With the MLB offseason now past its traditional New Year’s Day midpoint and moving rapidly toward the start of spring training on February 20, the defending American League champion New York Yankees have made progress, but still need to make several moves to solidify their roster — especially with the loss of Juan Soto leaving a 41-homer-sized hole in their outfield.
The Yankees also lost another piece of their outfield from last year’s World Series team. After three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and four with the Boston Red Sox, 28-year-old Alex Verdugo was traded by Boston to the Yankees who picked up the final year of his arbitration eligibility and handed him a $9.2 million deal for one season.
Indeed, one season is all it turned out to be. The Yankees let Verdugo walk into free agency after a disastrous campaign in which he posted an on-base percentage of under .300 (.291) and an OPS of just .647. Through much of the postseason Verdugo was even worse, posting OPS numbers of .481 and .594 in the divisional and ALCS rounds, respectively. He came on somewhat in the Yankees’ five-game World Series loss to the Dodgers.
Verdugo Out, This Angel in the Outfield In?
But in his final on-field act as a Yankee, with the Yankees trailing by a single run in the bottom of the ninth, the lefty-swinging Verdugo whiffed on three straight pitches from Dodgers righty Walker Buehler to send the Bronx Bombers home empty-handed in their first Fall Classic appearance since 2009.
The Yankees must now replace Verdugo as well as Soto. Filling Verdugo’s spot, obviously, will be less of a heavy lift. One candidate now reportedly on the trade market who would provide an instant upgrade over Verdugo for roughly the same financial price tag is 31-year-old Taylor Ward of the Los Angeles Angels.
Of course, the Yankees may prefer to go with the internal option of Jasson Domínguez, the organization’s No. 1 prospect. It was Domínguez who was last season’t top candidate to displace the struggling Verdugo, but in 18 games at the Major League level the rookie left little impression.
The stocky, 5’9″ 190-pounder failed to hit his weight, turning in a .179 batting average and an OPS in the Verdugo ballpark at just .617.
Given that the 21-year-old appears to have some distance to travel before he becomes every-day big league ready, a deal for Ward would fill in the gap. Ward will earn $8.75 million in 2025 (Verdugo earned $9.2 million in 2024) and remains under team control for a year after that. According to an estimate by Major League Trade Rumors, Ward could expect a raise to around $12 million in 2026 before hitting free agency — giving Domínguez plenty of time to develop.
Ward’s WAR Compares With Better-Known Players
Over the last three seasons, Ward has compiled an aggregate Wins Above Replacement (WAR) number of 7.6. Compare that total to the last three seasons of Anthony Santander, one of the top remaining free agent power hitters who is expected to command a five-year, $100 million contract.
Santander’s total WAR over those three years is 8.2, while playing 73 more games. On a per-162-game basis, Ward has actually been better than Santander, averaging 3.01 WAR per 162 games, compared to 2.89 for the more highly-touted Santander.
The Angels starting staff was abysmal in 2024, posting the 28th worst ERA (4.97) of the 30 MLB teams. That means the team from Orange County would almost certainly be looking for big league quality starting pitching, or at least a couple of top pitching prospects for Ward. Will Warren, the righty who is New York’s highest-ranked mound prospect and who started five games for the Yankees last season would be the most likely candidate to go in a trade for Ward.
