The New York Yankees reached the World Series last season with Alex Verdugo in left field, but what a difference a year makes.

Now, Verdugo doesn’t even have a job in Major League Baseball, while Trent Grisham is having a breakout campaign.

It’s a remarkable reminder of baseball’s unpredictability — how one career can collapse while another explodes in the span of months.

Verdugo, once viewed as a reliable everyday outfielder, has seen his value plummet after another season of steep regression.

Verdugo’s sharp decline

In 2024, Verdugo played 149 games for the Yankees, hitting .233/.291/.356 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs.

That line resulted in an 84 wRC+, making him 16 percent worse than the average major league hitter overall.

It marked his third consecutive season of regression, ra

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