Verdugo risks are clear
Newly acquired Sox outfielder regrets off-field incident in 2015
FORT MYERS — Some of the details from a tragic night in Glendale, Ariz., five years ago remain murky, but we’ve learned enough about Alex Verdugo to conclude that the Red Sox traded superstar Mookie Betts for a player who comes with a lot of risk.
Verdugo is an injury risk, with a confirmed stress fracture in his lower back and an oblique injury from 2019 that he said he’s been rehabbing since last June. His back is healing well, but it seems unlikely he’s ready for the start of the 2020 season.
Like any young player, Verdugo is a performance risk. Despite being a former top prospect and hitting .294 with 12 homers in 377 at-bats with the Dodgers last year, he’s yet to play a full season in the big leagues.
And he’s an off-the-field risk. Saturday, Verdugo spoke for the first time as a member of the Red Sox. He admitted to regretting the way things transpired that night during spring training with the Dodgers back in 2015, when he was 18 years old. He said he’s learned from it. He vowed to be a champion of women.
“I have regrets, obviously, with what had transpired that night with certain events,” he said. “There was an investigation and I was cleared of any wrongdoing. And if I was around for anything that happened, I would’ve put a stop to it. I would’ve helped out. I would’ve done something.”
There are several parts of the story that have been corroborated by a public police report shared via Sports Illustrated, an independent media report and a statement from Gabe Kapler.
Here are the details that were reported via several outlets: a 17year-old girl, a runaway, was with two other girls and two Dodgers minor leaguers at a hotel during spring training in 2015. Alcohol was involved. The underage girl was intoxicated and vomiting on a hotel bed while the two other girls began physically assaulting her. One of the players passed out, while the other player video taped the violence and shared it on Snapchat.
These details were confirmed by Kapler, who shared a statement on his blog last February, as well as the SI story that included details from a public police report and a story on a blog called High Heels On The Field, which interviewed Nick Francona.
Kapler, now the Giants manager but working in the Dodgers’ front office at the time, wrote that both players “admitted their role in the incident and felt remorseful that their actions helped to create a situation that allowed these events to occur in their presence.”
While neither SI nor Kapler used any names of the players in their reports, the High Heels blog noted that Verdugo was in the room, his role uncertain. Verdugo suggested on Saturday that he was indeed present for some of the events, but his comments that he would’ve “put a stop to it,” make it unclear what, exactly, he would’ve stopped.
The SI story also included a second police report, taking place a week later, in which the alleged victim said she was on the bed and intoxicated when one player began “touching her breast with his hand under her bra. She also described placing his hand down the front of her pants … .”
But no sexual assault charges were filed. And Kapler specifically wrote that he was not informed of any sexual assault allegations.
In none of the reporting was Verdugo
ever accused of sexual assault.
Upon acquiring Verdugo on Monday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the Sox “researched (the incident) thoroughly” and “we would not have moved forward with the acquisition if we would have found anything disqualifying.”
Verdugo, though, was regretful of his actions when discussing the 2015 incident on Saturday.
Asked specifically who cleared him of any wrongdoing, he said, “there was a police investigation and a team thing, too. Obviously there’s mixed views on everything. It is what it is. People will spin it however they want to spin it. I know who I am as a person. I’m very confident in that. I have five sisters, two brothers. I have a very big family. I was raised the right way. I was brought up very close to my sisters. I treat women with the utmost respect. That’s why having allegations like this hurts, having my name mentioned in it hurts.”
Verdugo said he addressed his new teammates in Red Sox camp on Saturday to discuss the incident.
He called it a “terrible thing that happened.”
“I’ve learned from it,” he said. “I’ve grown from it. I’ve stayed active in my community with the Dodgers, and showing face and being very out there with the fans and interacting with people. I want to give back to my community. I want to show people that I am a good guy and I do care a lot about this game. I have a big heart and I want people to judge me for the way I play.”