Red Sox reportedly flirting with the enemy on a potential Alex Verdugo trade

On Wednesday, brand new Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow addressed Alex Verdugo's future in Boston, as well as the team's interest in a "right handed hitting middle infielder or at least some positional versatility," with an emphasis on second base. This lead to some speculation that the Red Sox would return to a second baseman they were thought to have their eye on last season: the New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres, who ticks all of Breslow's boxes.

The Yankees are looking for help in the outfield and have already flirted with Verdugo, along with free agents Cody Bellinger and Juan Soto. Verdugo has sounded lukewarm about his future in Boston, having given the verbal equivalent of a shrug during a conversation with the Athletic back in early October. Might the Red Sox and Yankees have exactly what the other wants?

Could a potential Gleyber Torres/Alex Verdugo trade be in the works?

Torres' future in New York has also been uncertain for a while now. He had a good year with the Yankees, slashing .273/.347/.453 with 25 home runs and 68 RBI, and has stayed consistent through his six seasons. After some wobbly appearances at shortstop in 2020 and 2021 that had some questioning his defensive ability altogether, he basically improved overnight when he was moved to second base. He's in his final arbitration year and should expect a raise of $4 million if he stays, but his future beyond that is even more nebulous.

Verdugo has been productive with the Red Sox over four seasons, though his production declined a bit this year and he was benched twice in 2024 by manager Alex Cora. They also have a backlog of lefty outfielders. Boston's front office hasn't been shy about being open to trade offers on him. Breslow has been publicly vague, using sort of coy, "maybe we will, maybe we won't" language while also taking calls from multiple teams, including the Yankees, who might be interested.

Yankees/Red Sox trades, while historically rare, have happened — most notable, of course, is Babe Ruth's transfer from Boston to New York in exchange for cash. It's unlikely that a Torres/Verdugo trade would go down in history with that much infamy, but it would certainly get baseball Twitter buzzing for a week.

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