Throughout their historical past the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have not often achieved enterprise collectively, and why would they? As two of the fiercest rivals in skilled sports activities the golf equipment have at all times striven to beat the opposite, so there’s not often been an incentive to do something which may assist give the opposite an edge.
That’s an enormous a part of why the golf equipment have solely swung seven trades with one another since 1969, in keeping with MLB.com, however this offseason there could also be a deal on the desk so tantalizing it may very well be onerous for both facet to cross up.
According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the Red Sox have recognized Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres as a possible commerce goal and that the Yankees are inquisitive about Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo. Whether any in depth discussions between new Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his Yankees counterpart Brian Cashman have taken place is unclear, however a swap would make loads of sense for quite a lot of causes.
From the Red Sox perspective, swapping Verdugo for Torres could be an environment friendly method to tackle a number of points. One of Boston’s greatest wants this offseason is a right-handed bat, and Torres is coming off a powerful season during which he hit 25 dwelling runs, posted an .800 OPS and stole 13 bases.
Though not an excellent defender, Torres would nonetheless signify an improve at second base over what Boston has now, and he additionally performed 158 of 162 video games final season. That means Torres might give Boston a stage of reliability and manufacturing on the place it lacked all of 2023.
Beyond his match on the sector, the 26-year-old Torres can be getting into his last yr of arbitration and like Verdugo will hit free company after this coming season. That timeline works completely for the Red Sox, who would favor to keep away from any long-term commitments on the place with prime prospect Marcelo Mayer anticipated to achieve the majors by late subsequent season.
Torres is projected to earn extra this coming season ($15.3 million, per MLB Trade Rumors’ projections) than Verdugo ($9.2 million), however that distinction shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for a membership as well-resourced because the Red Sox.
As for Verdugo, transferring the 27-year-old would clear up Boston’s logjam within the outfield, which proper now additionally consists of Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran and rookies Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela, whereas additionally giving the Yankees outfield some badly wanted stability.
Earlier this week Cashman instructed reporters that the Yankees want to add two outfielders, ideally left-handed, to line up alongside Aaron Judge subsequent season. The lefty-hitting Verdugo would appear a pure match, providing each Gold Glove-caliber protection and a confirmed monitor document of success on the large league stage.
Last season Verdugo batted .264 with 13 dwelling runs, 37 doubles and a .745 OPS, and for a lot of the season he was arguably among the many best outfielders within the American League. He batted .290 with an .817 OPS previous to the All-Star Break, however his efficiency tailed off down the stretch and he batted simply .178 from September onwards.
The concept of Verdugo lining up in left subject at Yankee Stadium is admittedly considerably fraught provided that a few years in the past a fan threw a baseball onto the sector and hit Verdugo within the again, leading to an unsightly incident that prompted Alex Cora to drag the Red Sox off the sector. But ought to a deal come to fruition you’d suppose that might be water beneath the bridge, and presumably Verdugo could be handled a lot better if he returned to the Bronx carrying pinstripes as an alternative of a Red Sox uniform.
So, will it occur? A Verdugo for Torres deal would signify probably the most important commerce between the Red Sox and Yankees since swapping designated hitters Don Baylor and Mike Easler in 1986, however after ending on the backside of the AL East this previous season each golf equipment have made it clear they plan to enhance by any means needed.
Even if meaning doing enterprise with their greatest rival? We’ll must see.
Source: www.bostonherald.com