to attack the offseason, keep getting better in that aspect. It also opens up the window for (Wilyer) Abreu, (Jarren) Duran or (Ceddanne) Rafaela to step up in spring training and try to win the job.”
Few things from me before I close:
Moving out Verdugo’s money does help in some aspects. I would expect the Sox to look for outfield help and Lourdes Gurriel seems to be a target they’re looking at. Verdugo was projected to make around $9 million this year.
The trade definitely opens the door for those younger options. Masataka Yoshida will slide in as the DH. Rafaela, Abreu, and Duran will probably get a large chunk of playing time in the outfield. There is still room for a right-handed slugger. Gurriel makes a lot of sense in that aspect.
I understand that the Sox need pitching. No argument there. I’m just not sure if any of the arms they acquired will actually help. It’s not like Boston got some king’s ransom of pitching depth. Time will tell on that part but that’s the biggest question mark about the deal. If none of these arms help the big league team, what was the point?
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