Former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since being traded to the New York Yankees, and while expressing his excitement over getting to play for Yankees manager Aaron Boone, he took a swipe at his former Red Sox manager, Alex Cora.

“I’m very, very excited to work with Aaron,” Verdugo said. “I’ve seen the way he has his players’ backs. The one that really gets out to me is he’s like ‘these guys are savages and he’s yelling at the umpire.’ That’s something I want to see out of my head coach, I want to see some fire and fight of the guys, and instead of airing people out have their backs.”

Verdugo is likely referring to the numerous times he was called out publicly by Cora during his tenure in Boston. During the 2022 year-end press conference Cora singled out Verdugo as a player he wanted to see more out of, and this past year Verdugo was twice benched due to lack of effort. The first incident came in Cleveland after Cora felt Verdugo wasn’t running the bases hard, and the latter came in August when Verdugo reported late to an afternoon game at Fenway.

Chaotic from start to finish, Alex Verdugo’s Red Sox tenure ends in trade to Yankees

Following the trade, Cora described his time managing Verdugo as a learning experience but wished his former outfielder well. He added that Verdugo was surprised when he heard he was going to the Yankees, and Verdugo corroborated that he was initially upset.

“The genuine reaction was, you know, mad. I was hot. I was like man they really just sent me to the rivals, to the Yankees, this and that,” Verdugo said. “Then after about a day I started sitting back, I started thinking, just reminiscing about how this year went with the Red Sox, everything that was going on, and then guys started reaching out, Judge, Stanton, Gerrit, Rizzo, these guys all started reaching out and welcoming me to the team.

“That got me excited, I shaved right away just so I could feel like I’m in it,” he continued. “I work out every day in a Yankees hat, I’ve got it right here to see how it looks on me, how it feels. Like I said before, it’s a fresh start and it feels good.”

Verdugo is coming off a season in which he was a Gold Glove finalist at right field and batted .264 with 13 home runs and a .745 OPS. He will now slot into what should be among baseball’s best outfields, lining up with perennial All-Stars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.

And as for being on the other side of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, Verdugo acknowledged it will be an adjustment but he’s excited to still be a part of it.

“It’s a little bit of a switch up but I’m excited to bring that same energy towards the Red Sox now,” Verdugo said.