Ex-Red Sox Alex Verdugo ‘Excited’ To Play For Yankees Skipper Aaron Boone

Before even being traded to the Yankees this offseason, former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo has been a big fan of New York skipper Aaron Boone from afar — apparently.

Verdugo’s run with Boston ended at four seasons with three under Red Sox manager Alex Cora. The bumpy ride that was Verdugo’s 2023 season, which included two benchings, might have left a sour taste in the mouth of the 27-year-old. During an introduction to the Yankees, Verdugo explained what has made Boone an enticing manager to play for.

“I’m very, very excited to work with Aaron,” Verdugo told YES Network on Thursday. “You know, I’ve seen the way he has his players’ backs and the one that really gets out to me is when he’s like, ‘These guys are savages, you know, and he’s yelling at the umpires.’ That’s something I wanna see out of my head coach, man.”

Boone’s “savage” rant — coming during the 2019 season — made for viral social media clips, but proved to be meaningless when it came down to brass tacks. New York proceeded to fall in the American League Championship Series and hasn’t surpassed that round under Boone’s run at the helm.

Then again, neither has Verdugo.

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“I definitely feel confident that he can handle left field,” Boone told YES Network earlier this month following the trade. “It just depends how the winter shakes out and how our team shakes out, what we look going to spring training. Then we’ll try to align it the best we can to where guys are in positions where they can succeed, where they’re comfortable. But I have a lot of confidence in his defensive ability in either right or left.”

Verdugo patrolled Fenway Park’s tricky right field dimensions, taking over for ex-Boston outfielder Mookie Betts who was dealt in part for Verdugo in 2020. And overall, Verdugo was solid on that side of the diamond, giving the Red Sox what they needed purely from a defensive standpoint.

Verdugo recorded a .990 fielding percentage as a right fielder through 140 games while also totaling 12 assists.

Offensively, it just didn’t click. Verdugo was — and still is — due for a breakout season, most notably in terms of power production. He batted .264/.324/.421 with 13 home runs — tying a career-high — and 54 RBIs in 602 plate appearances. That’s not completely up to par with what the Red Sox envisioned when welcoming him aboard as the go-to right fielder.

Now in New York, Verdugo won’t escape those same weighing pressures, especially with the Yankees fresh off a postseason miss in 2023.