Red Sox's Alex Verdugo Explains Viral On-Field Meeting With Chaim Bloom

The outfielder's future hangs in the balance
Red Sox's Alex Verdugo Explains Viral On-Field Meeting With Chaim Bloom
Red Sox's Alex Verdugo Explains Viral On-Field Meeting With Chaim Bloom /
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The Boston Red Sox will soon have to make a decision regarding the future of outfielder Alex Verdugo.

The 27-year-old fringe All-Star is approaching his final season under team control, meaning contract talks would have to begin at least by spring training should the team want to retain him.

Some thought those conversations might have kicked off last week but that was not the case. Fans and media members alike were trying to decode an on-field meeting between Verdugo and Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom that reportedly lasted almost 40 minutes.

As it turns out, the conversation was much less serious than many speculated.

“That was more like a personal just catch-up," Verdugo told WEEI's Rob Bradford on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. "That wasn’t really anything. We weren’t talking business, talking anything like that. It was just catching up, seeing how everybody was doing, family.”

“It was family day. I was there. He just wanted to ask me about some things with my family. It was nothing crazy.”

Verdugo has had a unique career with Boston, showing flashes of All-Star production paired with some minor off-field issues that seem to drive manager Alex Cora up a wall.

It'll be fascinating to see what happens when it is time to talk extension.

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu