Red Sox-Yankees Alex Verdugo trade marks hilarious ending for Dodgers, Mookie Betts

On Tuesday night, for the second time since 2020, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox made a trade. Boston sent former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo to New York in exchange for three pitchers (two of them prospects).

Though this has nothing directly to do with the Dodgers, it marks the official end of anything relevant pertaining to the Mookie Betts trade prior to the 2020 season. Verdugo was the centerpiece of that deal, and now he's gone.

All that remains is Connor Wong. Not even the savings from David Price's dumped contract are still hanging around. Jeter Downs is gone and in the Nationals organization. Connor Wong is still in Boston, but come on. He's heading into his age-28 season and has played in only 159 career games (that were below-average, by the way).

So this is it. Tuesday marked the (officially) official moment the Red Sox made one of the worst trades of all time. Not only was Verdugo completely average during his time in Boston, but attitude problems plagued his final season with the Sox.

Now he's the Yankees' problem (seriously, what are they doing?). Or, maybe he'll soon be the Padres' problem if a Juan Soto deal is materialized before the end of the Winter Meetings. Either way, the Red Sox have Wong left to show for from that "blockbuster" Betts traade, and they could already be looking to eat into his playing time by signing one of the worst offensive backstops in the sport.

Red Sox-Yankees Alex Verdugo trade marks hilarious ending for Dodgers, Mookie Betts

Verdugo, in the context of the Betts trade, was beyond underwhelming. Though his career probably shouldn't be viewed through that lens, that's the reality because of the newfound expectations attached to him as (wrongfully) the prized name going back to Boston for Betts.

Once Mookie signed his 12-year extension, all bets were off, too. Had his stay in LA been a one-year ordeal, Verdugo could've avoided being under a microscope for four seasons. But this was now viewed in a long-term lens. Verdugo never took the next step outside of a promising shortened 2020 campaign combined with some clutch 2021 moments.

He was openly challenged by manager Alex Cora and never rose to the occasion. Immaturity issues plagued him as his tenure wore on. He never quite learned to limit opening his mouth.

Clayton Kershaw was onto something, wasn't he, when he reportedly demanded the Dodgers remove Verdugo from the team's playoff roster during one of the team's runs from 2017-2019 (that much was unclear in this story)?

The Dodgers got rid of player who was only growing into a larger problem, parted with two prospects that didn't matter, ended up getting Brusdar Graterol when the Red Sox rejected him because of his medicals, and now we've reached the end with Verdugo's tenure in Boston ending. We knew we'd eventually get here, but it feels good we were right all along.