What Alex Verdugo Has Learned About MLB Trade Deadline

Alex Verdugo has been around the block in Major League Baseball.

When the Dodgers used a second-round draft pick on Verdugo in 2014, the talented outfielder probably envisioned himself as a fixture in Los Angeles for years to come. But Verdugo’s Dodgers tenure proved to be shortlived when LA traded him to Boston via the Mookie Betts trade in February 2020.

Now playing in his seventh big league season, Verdugo has a very strong grasp of the ins and outs of baseball’s highest level. This includes an approach to MLB’s trade deadline, which Verdugo explained before Sunday’s loss to the Giants in San Francisco.

“You learn. You don’t get too emotional with it,” Verdugo told reporters, per MassLive. “At the end of the day, this is a business. Everybody’s always told you that. These guys up there (in the front office), are running a business, man. That’s what it is. You don’t take no hard feelings. You just go out there to play, play hard. Wherever you are in the big leagues, it’s a blessing. It doesn’t matter.”

Boston’s front office already made a tough business decision in the lead-up to the deadline, sending fan favorite and team leader Kiké Hernández to the Dodgers. Time will tell what else Chaim Bloom and company have up their sleeve before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.