As we teased yesterday on our Twitter, we're dropping our reaction and analysis of yesterday's two trades. The Yankees and Sox made their 7th trade in the past 50 years (per Jeff Passan) as the Red Sox found Alex Verdugo a new home in exchange for some pitching prospects. We also thought it is important to note that the Braves traded recently acquired Marco Gonzales to the Pirates for a player to be named later. This trade isn't very noticeable as the Pirates gain an inning eater for a low-level prospect and (probably) some cash from the Braves.
Yankees + Red Sox Rare Swap
The most historic rivalry in American sports made waves yesterday, as they agreed to a deal for only the 7th time in the past half-century, as the Yankees sent over right-handed pitchers Greg Weissert, Richard Fitts, and Nicholas Judice in exchange for lefty outfielder, Alex Verdugo. We're using Baseball Trade Values to assess the value in both sides for this deal and it looks like the Yankees got more value -- although Nicholas Judice isn't in their system yet but probably isn't worth more than Richard Fitts.
Our initial reaction yesterday was mostly confusion as to why the Yankees would agree to this trade. We've previously talked about how the Red Sox were looking to move Verdugo, and Verdugo is a potential good fit for the Yankees in need of a Lefty corner outfielder but in this trade, they're helping the Red Sox address their biggest weakness: their pitching.
Weissert has elite stuff but has struggled with control at the Major League level. If he's able to hone in his control he can be a very good closer in this league. Richard Fitts, a player whom most fans have never heard about, quietly had a very good season in AA for the Yankees, starting 27 games and pitching to a 3.54 ERA and 1.140 WHIP. The last player included was the Yankees 8th round pick in the 2023 draft, Nicholas Judice, a 6'8 pitcher who has touched 100 with a secondary slider. Realistically Judice will be a reliever as his third pitch, his change-up, isn't graded very highly by mlb.com.
In Verdugo, the Yankees are getting a lefty corner outfielder (although not the one fans wanted) who was a league-average hitter (100 OPS+) in a hitter-friendly park but should benefit from the short porch in Yankee Stadium as well as provide some much-needed balance to the Yankees' lineup. However, the big story about Alex Verdugo on the year was his mysterious benching by the Red Sox manager Alex Cora and he potentially has an attitude and effort issue. Verdugo has struggled defensively in center field, and it's most likely he would play LF or RF with Judge kicking over to CF.
*Note we don't think Verdugo will be flipped in any potential Soto trade, as he will be a free agent following the 2024 season and the Padres would probably be more interested in Yankee prospect outfielders.
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