Why is Alex Verdugo on the Red Sox, but Ceddanne Rafaela isn't?

Why is Alex Verdugo on the Red Sox, but Ceddanne Rafaela isn't? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Red Sox are all about the future, and yet they bypassed an opportunity to provide a glimpse of it at the trade deadline, with the added bonus of removing a clubhouse headache before he could befoul the worst loss of the season.

Put another way: Chaim Bloom and the front office may have been dissatisfied with offers for outfielder Alex Verdugo, but they should've added Ceddanne Rafaela to their calculations of any hypothetical return.

The most exciting prospect in the system is on a certified tear. He finally had his home run streak snapped at five games Sunday against Syracuse, but he still went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs.

In 31 games at Triple-A Worcester, Rafaela is hitting .328 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs, all while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field. He turns 23 next month and would not look out of place on a big-league roster.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, just finished their most dispiriting series of the season, a three-game sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays that featured porous defense, horrible baserunning, and a season's worth of frustration with Verdugo finally coming to a head when manager Alex Cora removed him from Saturday's lineup for arriving late to the park.

Verdugo has already been benched once this year for failing to run out a ground ball, and Cora further marginalized him by pinch hitting Rob Refsnyder late in Friday's loss to the Jays rather than let Verdugo face left-handed reliever Tim Mayza.

But nothing matched the anger in Cora's voice as he acknowledged the "manager's decision" that led him to sideline Verdugo for Saturday's loss, which ended with practically everyone in uniform misreading a flyball to left-center that became a game-ending double play.

"It's disappointing," Cora said on Sunday. "You feel like you're doing everything possible for stuff like this not to happen."

It makes you wonder why the Red Sox held out for a better return at the trade deadline when they simply could've rid themselves of an immature player who is nothing more than an average overall outfielder. Verdugo has reached the exact point in his contract where a player coming off a much better season, Hunter Renfroe, was deemed expendable, but perhaps Verdugo's status as the centerpiece of the Mookie Betts trade made it tougher to pull the trigger.

In any event, the real story of Verdugo's presence is that he's blocking Rafaela, who's still working on his selectivity in the minors, but is otherwise exactly the kind of player who could give the Red Sox a jolt as they try to make up a five-game deficit in the wild card standings.

Speaking before Saturday's game, Cora told reporters that Rafaela's at-bats are improving. The 22-year-old opened the season at Double-A Portland because he lacked plate discipline in spring training, and it's not like that problem has suddenly disappeared. Though Rafaela walked four times in a recent victory, he remains a free swinger of the highest order, with roughly four strikeouts for every walk.

"The one thing we always want from him regardless of the numbers is controlling the strike zone," Cora said. "He's very unique in what he does because he chases pitches, but he's hitting."

The crowded Red Sox outfield doesn't have room for Rafaela at the moment, not with Verdugo, Masataka Yoshida, and Jarren Duran manning everyday spots, and Refsnyder sitting in reserve. And while there's still a massive hole at second base, Rafaela hasn't played more than one game in a season there since 2021.

Imagine a weekend that introduced Rafaela in center while Verdugo joined a new clubhouse as someone else's problem. The Blue Jays rode their No. 28 prospect, mustachioed infielder Davis Schneider, to a record-setting debut and series sweep.

The Red Sox might've surfed similar energy, but they stood pat the trade deadline and are now experiencing the rippling consequences.