BOSTON Heres some blunt, unsolicited advice for the Red Sox: Stop trading with the Yankees, fellas. When you begin your transaction history by sending Babe Ruth to The Bronx for 100 grand and thus hand your hated rival an all-time dynasty for relative pennies, youll never even the ledger, anyway. So why even try? The latest significant move (but not quite that significant!) between historys greatest sporting foes looks very much today like yet another unqualified winner for New York. Alex Verdugo, whos matched the hope and exceeded the hype in pinstripes, in his first game back in Fenway Park. Verdugo here as a Yankee into the center-field bleachers, and later doubled home a run off the Green Monster in left and singled in yet another run. His three-hit, four-RBI performance made for a homecoming from heaven and spurred the Yankees to their baseball-leading 50th victory while dropping the Red Sox back to .500. Alex Verdugo drove in four runs Travis Demeritte Jersey for the Yankees on Friday night. AP Alex Verdugo homered against the Red Sox on Friday. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con The young man with the flashy, diamond chains and original quotes always did have a flair for the dramatic, even if he didnt turn out to be nearly worth homegrown superstar Mookie Betts the Red Sox foolishly sent to Los Angeles to get him (and a few others). The swap of Verdugo to the Yankees will never be the worst trade the Red Sox made involving him, as that first one was an all-time doozy not close to forgivable for this sports-crazed city. It also isnt the best deal the Yankees made at the Winter Meetings, as they landed his superstar outfield mate Juan Soto at the same event in Nashville in December. Though Verdugo was seen as mostly a solid left-handed bat and fine glove to fill the Yankees long-term left-field hole for a year, hes turned out to be almost All-Star worthy. Hes unlikely to receive an invite to Arlington, Texas, as hes sharing an outfield with the two leading MVP candidates Aaron Judge and Soto but after a promotion he often hits cleanup in the leagues best lineup. More From Jon Heyman Hes batted great (.757 OPS), fielded better and proven to be the best quote on the team. Even while trying to stem reports about an alleged rift with Red Sox manager Alex Cora that led to this fortuitous trade, he does it colorfully. Me and him, were fine. Were good, Verdugo said of Cora before the Yankees 8-1 victory. Our families like each other. Our kids like each other. Off the field we have no problem at all. A couple times we bumped heads. And thats fine. Not everyones going to always agree on things. But really, Ive got nothing but respect for AC. After saying a lot, he ended by saying, Thats all I want to say about AC. Deal. Regarding his baseball deal to New York, after a couple of days of being upset he realized was going to a great organization, and so he acclimated himself by shaving off one of the wilder beards going and growing. He immediately revealed a baby face, and eventually a killer desire. Verdugo, who gestured triumphantly on his happy tour around the bases following his first-inning homer off Brayan Bello, came with the best of recommendations. None other than Judge took a liking to his game the past couple years. So did Aaron Boone. Apparently, every chance Boone had, he nudged GM Brian Cashman. I felt like he would bring an element that we mi sed and definitely could use. So I was excited to get him, Boone said. But I think hes surpa sed expectations. Brian Cashmans decision to trade for Alex Verdugo has paid off so far. Charles Wenzelberg Cashman made headlines for blowing up at the GM meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., rather aggre sively (and slightly profanely) defending himself and his staff following what he himself described as a disaster of a 2023 season. Then a month later, he authored perhaps the best week of a career thats long and storied (well, its now been memorialized in a book, I hear). The rivals understandably dont make many deals together. The trade of Verdugo for a middle reliever and two middle-rung (at best) minor leaguers was interesting but soon overshadowed by the move for the incomparable Soto. We will a sume this was by far the best the Red Sox could do for the player who posted an average season in 2023, is a free agent after 2024 and (deserved or not) had a bit of a rep for tardine s. The rivalry isnt quite what it was, but we will also a sume the Red Sox still prefer to trade with others. Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Aaron Judge celebrate the Yankees win against the Red Sox on Friday. Getty Images We will also a sume the Red Soxs new regime knows what its doing. Though they arent going to challenge for the AL East this time, they did a nice job with pitchers and young players, and probably made the right call showing restraint in free agency this go-round. They generally didnt play for the biggest guys, and the closest they came was that now famous Zoom call with Jordan Montgomery, whos been pitiful in the desert with the Diamondbacks. Yes indeed, Bostons new baseball braintrust had themselves a boffo winter, with one notable exception. Ian Anderson Jersey