The two fiercest rivals in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, completed a rare trade with each other on Tuesday night.
The Yankees are reportedly acquiring outfielder Alex Verdugo from the Red Sox in exchange for pitchers Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice.
New York is desperate to add left-handed bats to its lineups in an effort to improve the depth around Aaron Judge. Verdugo, 27, is far from a star but he is at least a league average to slightly above league average hitter that might have an opportunity to see his numbers jump a bit playing in Yankee Stadium.
Verdugo was one of the key pieces the Red Sox acquired in the Mookie Betts trade with Los Angeles prior to the 2020 season. He has finished with an OPS+ of 100 or better in each of the past five seasons. A 100 OPS+ is considered league average.
Aside from the fact that the Yankees are adding a solid bat to their lineup, this is a noteworthy trade because the Yankees and Red Sox do help each other out very often. This is only the eighth trade between the two teams since the 1969 season.
When they have made trades since then they are normally low-profile moves and do not typically involve players that will make an impact.
The one obvious exception to that, of course, was the 1919 deal that sent Babe Ruth from Boston to New York and kicked off the Curse of the Bambino.
While Verdugo is a nice addition for the Yankees, they can not let that be the headlining move of their offseason. They are still reportedly in the market for San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto and should probably be doing everything in their power to acquire him and get him signed long-term.
It is the exact type of deal the Yankees should be making. It is time they started acting like the Yankees again.
