Detroit Tigers agree to trade Justin Verlander to Houston Astros
By Tre LyDay
The Houston Astros snagged Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander with just a minute to spare.
The Houston Astros front office was criticized by their own players for not making the big name move at the trade deadline. They made up for it at the end of the waiver deadline, though, and acquired Justin Verlander.
The Tigers and Astros got this deal done with literally a minute to spare, so I guess you could say it was Minute Maid.
verlander is traded to astros
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) September 1, 2017
The Astros will in return send Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers to the Tigers. The Tigers will also send roughly $10 million to the Astros as Verlander was due to make $28 million this season. It’s a worthwhile price to pay for the third, sixth and 11th-ranked prospects in the Astros organization.
The countdown to the deadline was crazy involving this deal. Verlander had a full no-trade clause, and the Astros weren’t at the top of his list. There were initial reports that Verlander nixed the deal. There was also a feeling that the Astros balked on the deal by pulling back their offer at the last moment.
Regardless, this wouldn’t be the first time the Astros had a problem acquiring an ace pitcher. Two years ago, Cole Hamels refused to waive his no-trade clause for the Astros and ended up on the Rangers.
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The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers were also among the teams that Verlander was willing to go to. The Cubs no longer have the prospects to make this kind of deal, and Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman is probably as stingy as it gets when it comes to his prospects, plus they’re already well over the luxury tax threshold.
As for the Astros’ postseason outlook, the World Series is back on. A rotation with Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Justin Verlander is absolutely deadly. The problem right now is that Keuchel hasn’t been great and McCullers is currently on the DL.
Should the Astros get healthy, they may not have to worry about the lack of a stable bullpen. They score a ton of runs and now have three very good starters.