OT-Tigers trade Verlander to Astros at 11:59 pm deadline

Submitted by WMUgoblue on
Not sure how to link on mobile but according to Lynn Henning and Anthony French, Justin Verlander has indeed been traded to the Houston Astros.
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Baseball/Softball

BlueFish

September 1st, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^

I guess growing up in an era when guys like Trammel, Parrish, and Whitaker played all or most of their careers for one team ruined me for spin-the-bottle baseball.

I hate to break it to you, but that "golden" era of sports (Trammell/Whitaker/Parrish/Petry, Zeke/Laimbeer/Joe D, Stevie/Nik/Ozzie, Bird/Magic, Maddux/Glavine, Fouts/Joyner, I could go on all day) is long gone and has been for years. Free agency has "broken" just about every sport.  Hell, LeBron is about to leave Cleveland for the SECOND time.

I blame the Millenials.

Joined: 08/21/2009

MGoPoints: 4653

Gucci Mane

September 1st, 2017 at 7:57 AM ^

Because the tigers only have so much money to spend. Dumping salary allows to use that money elsewhere. Now if the tigers choose to ever use it then fuck them and I will choose not to spend money on them either.

Joined: 02/10/2014

MGoPoints: -99957423

Mr Miggle

September 1st, 2017 at 8:39 AM ^

The Tigers aren't going to be spending money until Verlander's contract is up anyway. They're going to try to move the other veterans too. They aren't going to spend money to restock this team until their prospects start producing.

If the choice was between eating a lot of Verlander's salary or taking lesser prospects, I vote for the former. That's their best possible use of that money now.

Joined: 10/07/2010

MGoPoints: 47648

Arinix

September 1st, 2017 at 12:32 AM ^

I think this is smart. The Tigers need to go full in on a rebuild, and while it sucks to lose Verlander, this should hopefully pay off a few years from now.

Joined: 09/01/2015

MGoPoints: 2282

TrueBlue2003

September 1st, 2017 at 12:55 AM ^

in baseball for the three years from 2011-2013.  They didn't win a WS because baseball playoffs are a crapshoot and they ran into an absurdy lucky even year Giants team in 2012 and gave up that f$%#^& grand slam to the Red Sox in 2013.  

They had to overpay people to have those stacked rosters and there was always going to be a day of reckoning in which we paid for those down the road.  That day came in 2015 and it would have been worth it if we got one of those title we should have had in one of those 3 seasons.

Joined: 01/05/2010

MGoPoints: 38075

Sambojangles

September 1st, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^

You could argue that V-Mart's current contract was obviously likely to be less than useful. When it's said and done, they're probably gonna get one good season of the four on the contract. Plus he's plugging the DH hole which we could have used to keep Cabrera healthy this year.

But in general I agree with you--the JV and Cabrera deals were not as much of an overpay as everyone makes them out to be.

Joined: 12/15/2008

MGoPoints: 10985

JamieH

September 1st, 2017 at 3:52 PM ^

Jim Leyland was a great clubhouse guy, but he made some bonehead tactical decisions.   AKA, he was great for a long-haul regular season, but when it came to winning one game in the playoffs, he wasn't the best guy to have around.  He often cost us a game right at the worst possible time. 

Now, maybe the team isn't even IN that position without him.  He was an overall very good manager.  But some of his playoff moves just made me scratch my head.

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331

ckersh74

September 1st, 2017 at 12:52 AM ^

If the Tigers really want to, they can really blow this thing up next spring. It's not completely crazy to see the Tigers only bring back 3 everyday position starters: Miggy, Mahtook, McCann. 

Kinsler is 35-36, and there's an option/buyout on his deal after this year

Iggy is arbitration eligible. One of these two is likely to be supplanted by Machado.

Castellanos could be traded, as he's a butcher at 3B and isn't likely to be any better in the outfield.

RF and LF are now officially gaping holes. Two of JaCoby Jones, Mike Gerber and Christian Stewart are going to be called upon. One of them is going to hit about .168, while another of the three could be serviceable. One of them will flame out badly. 

The rotation, on the other hand, is a train wreck full of flaming dumpsters. Michael Fulmer is your #1 now....but who is your #2? And where is the back end of this rotation? If you want to put Sanchez and Buck Farmer in the rotation for the end of the season, you're going to need to call up about 2-3 more relievers to come in and pitch the 4th inning on a regular basis. And that does nothing to solve next year's major rotation issues. 

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 41634

Mr. Elbel

September 1st, 2017 at 12:56 AM ^

I remember countless occasions where we were out at a friend's place playing ball or something and someone who just yell out "Verlander's dealing...you guys better come in." It seemed like he took no-no's deep into the game every 5 days in his prime. I miss him already. Still plan to rock #35 as much as I can. He deserves a ring this year and between this trade and the flood, I'll be rooting for the Astros to do it this year.

Joined: 03/02/2014

MGoPoints: 21395

StateStreetApostle

September 1st, 2017 at 1:03 AM ^

We'll always have 2011, JV.

And 2006, the only special year, because after that we all got spoiled and bitchy and forgot about the Decade of Darkness and now we're going to have to remember.

And now I know how Emily Yuen feels.

Joined: 01/18/2012

MGoPoints: 36493

WackoWolverine

September 1st, 2017 at 1:14 AM ^

This is a huge bummer. Verlander is obviously not the Cy Young winner he once was but he was still a great pitcher who was let down by a lackluster offense.

Cabrera is currently an albatross for this team finacially and offensively.

I've watched a lot this season and I just can't anymore.  JD, Upton, and Verlander were some of the more enjoyable parts of this season, and getting rid of them for a payoff 3 or 5 years down the road is disheartening.

Fulmer and Mahtook are good and building blocks for the future, but I just don't see a reason to watch for a few years now.

Joined: 02/19/2015

MGoPoints: 321

ckersh74

September 1st, 2017 at 1:34 AM ^

You watch to see the kids. Jeimer Candelario. Mike Gerber. Christian Stewart. JaCoby Jones. Dixon Machado. There's an outfield that needs a rebuild. There's very likely a middle infield position up for grabs in 2018. And if nothing else, you tune in to see just how far a mortal man can hit a baseball thrown by Buck Farmer. If I turn on the game and see Jim Adduci and Alex Presley in the lineup instead of the prospects, and the same status quo that got us 16 games under .500, I'm doing something else for the night. These guys shouldn't factor into any Tiger plans much past about 4 weeks from now.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 41634

Maynard

September 1st, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^

Cabrera isn't going anywhere and he may have had a bad year but to say he is an albatross offensively shows just how spoiled fans around here have become. It's laughable really. The guy could have 5 more years exactly this bad and he would end up with around 600 home runs, 2000 RBI, and 3300 hits. Those are astronomical numbers that if he retires as a Tiger the organization will get back financially and then some. So the notion that his contract is one that is so troublesome for the Tigers shows me that many don't know much about business. The baseball guys do know this though and that is why he isn't going anywhere. 

Joined: 02/19/2016

MGoPoints: 9888

Bando Calrissian

September 1st, 2017 at 2:01 AM ^

This is just so... weird.

I was at Comerica for his first no-hitter, and it perhaps could be the greatest sporting event I've ever seen live. What a player. This is going to be a tough one.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 68120

rob f

September 1st, 2017 at 2:27 AM ^

towards the end of the OSU @ IU game and woke a short while ago, so just now learned of the trade. While not surprised, as a lifelong Tigers fan I'm certainly saddened by the news. JV was about the only remaining reason to watch any more than a few innings recently. With the loss now of JV and Justin Upton (along with the July trade-offs of JD Martinez and Wilson), the Tigers club is now almost unrecognizable. On the surface, it looks like potentially a winner of a trade. But still hard to swallow for someone who has enjoyed many, many innings of watching an all-time great Tigers hurler. I know who I'm now rooting for in the upcoming baseball post-season!

Joined: 11/11/2010

MGoPoints: 194830

ca_prophet

September 1st, 2017 at 6:01 AM ^

Verlander's been a big part of Tigers success over the last 13 years, and I wish him well with the Astros.

The return is good too - Perez looks like the real deal and the others are solid prospects from a deep system.  (Also points up the difference between rental players in Upton and Martinez and  someone who can play beyond the balance of the year.)

Hopefully this will be a win-win.

 

Joined: 09/07/2010

MGoPoints: 7089

WGoNerd

September 1st, 2017 at 6:25 AM ^

I know this was gonna happen soon, if not last night the in the off season, and that it was the right baseball move for the rebuild but damn man... Damn...

Joined: 04/09/2015

MGoPoints: 5658

MGoblu8

September 1st, 2017 at 6:26 AM ^

I know it's a business and players come and go, but it still sucks. My son, who has only ever known a Tigers team with Verlander on it, is going to be crushed. When he got to be the "Play ball!" kid at a Lakeland Flying Tigers game, he sought out Ben Verlander to talk with, because he was the first player whose name he recognized. That being said, I hope he does well.

Joined: 08/19/2010

MGoPoints: 7373

Putt4Birdie

September 1st, 2017 at 6:44 AM ^

I can't think of a single 1st time head coach ever doing anything for any of our teams. So while Ausmus "learned the job" our loaded team played down to his level of coaching and kept coming up short. Sucks to see JV and especially JD Martinez go like this but it is a business and luckily I don't pay their salaries. Hopefully in a few short years we're in the hunt again.

Joined: 07/14/2017

MGoPoints: 1923