It’s a Houston reunion: Justin Verlander is back with the Astros just before the MLB trade deadline, according to multiple reports.
The Mets already unloaded Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers, as their 2023 season has not been going according to plan.
New York will reportedly acquire outfield prospect Drew Gilbert, the Astros’ top prospect per MLB Pipeline, and at least one other prospect, according to MLB.com.
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Like Scherzer’s situation, Verlander had to approve the move back to Houston, as he has a no-trade clause in the two-year, $86.67 million deal he signed this past offseason. Verlander gave the nod to push the deal forward to head to a familiar Houston team he just won a Cy Young and World Series with in 2022, the New York Post reported.
The Mets added the 40-year-old Verlander this offseason by matching Scherzer’s $43.3 million annual average value that he signed on for with his three-year, $130 million deal last season to head to Queens.
METS TRADE MAX SCHERZER TO RANGERS AFTER 3-TIME CY YOUNG WINNER APPROVES DEAL: REPORTS
Now, the Mets have traded away the two most expensive players per-year in league history, as owner Steve Cohen looks ahead to building his young core for the future. Gilbert, who was the 28th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft, adds to the group of prospects the Mets received in their blockbuster trades. Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr., was acquired in the Scherzer deal.
The Mets are near the bottom of the NL East this season despite owning the league’s top payroll to start the season at $344 million, which was well over the next closest, the New York Yankees, at $278 million.
New York is currently 50-55 on the year and 17.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves for the division lead, while sitting six games back of a wild-card spot in a crowded National League race.
The Astros, on the other hand, are just a half-game back of the AL West lead, which the Rangers currently possess. Houston is in the second wild-card slot as of Tuesday.
While Verlander hasn’t been pitching to his Cy Young abilities this season, he’s still enjoying a 3.15 ERA over 94.1 innings in his 19th MLB season. He returns to an Astros pitching staff that has the fifth-best ERA in baseball as a team (3.82), and with rotation arms like Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. all on the 60-day injured list, his services are needed to keep pushing toward October baseball.
Verlander had massive success during his time in Houston, as he was traded to them during the 2017 season while still with the Detroit Tigers. In five seasons of work, Verlander owns a 2.26 ERA over 652 innings with 825 strikeouts with the Astros.
