Alex Verdugo infuriating Red Sox fans with Yankees, Aaron Boone comments is awesome

As it turns out, the Boston Red Sox thinking they were unloading a "problem" on the New York Yankees in the form of Alex Verdugo couldn't be less true. Verdugo has been among the catalysts that has the Yanks out to one of the best starts in baseball.

In fact, if anything, Verdugo has proven across the first six weeks of the season that the Red Sox were the problem during his tenure with the team. Boston's inability to build a winner and the unfair expectations they placed on Verdugo because of the organization's misguided Mookie Betts trade have apparently been points of frustration for both sides.

In his introductory presser with the Yankees, Verdugo alluded to his deteriorating relationship with Sox manager Alex Cora, who openly challenged the outfielder on multiple occasions, which seemed to do more harm than good.

Cora's managerial style certainly has a positive effect on many players, but it's becoming more evident by the day that Verdugo wasn't one of his proper pupils.

Verdugo's recent postgame interviews have hyped up the Yankees in ways that makes Red Sox fans' skin crawl, and he appeared on Rob Bradford's "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast to further drive home the point that he's thriving under Aarone Boone and is seemingly glad to be far away from Cora's bootcamp.

Alex Verdugo infuriating Red Sox fans with Yankees, Aaron Boone comments is awesome

How do you think Red Sox fans have been handling this? Here's Verdugo's full quote when talking to Bradford:

"I like Boonie a lot. He has just been one of those guys I feel like he’s going to push me but he also has my back," Verdugo told WEEI's Rob Bradford while appearing on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. "I can have maybe some conversations with him where if he is upset with me not doing something it can be in-house or we just get talked to a little up-close. But really it sucks because I still like AC. I don’t have anything against him. It was how it was handled with us. We started butting heads at the end of it. It happens. It’s part of it. Both of us, we’re competitors. He wanted the most out of me and he wanted the team to win so I understand where a lot of it came from."

Truth be told, those are tame comments from Verdugo, who has been well-spoken when pressed by the New York media. He's also on track to top a number of his career-best stats -- he has 19 runs scored, five homers and 17 RBI alongside a .264/.349/.432 line and 122 OPS+. His 2021 season was his best in Boston, during which he logged 88 runs scored, 13 homers and 63 RBI with a .289/.351/.426 line and 107 OPS+.

But it turns out you get this kind of production when you surround a competent role player with formidable All-Stars while he's being coached by somebody who can properly jibe with his personality.

Once again, Cora's lone achievement with the Red Sox (the 2018 World Series) is all he has on his resume, with that 2021 ALCS run looking flukier by the minute. Another lackluster campaign from Boston with a number of their former players succeeding elsewhere, and perhaps it'll finally be time to stop overrating that asterisk 108-win championship season.