March 20 (UPI) — The Atlanta Braves signed outfielder Alex Verdugo to a one-year, $1.5 million contract, the team announced Thursday. He was optioned to the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers.
Verdugo, 28, hit .233 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs over 149 games last season for the New York Yankees. The eight-year veteran joined the Yankees in a 2023 trade from the Boston Red Sox.
Verdugo hit .272 with 70 home runs and 316 RBIs over the first 800 appearances of his MLB career. He hit a career-high .308 with six home runs over 53 appearances in 2020, when MLB held just 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Verdugo hit .294 over 106 appearances in 2019, his best average for a 162-game season.
The Braves will face the Tampa Bay Rays in a spring training game at 1:05 p.m. EDT Friday in Port Charlotte, Fla. They will play the San Diego Padres in their regular-season opener March 27 in San Diego.
