Henry Roldán
At 39 years old, Justin Verlander is still the ace of the Houston Astros’ rotation in the 2022 season, something that almost didn’t happen.
As the pitcher himself confessed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, during the preseason negotiations as a free agent with the Astros there were two other teams that strongly bid for his services: the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Diría que el líder probablemente fue Toronto. Fueron geniales. Y hablé mucho con George (Springer). Fueron muy proactivos hasta el punto de que cuando firmé con Houston, me aseguré de hacerles saber que apreciaba toda la negociación
Justin Verlander on his trade with the Blue Jays
Sin embargo, Justin Verlander también aclaró que la prioridad la tenían los Astros, organización con la que juega desde 2017 y que terminó ofreciéndole un contrato por una temporada y 25 millones de dólares, con una opción del jugador de un segundo año y 25 millones de dólares más si lanza al menos 130 entradas esta temporada.
Houston was at the top of the list, but as negotiations began, they fell apart. Some other teams really started to show a lot of interest. In the end, when the time came, Houston had the same offer. It was kind of like a ballpark between them and Toronto, since New York was always one step behind.
Justin Verlander on his decision to re-sign with Houston
Remember that Verlander, a two-time American League Cy Young Award winner (one of those times playing with the Astros) missed the whole 2021 season after having Tommy John surgery on his right arm. This was something that put his career at severe risk due to his age.
But the quality and talent of Justin Verlander seems to outweigh any adversity. The right-hander has now pitched 78.2 innings for Houston and is the leader in all of baseball in games won (8) and WHIP (0.814), as well as a 1.94 ERA and 78 strikeouts.
Can You Imagine Justin Verlander With the Yankees?
Surely, Justin Verlander’s words about the Blue Jays and Yankees’ interest in him will cause a social media frenzy, especially for what could have been his arrival in New York.
While business has proven time and time again that past differences don’t matter, it would have been really interesting to see a member of the Houston Astros team play in the “Big Apple” after the sign stealing scandal of the 2017 season.
Recordemos que en esa temporada los Astros derrotaron a los Yankees en el Juego de Campeonato de la Americana antes de coronarse campeones de la Serie Mundial. Tras varias investigaciones, MLB confirmó que ese año el equipo de Houston usaba tecnología para robar señas de sus rivales, incluyendo esa serie contra Nueva York.
The “Bronx Bombers” were severe in their criticism of the whole Houston squad, including Verlander, who won the Cy Young award that year.
