Happy Birthday to Alex Verdugo! The former Yankee turns 28 today, and his journey from top prospect to big-league regular is a story worth telling—especially for fans who remember the blockbuster trade that brought him to the Bronx.

Let’s be honest: the Mookie Betts trade keeps aging like milk left in the sun. Back in 2020, the Red Sox sent a four-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glover, three-time Silver Slugger, and 2018 AL MVP to the Dodgers. Since then, Betts has added four more All-Star nods, four more Silver Sluggers, two more Gold Gloves, two second-place MVP finishes, and three more World Series rings. He's building a Hall of Fame résumé while the trade return—led by Alex Verdugo—has faded.

Verdugo spent just one season in pinstripes (2024), but his path to the majors was electric. Born in Tucson, Arizona, on May 15, 1996, he was drafted in the second round by the Dodgers in 2014 out of Sahuaro High School. Despite hitting only three homers his senior year, he batted .532 and even pitched to a 2.19 ERA as a left-hander. He chose the pros over a college commitment to Arizona State—and it paid off fast.

In the minors, Verdugo was a firecracker. In 2015 alone, he tore through Rookie ball, earned a promotion to High-A, hit .385 in 23 games with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, and even hit for the cycle. The Dodgers named him their Minor League Player of the Year. By 2016, he was in Double-A with the Tulsa Drillers, making the All-Star team, and he went on to represent Mexico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Now, as the Betts trade continues to haunt Boston, Verdugo’s Yankees tenure was a short chapter in a bigger story. But for one day, we tip our caps to the birthday boy—a player who once looked like a cornerstone and still has time to rewrite his own narrative.