Alex Verdugo does not put a lot of stock into the biting critique levied at him by former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.
At Spring Training in Tampa, Verdugo, who was traded from the Red Sox to the Yankees this offseason, was asked by the Bergen Record about the remarks by Papelbon, who had called him “late, lazy and unproductive” amid other scathing remarks.
“Honestly, I don’t care about anything he says,” Verdugo said of Papelbon. “I don’t know him personally. I’ve never even seen him around the clubhouse in the four years that I was with the Red Sox.
“I don’t feel like he has any idea what was going on the team, in-house. He’s always been a guy that’s very emotional and kind of crazy in a way. He doesn’t really care. He kind of just says what he wants, with no filter to him.”
Verdugo was benched by Red Sox manager Alex Cora for being late and lack of hustle last season, and some of his first comments after getting dealt to the Yankees included praise of skipper Aaron Boone for how he backs his players.
“I’m very, very excited to work with Aaron [Boone],” Verdugo said in December. “I’ve seen the way he’s had his players’ backs. The one that sticks out to me is when he said ‘These guys are savages,’ and he’s yelling at the umpire.
“That’s something I want to see out of my head coach, man. I want to see some fire, some fight for the guys. I think just instead of airing people out, have their backs. I’m really excited for this fresh start and just to kind of get with the guys and really just change the narrative, man. Just go out there, play hard, work hard and just have fun.”
Papelbon fired shots at Verdugo over these comments.
“Verdugo I mean Vertigo is a bitch,” the former Red Sox closer posted on X.
“Cora has his players and teammates backs more than anyone in the game. You aired yourself out by being late, lazy and unproductive. If I played for Cora I’m drilling this bitch, just saying.”
Papelbon pitched for the Red Sox from 2005-11 — including their 2007 World Series championship team — and later played for the Phillies and Nationals.
Per the longstanding Yankees rules, Verdugo arrived to Spring Training clean-shaven earlier this month.