The San Diego Padres released Alex Verdugo after he sustained a shoulder injury in the minors, and he'll need surgery.
The San Diego Padres have released outfielder Alex Verdugo, with the move reported by Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors.com via the MiLB com transaction report, and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune is also reporting that Verdugo will need season-ending shoulder surgery.
The Padres took a flyer on Verdugo via a minor league deal, based on his value as a possible depth piece who might also supply some hitting. Verdugo played in two spring training games and went 1-for-6 with a walk, and he didn’t appear in any minor league games when he failed to make the roster coming out of camp.
Verdugo also didn’t play in any games last year after being released by the Atlanta Braves last July, so he’ll be looking at almost two full years without any baseball action if he does recover from shoulder surgery in time for the start of the 2027 season.
The injury marks the latest swirl in a downward spiral of what was once a promising career. The left-hand hitting Verdugo had five straight seasons of average or better offense for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox from 2019-23, according to Franco, but he never came close to fulfilling his potential as the centerpiece of the disastrous Mookie Betts trade.
He was also a serviceable outfielder during that time, but Verdugo slipped into the doghouse of former Boston manager Alex Cora, with reports that he was consistently late showing up for games.
Boston punted on Verdugo and traded him to the New York Yankees, but the outfielder’s numbers continue to drop and he wound up joining the Atlanta Braves late in spring training last year. Verdugo ended up with a career low slash line of .239/.296/.289 showing without a home run in 56 games in Atlanta.
Verdugo is still just 29 years old, but it’s fair to ask if his career is effectively over at this point. Any kind of shoulder surgery represents a tough rehab and comeback, and Verdugo hasn’t shown the level of intensity and commitment that would indicate he has the level of interest necessary to make it back.
As for the Padres, Verdugo merely represents one of multiple minor-league deals with retread players that haven’t worked out. They’ve gotten contributions from the likes of Nick Castellanos and Ty France on similar deals, but these kinds of contracts are basically lottery tickets and Verdugo is simply one who didn’t pay off.
The Padres are still looking for offensive help, but we still don’t know how much freedom GM A.J. Preller will have to look higher up the food chain and try to acquire better options after the recent sale of the team.