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Yankees’ Alex Verdugo sits with New York media for the first time

Alex Verdugo will don New York’s pinstripes come Opening Day, and as part of the rivalry, he was not a fan of the news – at first.

“The genuine reaction was ‘mad’; I was like ‘man, they really sent me to the rivals?,’” Verdugo said in a Zoom meeting with the New York press. “After about a day, I just started sitting back, started thinking [and] reminiscing how this year went with the Red Sox… and then started having guys reach out. [Aaron] Judge, [Giancarlo] Stanton, Gerrit [Cole], [Anthony] Rizzo, these guys started all reaching out and welcoming me to the team [and] it just got me excited.”

Several times throughout the call, Verdugo called the trade “an opportunity for a fresh start.”

“I shaved right away just so I could feel like I’m in it. I work out every day in the Yankees hat to see what it looks on me, how it feels,” Verdugo said. “I want to prove a lot of these ‘he said, she said’ things wrong. We’re all people, we’re all humans and we make mistakes, but how do we learn from it? How do we bounce back from it and how much stronger do we get from that? So I’m excited for this new fresh start and I want to win the World Series.”

98 days until the world sees Verdugo embark on that tall task as part of the Yankees’ outfield. Eight more days after that, fans will have the chance to see if his swing will have a bigger splash at the Short Porch than it did in Fenway’s right field.

“I think we’ll find out during the season but I’d like to say that you know, I’ve hit a lot of line drives in Fenway to right field that has been at the warning track that would be home runs in New York,” Verdugo explained.

If he doesn’t, he’ll have to face one of the toughest fanbases in the country.

“I think what makes me different is I really don’t care about the tough crowd [or] the people talking smack like that; I feed off of it,” Verdugo said proudly. “I know it’s gonna be a little weird for some people. But you know, hopefully some of the highlights you know, can happen with the with the Yankees and, you know, you kind of just start winning over the crowd. But I’m not I’m not really too worried about that stuff… I’m excited to mess with the stands a little bit.”

There’s more than different bagels and pizza to get used to in the 917, like how direct New Yorkers are.

“The mindset in New York, how people talk a little bit more aggressively, they’re straight to the point,” Verdugo said. “I like that. I enjoy it. I think when they see me play every day, see me bust my butt and work hard, I think they’ll like what they see.”

An obvious one of those people is manager Aaron Boone, who had a league-leading seven ejections for standing up for his players to umpires in instances where he believed their calls were less than accurate.

“I’ve seen the way he has his players’ backs,’’ Verdugo said. “You want to see some fire. Instead of airing people out, have their backs. I’m excited for a fresh start and to just change the narrative.”

This does come after alleged reports that Verdugo and his former manager, Alex Cora, didn’t see eye to eye after arriving to a home game late, costing Verdugo playing time.

But enough said there. He has one more beast to worry about:

“Be easy on me, New York media,” Verdugo closed with.

Photo courtesy of Ed Zurga/Getty Images

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