WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY

/ totallytigersblog

The rumors about the Houston Astros selling off at the trade deadline continue to have legs.  And in all the stories, Justin Verlander is named as one of their trade chips.

JV has recently returned from a minor injury and pitched (through Monday) 34 innings so far.  If he doesn’t get traded, he will automatically vest into 1 more year with the Astros.  It is a player option.

However, he would have to start at least 20 more games this season and go at least 5 innings per game for that to happen.

If he gets traded and hasn’t reached that number, he will become a free agent after this season.

Verlander is 41 and he has stated multiple times that he plans on pitching until his mid-40’s.

JV has a full no-trade clause.  The rumors go on to state that he has told people there are 3 teams in which he would approve a trade.  The Tigers are one of them.

Of course, it is the team that drafted and developed him.  The team he spent 13 years with.

But also consider that A. J. Hinch was his manager in Houston.

Most importantly, if he wants to continue pitching, there is no better pitching coach than Chris Fetter to help him be his best.

All reasons to come back to Detroit.

But we also have to look at the Tigers’ starting rotation.  Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson are the only sure bets for next year.  More info needs to be developed on Casey Mize’s future.  Jack Flaherty is leaving after this year and Kenta Madea has 1 more year left on his contract.

The Tigers will have a potential 2-3 holes in their rotation for next year.  Other than Maeda who is not fluent in English, there are no other veterans on the staff to help guide the younger pitchers.

Granted, if Houston wants to trade JV, they will want something in return.  It’s unclear how valuable a 41-year old will be in a trade.

But should the Tigers bring back Justin Verlander?

Make sure to come back and check the final results!

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FINAL RESULTS FROM A MAY TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

Will you be wearing the new Detroit Tigers cap?

  • Only the Olde English D will touch my head.  90%      
  • I’ll wear both the old and new hats.  10%      
  • The new hat will become my go-to cap for this year..  0%  (1 vote)  

THE BEST COMMENT FROM YESTERDAY’S BLOG:

from labcbaker: “Hate to be repetitive but it is time for Harris to take a calculated risk and swing his first impactful trade. He’ll need to give up a pitcher or two but that’s the way it’s done by the best of his peers.”

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23 thoughts on “WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY”

  3. Personally, I like the staff we have and with another year of experience and throw Manning in there, I say we pass on JV unless it’s truly a sweet deal for the Tigers.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Love JV and he should have been a ‘forever Tiger’ (he never wanted to leave) but sadly due to AA, he was forced to do so and at the stroke of midnight nonetheless! Resigning him at this point will simply retard progress in spite of what he would no doubt contribute and regardless of how bad we are now and may be without him moving forward. Been there, done that, ‘Turn The Page’, as Bob Seger might say!

    Liked by 7 people

  5. I love Verlander. But he is the past and he will be long retired by the time the Tigers field a team that really needs a 41 year old legend. Look ahead or the past will stay in the picture and it hasn’t been pretty for ten years.

    Liked by 4 people

  6. I’ll tell you what, since Houston owes us, I’ll take him in a trade as long as Houston eats half his salary or throws in Jeremy Pena and Bregman for Reese Olsen. Remember, we’re doing them the favor. We all want Verlander to go into the Hall as a Tiger and a trade might secure that if he pitches here for a couple of years at 10M per while we also get our SS for the next 10 years.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Fantastic idea but they can’t do it because it would block prospects. Plus Bergman and Pena would need bigger contracts than Detroit is willing to pay. As another reader told me the timing isn’t right.

      Liked by 1 person

      • We don’t have any prospects for SS. Bregman wouldn’t be here long but is an everyday third baseman who is struggling right now but a career .850 OPS. Without any moves ,we’ll all be writing these same blurbs next year.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. JV has stated he wants to pitch to his mid 40’s and Win 300 games. This won’t happen if he came back to the Tigers, with this mediocre at best offense. He would have to pitch until he was 50.

    Liked by 6 people

  9. Hmmm, who do we have that is worth a Justin Verlander? Only one one I can think of would be Jake Rogers but we would need cash considerations as well since he’s now a MLB player.

    Liked by 5 people

  10. I am in favor of it as long as the Astro’s pay a large chunk of the salary, similar to what the Tiger’s had to give the ‘stros when they acquired him from the kitty’s. Houston should cover $10-$11 million because of the injury and age factors. Or, take Baez.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Why in the world would he want to come back here?! There are two reasons why he won’t win 300 games. One: not pitching for almost two years due to TJ surgery. Two: those infamous Tiger bullpens from, say, ‘10-‘17 that gave up his leads and probably cost him 10-15 wins.

    Liked by 1 person

    • In his last three years with Detroit JV hit .235 (4 for 17) with an RBI. His numbers can be compared with Ohtani’s. As numbers. 😉

      Liked by 3 people

    • From a business standpoint, it would put fannies in seats every 5 days. He would likely increase attendance 4-fold from what might otherwise be for games Mize pitches.

      Liked by 2 people

  14. Voted to bring him back, JV is the Nolan Ryan/Dennis Eckersly type of player for this century. Considering they got next to nothing for him (thanks again AA for your years of being the most incompetent GM of our time).

    Liked by 5 people

  15. I voted not to bring Verlander back,but only because of only two options. I would not give up anybody we have in trade, but if we could get him as a free agent in the off season, I would certainly agree with that.

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