The New York Yankees have not made a lot of major moves thus far in the offseason, but one of the most impactful changes has been the acquisition of outfielder Alex Verdugo from the Boston Red Sox. Any trade between the two archrivals is newsworthy, and this move is clearly one that can help the New York outfield.

While Verdugo has come to accept the trade and is quite happy to be a member of the Yankees, he was actually angry about the deal when he first got the news.

“The genuine reaction was that I was hot,” Verdugo said during an interview with the YES Network. “They sent me to the rivals, the Yankees. But then after about a day, I started thinking about the year and how everything went down with the Red Sox. Then, the guys started reaching out to me. I heard from (Aaron) Judge, (Giancarlo) Stanton and (Anthony) Rizzo and they welcomed me to the team. It got me excited. It's a fresh start for me and it feels good.”

Verdugo had been the center piece for the Red Sox in the Mookie Betts trade prior to the 2020 season. He has been a solid contributor for the Red Sox, and his best season for Boston came in 2021 when he slashed .289/.351/.426 with 13 home runs and 63 runs batted in.

Alex Verdugo has also been a solid defensive outfielder, leading the American League in right field assists last year with 12.

The outfielder fell out of favor with Boston manager Alex Cora last year for a couple of rule violations and a perceived lack of hustle. After he was benched last summer, it seemed likely he could get traded in the offseason.