MLB rumors: 3 teams that should take a chance on Justin Verlander after showcase

New York Mets

The New York Mets have been the talk of the offseason, but mostly due to their inability to find a president of baseball operations. With team owner Steve Cohen, you have to believe that the Mets will be doing some shopping this offseason, especially since they have 23 players set to hit free agency.

New York has two members of the starting rotation as free agents — Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard.

Stroman recorded a 3.02 ERA, a 1.145 WHIP and 158 strikeouts over 179.0 innings of work (33 starts) this past season, and will be sought after this winter. In fact, Stroman is projected by Spotrac to earn an average annual salary of $21 million.

As for Syndergaard, he received Tommy John surgery prior to the start of the 2020 season and missed the majority of this past year due to elbow inflammation. The Mets did extend a qualifying offer to Syndergaard, worth $18.4 million for the 2022 season.

Regardless if one or both return next season, adding Verlander could be an enticing option for Cohen and the Mets. Just imagine the top of the rotation consisting of Verlander and ace Jacob deGrom. That’s scary.

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers were among the teams reported to be at Verlander’s showcase. But, a reunion always made sense.

Detroit selected Verlander with the second-overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft, and it turned out to be one of the better decisions they have made. Verlander proved himself to be one of the top pitchers in the game during his time with the Tigers. He did, after all, win the AL Cy Young and AL MVP awards in 2011.

In his 13 years with Detroit, Verlander recorded a cumulative ERA of 3.49, a WHIP of 1.191 WHIP, a 183-114 win-loss record and 2,373 strikeouts over 2,511 innings (380 games).

Returning to the Tigers makes sense for Verlander. They are on the rise, his former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch is leading the team and he gets to return to where he began his career.