Former Red Sox Pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Roasts Alex Verdugo After Manager Criticism

By now, it's no secret that former Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo and his manager Alex Cora did not get along.

During the 2023 season, Cora benched Verdugo for an unspecified reason.

“Hopefully we learned as a group from what happened yesterday and that’s the reason that we did it,” Cora said according to Fox Sports. “It was my decision not to play him and I have my reasons and we’ll leave it at that.”

Verdugo in the past also had issues with timeliness during his time with the Dodgers, running into disagreements with pitcher Rich Hill. Despite any off-field problems, Verdugo's generally been an average to slightly above average major league player. And given that he and Cora had their issues, it's not too surprising that he drew trade interest.

Sure enough, he was dealt in early December to the New York Yankees. And in one of his first interviews since the trade, Verdugo spoke about his time in Boston and expressed that he wasn't particularly fond of Cora. He claimed that he was "aired out" in the press, and insinuated that Cora wasn't supportive enough of his players. Something that he believes will change in New York.

Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon got wind of Verdugo's Cora criticisms and, well...was not happy. "Verdugo I mean Vertigo is a B****," Papelbon 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 b****, just saying."

Toronto, Ontario - Boston Red Sox right fielder Alex Verdugo reacts to being called out during the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in September. Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Jonathan Papelbon Clearly Not A Fan Of Alex Verdugo

Cora has generally been seen as a player's manager, making Verdugo's criticism seem like more of a personal issue.

There aren't a lot of former Red Sox players bashing Cora for not being supportive of the guys on the team. And obviously if a manager feels that private pressure to change isn't enough, he may think it's necessary to publicly insinuate that there's work to be done.

That said, Papelbon's wording, "Verdugo I mean Vertigo," definitely needs some work. A lot of work.

The 27-year-old outfielder gets a fresh start in the Bronx, joining Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to form arguably the best outfield group in the sport. Trent Grisham also provides depth and quality defense, making the Yankees one of baseball's most improved teams. Even though they lost out to the Dodgers on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Verdugo already seems to be fond of Yankees manager Aaron Boone; so maybe New York will be a better fit for him regardless.