MLB trade regrade: Tigers clearly take an L with Justin Verlander deal

The Detroit Tigers traded away ace Justin Verlander in 2017, and it clearly backfired on them as Verlander went on to achieve greatness without them.

The Tigers made a mistake in trading veteran Justin Verlander back in 2017. While Verlander was a bit inconsistent in his last few years in Detroit, they didn’t get much in return to make up for what JV could’ve done in his late-30s in Motown.

Since leaving Detroit, Verlander has made it to three World Series (and one ALCS when the Houston Astros didn’t advance), has won two World Series and earned two Cy Youngs.

In the trade, the Tigers got Daz Cameron, Jake Rogers and Franklin Perez. Neither Cameron nor Rogers have been nearly as impactful as Verlander. Cameron has bounced between Triple-A and the majors the past few seasons, and this season in the majors, he had a defensive rating of -1.6 and an OPS+ of 83.

Rogers didn’t play in the majors in 2022, and Perez hasn’t played in the majors at all. The team has struggled quite a bit for a while, and Verlander is continuously proving they shouldn’t have given up on him so soon.

Tigers took a massive step backward by trading Justin Verlander

While Detroit’s rotation wasn’t the worst in the league, it was far from the best. Over the 2022 regular season, the Tigers had the 10th-worst ERA (4.05), opponent batting average (.247) and WHIP (1.30).

To compare, the Astros had the second-best ERA (2.90), OBA (.212) and WHIP (1.09), and Verlander was noticeably one of the best pitchers on the team. Verlander alone produced an ERA of 1.75, batting average against of .186 and WHIP of 0.83.

The Tigers could’ve had a more successful rotation had they kept Verlander around as he’s one of the best pitchers in the league, but they truly made the biggest mistake in trading him away so soon.

However, the mistake for Detroit might not be that they traded Verlander — the two sides were going in opposite directions with the Tigers headed towards a rebuild — it’s what they got in return.

Surely, Al Avila could’ve gotten more.