By Alfredo Echenique
24 Feb 2024, 16:26 PM EST
The New York Yankees moved their roster a lot in the offseason and added several players both on offense and in pitching. Juan Soto and Marcus Stroman were the most outstanding in each of the team’s areas.
However, the Bronx team also acquired an important player, although with a lower profile than the previous ones, and it is the Mexican Álex Verdugo, who arrived via trade from the Boston Red Sox and will be a fundamental piece for the Yankees this season.
The native of Arizona, but of Mexican descent, played 142 games with the Red Sox in 2023. He finished with a .264 average, connecting 144 hits, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs.
This talent that Verdugo displayed in Boston was seen by the Yankees captain, Aaron Judge, who apparently pressured the management of the New York franchise to move this offseason to acquire the outfielder.
Journalist Bryan Hoch revealed a conversation with Verdugo in which the player states that during 2023, Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo told him in every matchup against the Red Sox that Aaron Judge had him in good esteem and that he was putting pressure on him. the team management so that the Mexican went to the New York team.
“Anthony Rizzo gave me clues at first base during the year about his possible signing with the Yankees. I just told him: ‘No, there’s no way, man, there’s no way.’ As soon as I got here, Rizzo was like, ‘I told you so!'” Hoch revealed.
And Judge himself confirmed this information recently in an interview for YES Network. Where the Yankees captain reveals that he did speak on several occasions with management about his liking for the Mexican outfielder.
“I love Verdugo. For years she had been pushing to acquire it. He is a competitor. He works hard and it is exciting to have him with us,” Aaron Judge released.
But despite this taste for Judge and his successful arrival at the Yankees, it seems that Verdugo’s stay in the Big Apple will be very short. Well, several reports have revealed that the Bronx team does not intend to offer the outfielder a contract when he ends at the end of this season.
Keep reading:
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